Unable to connect to wifi at all

General Help
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I installed Zorin OS on my laptop just a few days ago, and everything works extremely well, but I have a single issue: I can't connect to wifi at all. When I restart my laptop, it says that it's connected, just for a minute or two, then it disconnects, then it tries to connect but keeps failing. Right now I'm on phone tether. My driver is from Realtek, which I heard has some issues with Linux.

I tried to resolve it on my own by applying whatever I found on the internet, but nothing worked. Initially, I had the driver RTL8821CE, but I tried to change to r8168, but nothing had changed. I tried to restart the network manager a couple of times, and still nothing. I tried to change my ip, but no ip worked. I tried hotspot with my phone, but still nothing.

Any idea on how I could solve this issue? I'm not sure if it's my driver that is causing this or anything else, but on Windows 10 i had internet, so it's not any of the components that have issues.

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2

Hi @Patty , welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your wifi problem!
I (a Linux newbie) also had an issue with wifi drivers on one of the computers that I have Zorin on, but not the other ones. What I did to fix it was to install the proprietary drivers suggested in the Software updater - you can check the steps on this page. In my case it was the 'broadcom STA wireless driver'.

If you have already done that without success, maybe try again but with Secure Boot disabled (next paragraph in the link) in case this might be interfering?

Please note this specific driver created some problems for me with a recent kernel update of Zorin (described here, but I imagine the likelihood of the same problem happening to you is low).

Let us know how it goes!

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Can you please post the terminal output of

sudo lshw -C network

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Here is the terminal output:

*-network                 
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       logical name: eno1
       version: 15
       serial: b0:5c:da:d9:24:9e
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8168 driverversion=8.052.01 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
       resources: irq:16 ioport:4000(size=256) memory:b1204000-b1204fff memory:b1200000-b1203fff
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Wireless interface
       product: RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wlo1
       version: 00
       serial: 70:66:55:a9:7d:3f
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtw88_8821ce driverversion=6.17.0-14-generic firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:138 ioport:3000(size=256) memory:b1100000-b110ffff
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: a
       bus info: usb@1:2
       logical name: enxa217675b40bd
       serial: a2:17:67:5b:40:bd
       capabilities: ethernet physical
       configuration: autonegotiation=off broadcast=yes driver=rndis_host driverversion=6.17.0-14-generic firmware=RNDIS device ip=10.11.184.120 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair

Also, about the comment from @Leonos , Thanks a lot for the suggestions! But I think that I forgot to mention some things in my post, I'm sorry!

I checked the software updater already, and there are no drivers for me. sudo apt update && upgrade also shows nothing. Also, the command sudo mokutil --sb-state says that I have secure boot disabled, so I don't think that I have to check my bios. And thankfully, I don't have kernel panic as you got.

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It shows the driver is loaded, but the firmware is missing.
Let's try:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install --reinstall linux-firmware

sudo apt install linux-modules-extra-$(uname -r)

sudo modprobe -r rtw88_8821ce

sudo modprobe rtw88_8821ce

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I tried, and it worked initially, for just a minute or two, but then the internet, once again, started saying "Connection failed, Activation of network connection failed."

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Can you recheck

sudo lshw -C network

Is Firmware still N/A?

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Yes, it still shows as N/A.

configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtw88_8821ce driverversion=6.17.0-14-generic firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
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Do you have the 6.14 kernel installed?

dpkg --list | grep linux-image

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I think so

ii  linux-image-6.14.0-37-generic                       6.14.0-37.37~24.04.1                         amd64        Signed kernel image generic
ii  linux-image-6.17.0-14-generic                       6.17.0-14.14~24.04.1                         amd64        Signed kernel image generic
ii  linux-image-generic-hwe-24.04                       6.17.0-14.14~24.04.1                         amd64        Generic Linux kernel image
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If you boot into the 6.14, from Boot > Advanced Options for Zorin > Zorin on 6.14.0-37-generic

Does wifi work?

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I'm sorry it took me so long, but I switched to 6.14, and it's still not working. I checked first the ping command, and it was a complete package loss. Then I checked the firmware again and it still shows as N/A

edit: i just ran the command lspci -v to check the driver again and it showed:

01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
	DeviceName: Hanksville Gbe Lan Connection
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16, IOMMU group 10
	I/O ports at 4000 [size=256]
	Memory at b1204000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Memory at b1200000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: r8168
	Kernel modules: r8168

02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
	DeviceName: WLAN
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 138, IOMMU group 11
	I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]
	Memory at b1100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: rtw88_8821ce
	Kernel modules: rtw88_8821ce

I was just wondering if I should install this driver: tomaspinho / rtl8821ce?

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It is worth trying...
The firmware-nonfree package is separate in Debian and we used to provide a single command to install it... But Zorin OS 18, based on Ubuntu 24.04, follows Ubuntu's choice to bundle the nonfree into the linux-firmware package you installed already above.

We also tried installing modules-extra above.
And the kernel team claims that the later kernels support that driver...
I am a bit stumped.

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Then I'll try to install the driver, and if it doesn't work, I'll stay on tethering until I maybe find a better wifi card. I just hope that I won't accidentally break something. Thank you for the help, though! If you need any more information that could help you, let me know.

15

Well... The Wifi is already broken so your risk is more a plateau than anything else. :wink:

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I managed to install the driver! Then it still didn't work... So I asked for help from a friend. I'm not exactly sure what he did, he just said that the driver from the kernel was in conflict with the driver from the github, but I have internet now!

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In the end, it didn't work. just temporarily. My internet fails every 2 days and once again, I just reboot because the driver is recognized, but the interface doesn't connect or something, idk:

[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  HT_caps_handler+0x12b/0x310 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  OnAssocRsp+0x1a0/0x270 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  _mgt_dispatcher+0x6f/0xc0 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  mgt_dispatcher+0x128/0x1d0 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  validate_recv_mgnt_frame+0x8e/0x130 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  validate_recv_frame+0x1a1/0x1f0 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  ? odm_phy_status_query+0x144/0x200 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  recv_func_prehandle+0x2b/0x70 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  recv_func+0x2c/0x100 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  rtw_recv_entry+0x19/0x50 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  pre_recv_entry+0x44/0x80 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  rtl8821ce_recv_tasklet+0x556/0x5c0 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  ? rtw_hal_interrupt_handler+0x12/0x20 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  HT_caps_handler+0x145/0x310 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  OnAssocRsp+0x1a0/0x270 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  _mgt_dispatcher+0x6f/0xc0 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  mgt_dispatcher+0x128/0x1d0 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  validate_recv_mgnt_frame+0x8e/0x130 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  validate_recv_frame+0x1a1/0x1f0 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  ? odm_phy_status_query+0x144/0x200 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  recv_func_prehandle+0x2b/0x70 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  recv_func+0x2c/0x100 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  rtw_recv_entry+0x19/0x50 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  pre_recv_entry+0x44/0x80 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  rtl8821ce_recv_tasklet+0x556/0x5c0 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  ? rtw_hal_interrupt_handler+0x12/0x20 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  rtw_cfg80211_set_encryption+0x2a1/0x620 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  cfg80211_rtw_add_key+0x24d/0x920 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  rtw_cfg80211_set_encryption+0x2e6/0x620 [8821ce]
[Vi feb 20 12:48:40 2026]  cfg80211_rtw_add_key+0x24d/0x920 [8821ce]

I'll just buy an usb stick... Hopefully I'll find one compatible with linux

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