How to Fix Slow or No WiFi in Linux Mint (2026 Guide)   

Updated for Linux Mint 22.x (Wilma / Xia / Zara / Zena) — kernel 6.8 through 6.17

WiFi problems in Linux Mint are more common than they should be, but most of them can be fixed without reinstalling or swapping hardware. This guide walks through the most effective solutions, ordered from quickest to most involved. Start at Step 1 and stop as soon as WiFi is working.

Common causes include:

• A missing or conflicting driver
• Power management interfering with the wireless card
• Bluetooth/WiFi radio interference (very common on laptops)
• A radio kill-switch being engaged (rfkill)
• IPv6 causing connection instability
• Incorrect driver module options

Before You Begin: Measure Your Baseline Speed

Before changing anything, run a speed test at speedtest.net and write down the result. Also note whether the problem is:

• No WiFi at all (adapter not detected, or "unavailable")
• WiFi connects but drops (intermittent connection)
• WiFi is just slow (low speeds vs. other devices)

This matters because the fix for each scenario is different.

Step 1: Investigate — Gather System Information

Never guess at the cause. Run these commands first; they'll tell you exactly what hardware and driver you're dealing with.

Full system overview

inxi -Fzx

Look at the Network section of the output:

Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169 v: kernel port: f000 bus ID: 1e:00.0
  IF: enp30s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wireless 8260 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: efa0 bus ID: 02:00.0
  IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>

Note the driver name for your WiFi device — you'll need it in later steps. state: down means the adapter is not currently active.

WiFi adapter details

iwconfig

Healthy output looks like this:

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"MyNetwork"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.427 GHz  Access Point: D4:E8:84:B4:27:7D
          Bit Rate=2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=22 dBm
          Power Management:on
          Link Quality=46/70  Signal level=-60 dBm

Key things to check: the Bit Rate (too low = problem), Power Management status, and Signal level (below −75 dBm is poor signal).

Check the radio kill-switch (rfkill)

This is a frequent culprit on Linux Mint 22.x that the original article didn't cover:

rfkill list

You might see:

0: hci0: Bluetooth      Soft blocked: no  Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN   Soft blocked: yes Hard blocked: no

• Soft blocked: yes means software has disabled the radio. Fix it with:

  sudo rfkill unblock wifi
  

• Hard blocked: yes means a physical switch or BIOS setting is blocking it. Check for a hardware WiFi toggle key on your laptop (often Fn + F2 or similar), or look in BIOS/UEFI settings under Wireless or Network.

If the adapter doesn't appear in rfkill list at all, the driver may not be loaded — skip to Step 4.

Check if the driver is loaded

lsmod | grep iwlwifi    # for Intel cards
lsmod | grep rtw        # for Realtek cards
lsmod | grep mt7921     # for MediaTek cards (common in newer laptops)

If nothing is returned, the kernel module isn't loaded and you likely need to install or fix a driver.

Check for driver conflicts (Linux Mint 22.x specific)

On newer kernels, manually-installed drivers can conflict with in-kernel ones:

dkms status

If you see multiple entries for the same chipset (e.g. rtl8192eu and rtl88x2bu both installed), you may have a conflict. Remove the one that doesn't match your hardware.

Step 2: Check the Driver Manager

Before touching the terminal, check whether Linux Mint has an alternative driver available:

Main Menu → Administration → Driver Manager

Wait for it to scan. If a proprietary driver is listed (common for Broadcom cards), select it and click "Apply Changes", then reboot. This single step fixes WiFi on many Broadcom-based systems.

Step 3: Disable WiFi Power Management

Power management is the most common cause of slow or intermittent WiFi. The kernel throttles the radio to save power, which causes the connection to drop or stall.

First, check if power management is enabled:

iwconfig 2>/dev/null | grep -i "power management"

If you see Power Management:on, disable it permanently:

sudo sed -i 's/wifi.powersave = 3/wifi.powersave = 2/' /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf

Or edit the file manually:

sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf

The file should read:

[connection]
wifi.powersave = 2

(Value 3 = power saving on, value 2 = power saving off)

Reboot and verify:

iwconfig 2>/dev/null | grep -i "power management"
# Should now show: Power Management:off

To revert if things get worse:

sudo sed -i 's/wifi.powersave = 2/wifi.powersave = 3/' /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf

Step 4: Fix Bluetooth/WiFi Interference

This is a major cause of slow WiFi on Linux Mint 22.x (especially on laptops with MediaTek and Intel cards) that most guides overlook. Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz WiFi share overlapping radio frequencies. When both are active, they interfere with each other.

Quick test: Turn Bluetooth off from the system tray and run a speed test. If speeds improve dramatically, Bluetooth coexistence is your problem.

For Intel wireless cards (iwlwifi)

echo "options iwlwifi bt_coex_active=0 swcrypto=1 11n_disable=8" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf

What these options do:

• bt_coex_active=0 — disables Bluetooth coexistence management (reduces cross-interference)
• swcrypto=1 — moves encryption from hardware to software (improves stability on some cards)
• 11n_disable=8 — enables antenna aggregation for better throughput

Apply without rebooting by reloading the driver:

sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi && sudo modprobe iwlwifi && systemctl restart NetworkManager

Or simply reboot. Test speeds before and after.

For Realtek cards (rtl8192cu / rtl8xxxu)

If you have a Realtek USB adapter and speeds are terrible, try forcing the better rtl8xxxu driver by blacklisting the older one:

echo "blacklist rtl8192cu" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
sudo update-initramfs -u

Reboot after running these commands.

Fix persistent Bluetooth conflicts (bluez/blueman)

On Linux Mint 22.1, a system update can break the relationship between bluez and blueman, causing WiFi slowdowns even when Bluetooth appears off. If toggling Bluetooth fixes WiFi temporarily but the problem returns after reboot:

sudo apt purge bluez
sudo reboot
# After reboot:
sudo apt install bluez
sudo apt install blueman
sudo reboot

Step 5: Disable IPv6 for WiFi

IPv6 can cause unstable connections or slow speeds even when the underlying WiFi hardware is fine — especially if your router's IPv6 implementation is buggy.

To disable IPv6 for a specific WiFi connection through the GUI:

1. Main Menu → Preferences → Network Connections (or search "Network" in the menu)
2. Select your WiFi connection and click the gear/edit icon
3. Go to the IPv6 Settings tab
4. Set Method to Ignore
5. Click Save and reconnect

To disable IPv6 system-wide via the terminal:

echo "net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo "net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

Reconnect to WiFi and retest speeds.

Step 6: Try a Newer or Older Kernel

Linux Mint 22.x ships with HWE kernels that are regularly updated. A kernel update can both fix and break WiFi drivers — so if your WiFi stopped working after a system update, a kernel change may be the cause.

Install a different kernel via Update Manager

Main Menu → Administration → Update Manager → View → Linux Kernels

Try installing the latest available kernel (for newest hardware support) or rolling back to an older one if a recent update broke things. Reboot to switch kernels.

Quick driver reload (without rebooting)

For Intel cards, if WiFi suddenly slows down during a session:

sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi && sudo modprobe iwlwifi && systemctl restart NetworkManager

For MediaTek cards:

sudo modprobe -r mt7921e && sudo modprobe mt7921e && systemctl restart NetworkManager

Step 7: Disable FastBoot / Windows Fast Startup (Dual-Boot Users)

If you dual-boot Linux Mint with Windows and WiFi is dramatically slower in Mint than Windows, Windows' Fast Startup feature may be leaving the WiFi adapter in a partially-initialized state.

In Windows:

1. Open Control Panel → Power Options → "Choose what the power buttons do"
2. Click "Change settings that are currently unavailable"
3. Uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended)
4. Save changes and fully shut down Windows (not restart) before booting into Linux

Step 8: Measuring Results

Use the same test method before and after each change:

• Ookla Speedtest — most accurate for download/upload/ping
• WiFi vs. cable comparison — plug in ethernet and run the same test; if cable is much faster, the issue is definitely the WiFi adapter or its driver

Run tests at least twice and average the results. Keep notes — if a change makes things worse, you'll want to know exactly what you did to reverse it.

Quick Reference: Which Fix to Try First

Resources

• Easy Linux Tips Project — Internet Troubleshooting — comprehensive guide covering many more edge cases
• Realtek wireless chipset — install the right driver
• Linux Mint Networking Forum — post your inxi -Fzx output and the community will help diagnose

If none of the above steps worked, post in the forum with the output of:

rfkill list ; dkms status ; iwconfig ; inxi -Nn

That combination gives forum helpers everything they need to diagnose the problem.