PI zero W - wlan0 connected but cannot ping router

Question

Problem: nothing passes through the wlan0 (wifi) connection:

• from my PC, no VNC, no ssh working either (works on eth0)
• I cannot ping the router from the RPI shell either
• I cannot go to the internet
• I have setup a static IP lease on the wlan0 & eth0 MAC address
• I even tried setting my router to 2.4GHz only, it does not work

The default gateway points to the router ip:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /etc/resolv.conf
# Generated by resolvconf
domain sitecom.router
nameserver 192.168.1.1

route :

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
0.0.0.0         192.168.1.1     0.0.0.0         UG    302    0        0 wlan0
192.168.1.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     302    0        0 wlan0

netstat :

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ netstat -r | grep default
default         192.168.1.1     0.0.0.0         UG        0 0          0 wlan0

pinging router :

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ ping 192.168.1.1
PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
From 192.168.1.54 icmp_seq=1 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.1.54 icmp_seq=2 Destination Host Unreachable
...

checked wlan0 :

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ iw dev wlan0 info
Interface wlan0
    ifindex 2
    wdev 0x1
    addr b8:27:eb:4a:33:33
    ssid MyRouterSSID
    type managed
    wiphy 0
    channel 13 (2472 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2472 MHz
    txpower 31.00 dBm

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ iw dev wlan0 link
Connected to 64:d1:a3:4a:5a:79 (on wlan0)
    SSID: MyRouterSSID
    freq: 2472
    RX: 14784 bytes (136 packets)
    TX: 77120 bytes (672 packets)
    signal: -29 dBm
    rx bitrate: 1.0 MBit/s
    tx bitrate: 5.5 MBit/s

    bss flags:  short-slot-time
    dtim period:    1
    beacon int: 100

checked wpa conf :

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
country=BE

network={
    ssid="MyRouterSSID"
    psk="******************"
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

ifconfig:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ ifconfig
lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 36448  bytes 125276811 (119.4 MiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 36448  bytes 125276811 (119.4 MiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlan0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.1.54  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255
        inet6 fe80::6b29:3275:cfb8:b8cc  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether b8:27:eb:4a:33:33  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 165  bytes 23589 (23.0 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 486  bytes 72311 (70.6 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

iw reg get,on rpi zero (and on rpi3 that does'nt have any issue):

global
country CN: DFS-FCC
    (2402 - 2482 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A)
    (5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (N/A), AUTO-BW
    (5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW
    (5735 - 5835 @ 80), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
    (57240 - 59400 @ 2160), (N/A, 28), (N/A)
    (59400 - 63720 @ 2160), (N/A, 44), (N/A)
    (63720 - 65880 @ 2160), (N/A, 28), (N/A)

I am out of ideas, please help me, I really need my pi zero to be accessed headless

thanks in advance

[edit]

I use a Sitecom AC750 Router :

• 2.4Ghz (B+G+N)
• channel : auto

the main (only) RPI usb port is linked to a hub

I use an ethernet USB dongle and

so far I tried :

• forcing the channel to 1
• an additional USB WIFI dongle (ODROID)
• removed the odroid dongle, removed the static ip on wlan0

still the same issue.

PER THE COMMUNITY'S FEEDBACK THE STATIC IP WAS CHANGED TO DHCP

ROUND 2 : AS PER COUMMUNITY RECOMMENDATIONS

• I unplugged the eth dongle
• I use a monitor on the HDMI output
• I checked dmesg, /var/log/messages, and /var/log/syslog. this is what happen when running sudo ip link set wlan0 down/up

(I dont see any relevant info, I'll now create a new sd card)

ROUND 3 :

• I did a full format of my 16gb sandisk with https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/
• I burned the image 2019-09-26-raspbian-buster.img with https://www.balena.io/etcher/ (I usually use Win32DiskImager-odroid-v1.3, that supposably double checks each writing cycle, never had any problem with it)
• did not do any update/upgrade, just first boot setup, checked the ip, usual 192.168.1.51
• tried to ping the router and...it does not work...

my setup can't be more simple than this

I'd be tempted to think I killed the wifi ship soldering the header, but I get an IP,

• just installed a terminal on my android phone, I can ping the router....

(next step : I am getting a wizard and maybe an exorcist too...)

ROUND 4 : I received the new PI

I just found out that putting down the wlan0 interface, iw reg get shows

country BE: DFS-ETSI

then, once I bring back up the interface, iw reg get shows

country CN: DFS-FCC

I found this but it does not say how to solve it

github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/issues/630 

apparently the router sends the wrong country code, so why is this working with all my other devices ...smartphone, RPI3, RPI4....

Answer 1

There is a high correlation between Questions which state "I have setup a static IP lease" and XXX doesn't work.

You have listed lots of files, but not provided any information which would enable anyone to answer.

What did YOU do? - in particular HOW did you set "a static IP lease".

I recommend you remove the attempt to set "static IP addresses" and let your router do its job.

If you REALLY insist on static IP addresses (which are totally unnecessary except in a few circumstances) do it properly.
See How to set up Static IP Address

Or to setup networking properly How to set up networking/WiFi

Answer 2

With iw dev wlan0 info you show that you are using:

channel 13 (2472 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2472 MHz

I remember that I had problems some times ago with connections using channels above 11. Since then I only use channels up to 11. I'm unsure if it also an issue for you because you have a link shown with iw dev wlan0 link but maybe there is a problem with key negotiation or with the regulatory domain set with country=BE in /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf. You can get info about the latter withiw reg get.

Anyway, it's worth a try just to use a channel up to 11. The channel to use is configured on the hotspot/access point.

Answer 3

At least your PI was able to get an IP address (192.168.1.51 as per your screenshot). So the radio link is working although it may not be perfect. Looks more like a routing issue than a hardware issue. If you type ifconfig you should see the same address now or you still have an issue. What is your /etc/network/interfaces file like ?

One thing: your output of iw reg get says China, but your location is Belgium so I would do this: iw reg set BE. Also, I am wondering if you restarted both PI and router after making all those changes. Sometimes that's all it takes. There might be a bad route or stale IP address cached on either end.

I am also wondering if your router has some debugging tools (I had a quick look at the manual but didn't see anything). If you can, try to ping the PI from the router to check if the ping at least works in that direction, and verify that the PI is reachable.

Last but not least, check your logs on the PI ie dmesg, /var/log/messages and /var/log/syslog.

Answer 4

I recommend trying to verify hardware is working: DHCP requires communication between the wifi adapter and the router, otherwise it can not be assigned an IP address. If you can confirm the wifi's MAC address was received by the router, then the wifi's transmit side is working.

If you had a second Zero-W with functional wifi, you could transfer the SD card and expect it to work in the system under evaluation.

My experience tells me that you would be better off to:

1. Disconnect the ethernet dongle from the Zero-W
2. Flash a different Raspbian version to a new/different SD card and install SD-Card
3. Connect the Zero-W to a keyboard and monitor THEN
4. Configure wifi from the Raspbian GUI per instructions:
   • https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/desktop.md
5. Identify & Test DHCP issued address
   • ping gateway from rPi
   • nslookup yahoo.com's IP address and ping that number from rPi
   • ping rPi's IP address from another LAN connected PC
6. Post the current (Ampere) rating of your 5V power source and compare it to the requirement

There are all kinds of ways to misconfigure a wifi connection, which is why I recommended starting 'fresh': your observations are very unusual: a DHCP LAN address is assigned to the wifi adapter, however, communication between wifi and another point fails. DNS failures can be ruled out by using IP addresses and not FQDNs.

Answer 5

I faced the same issue with my Pi Zero, it's well connected to Wifi as I can see its assigned IP in the DHCP list, but I can not access the Pi using SSH.

It's solved simply by replacing its power source, I realized that the issue was due to insufficient ampere in the first power supply I used.

Answer 6

I had same issue.

• rpi mode: zero 2W power supply was from usb port on power strip. (likely low) I can't confirm
• sdcard: 64GB HP sd card good speed.
• OS: armhf Linux raspberrypi 6.1.21-v7+ #1642 SMP Mon Apr 3 17:20:52 BST 2023 armv7l GNU/Linux
• OS size: 4.2GB.

Issue:

• I was able to connect to internet from the rpi but not to other machines in network although both devices were in same subnet: 192.168.31.* .
• My PC (ip: 192.168.31.7 running ubuntu 22.04 LTS) was connected to net (via same router) but was NOT able to ping rpi (IP: 192.168.31.41)
• rpi was able to ping router 192.168.31.1 but NOT to my PC.
• rpi was able to install package/fetch/ping from repo/google etc.

Solutions tried:

• reflashed sd card with different OS (tried 64bit arm and headless)
• changed power supply to mobile adaptor to get right voltage
• tried added line in /boot/cmdline.txt inet details.
• tried static ip

Solution which might have worked is:

• adding country code in /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf country code GB instead of IN (Being in India might be making it selective on channels of wifi) or has limited data for other countries. The Makers bias, I guess.
• Using right power supply. I wonder if it was culprit as I was able to connect router and internet. By connect I mean ping/telnet.

do NOT flash the sdcard with other image. Try using correct power output and may be right settings in raspi-config . commonly used config is safe to use.