Linux Mint 21 Xfce Intel Centrino 1000 problem

[nlel1975]

Installed Linux Mint 21 Xfce on my old Acer Aspire 1810tz laptop. Noticed problems accessing websites over WiFi so I connected it to Ethernet and it worked fine. I have the Intel Centrino 1000 WiFi built into my laptop. So then I plugged in my old RALink RT2870/RT3070 USB WiFi adapter and that works fine too.

Any ideas if I can get some kind of driver update for the Intel Centrino 1000 which will fix this issue?

 

[Throrik]

Mint 21 is pretty old, and from a quick Google Centrono 1000 wasn't upstreamed into a later Kernel which 21 probably won't get by default - I'd either upgrade Mint or manually upgrade the Kernel.

 

[nlel1975]

I tried installing the latest version of Linux Mint Xfce but I couldn't get it installed so went for an older version which did install. I've now installed it on two ancient laptops one from 2007 and the other 2009. I believe this version is supported until April 2027 anyway.

Performance isn't particularly great on either but the 2009 machine feels a bit better. Its that machine that I need to plug the external USB WiFi stick into, the 2007 machine has the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG and that works fine.

All I want to use these machines for is light browsing and email duties, it takes a while for Firefox and Thunderbird to load but once loaded they both work pretty well.

 

[nlel1975]

Having played around with both laptops running Linux Mine Xfce the Acer Aspire 1810tz from 2009 runs it pretty well. It's not lightning quick but doesn't feel too slow either. Definitely a better experience than running Windows 10.

The Dell D430 Latitude from 2007 is noticeably slower but once you have Firefox running it moves between sites pretty quickly. Neither machine is worth anything in terms of money, both have dead BIOS batteries and the Acer Aspire 1810tz has a dead main battery too.

Even if they were in perfect condition they'd still be worth nothing, you can pickup a refurbished Chromebook with better specs for not a lot of money. The good thing is as they are not worth anything I'm not bothered about them too much.

 

[nlel1975]

Any ideas if I can get some kind of driver update for the Intel Centrino 1000 which will fix this issue?

Haven't booted the Acer Aspire 1810tz in months so tonight fired it up to get the latest updates in the hope of fixing the Intel Centrino 1000 problem. It has solved the problem, now don't have any problems accessing any sites.

 

[nlel1975]

One thing is that when I connect my Acer Aspire 1810tz to my ZTE U30 Air MiFi device, I have to put the ZTE U30 Air into 2.4ghz WiFi mode as my Acer Aspire 1810tz doesn't support 5ghz WiFi.

What I've noticed is that if I turn it on whilst its in 5ghz mode then press the button to put it into 2.4ghz mode, I have to completely switch it off and on again for it to work properly in 2.4ghz mode. This isn't a fault of Linux or the built in Intel Centrino 1000 WiFi but the way the ZTE U30 Air works.

It doesn't appear to like changing bands without a power cycle.

 

[nlel1975]

Well I was still having inconsistent problems connecting to my ZTE U30 Air over WiFi. So I connected it with a USB-C to USB-C cable with a USB-C to USB-A adapter on the end plugged into the laptop USB port and this has solved the connection problems. Its now recognized as an Ethernet connection.