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I have 3 TP Link Wifi extenders (2 different models) and can not connect to any of them in Automatic mode in Ubuntu 24.04. Connecting directly to my hub works OK. Manual configuration of IP addresses to extender connections works OK, so it looks like a DHCP problem. I have tried all the variations to NetworkManager.conf recommended elsewhere.

if I try:

nmcli device wifi connect <SSID> password <PASSWORD>

I get:

Error: Connection activation failed: IP configuration could not be reserved (no available address, timeout, etc.).

I notice that there are other similar questions related to DLink extenders, so it looks like Ubuntu has a problem getting an IP address from DHCP via an extender.

Windows 10 connects with no such problems.

This is a problem with an upgrade to 24.04, and two fresh installs on different machines.

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  • You may want to look at results for iwlist scan and see if the extender is using TKIP encryption as it has caused connection issues before
    – Jeremy31
    Commented Jun 17 at 17:10
  • TKIP is not even an option. iwlist tells me : IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1 Group Cipher : CCMP Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP Authentication Suites (1) : PSK which is identical to the main hub which I can connect to.
    – garybarnes59
    Commented Jun 17 at 18:06

1 Answer 1

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I have determined that for all connections to work the dhcp entry in the [main] section of /etc/NetworkManager.conf must be set to dhcp=dhclient.

You will need to have dhclient installed for this to work. To check just type dhclient in a terminal window.

If this shows an error, install dhclient with:

sudo apt install isc-dhcp-client

However, with Ubuntu 24.04, this causes another problem in that apparmor blocks connections via the /etc/apparmor.d/sbin.dhclient profile. Once this is disabled, or set to complain (as opposed to enforce) all connections are now possible in automatic mode.

So the sequence is:

Install dhclient, if required:

sudo apt install isc-dhcp-client

Edit /etc/NetworkManager.conf and change (or add) the following:

[main]
dhcp=dhclient

Set the profile in apparmor to just complain (needs apparmor-utils: sudo apt install apparmor-utils to install) , then reload the profile:

sudo aa-complain /etc/apparmor.d/sbin.dhclient
sudo apparmor_parser -r /etc/apparmor.d/sbin.dhclient

Restart NetworkManager

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

There is clearly a problem with the sbin.dhclient apparmor profile in Ubuntu 24.04

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