GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 654033
Cannot disable wireless during connection
Last modified: 2013-08-29 23:19:31 UTC
You can only switch from one wireless network to another. Disconnects are not possible unless you deliberately switch to a protected network and cancel the connection or let it time out. This is problematic when switching from wireless to wired.
You can switch off WiFi with ON|OFF slider. But I agree the shell applet should allow disconnecting.
(In reply to comment #1) > You can switch off WiFi with ON|OFF slider. But I agree the shell applet > should allow disconnecting. This is by design, I think because users should not need to understand the difference between disabling wireless and disconnecting. I'll leave open for designer feedback.
Contrary to the simplicity argument: It takes longer to shut down the entire interface. Also I loose all networks in the list. So switching between networks is _really_ annoying. Another common case: networks with MAC authentication. If often work at companies providing wifi with this kind of authentication. Those (guest) networks are often unstable (link or session trouble). Then, I like to reconnect as fast as possible which is not possible at this stage.
@Giovanni: Yes, this is broken by design. Please fix! Workaround: nmcli con down uuid <id>
(In reply to comment #4) > @Giovanni: Yes, this is broken by design. > > Please fix! > > Workaround: nmcli con down uuid <id> You need to talk to the designers for that. Drop to #gnome-design and convince them. (Btw, an other workaround is: nmcli dev disconnect iface wlan0).
I think I better find some alternative to Gnome because there are just too many regressions with Gnome 3/Shell. I bet many Gnome 3/Shell UI designers own iPhones and have our laptops/desktop PCs confused with them :( So instead of adding simplicity they are actually bringing back the need to do lot of work via console. For example, changing a setting for a printer. GUI for this? Not any more, edit /etc/cups/printers.conf manually instead. Nice move.. Shutdown your PC? No, you need to do this via console. Seriously..
(In reply to comment #6) > I think I better find some alternative to Gnome because there are just too many > regressions with Gnome 3/Shell. > > I bet many Gnome 3/Shell UI designers own iPhones and have our laptops/desktop > PCs confused with them :( > > So instead of adding simplicity they are actually bringing back the need to do > lot of work via console. For example, changing a setting for a printer. GUI for > this? Not any more, edit /etc/cups/printers.conf manually instead. Nice move.. The printers dialog that's in the System Settings hasn't gotten a redesign yet, which is why it feels completely broken. I know the designers have some gripes with the network menu, and bringing it up with them may be a good idea.
(In reply to comment #6) > For example, changing a setting for a printer. GUI for this? Not any more Ignoring most of the non-productive rant, but 3.0 is actually the first version of GNOME which *includes* a configuration UI for printers (the same applies for networks). So the complaint about requiring to edit cups configuration files directly (or relying on distributors to ship system-config-printers) would better be directed at GNOME _2_ ...
@Florian: Ok, then Ubuntu supplied that printer config. In 11.04 there was one, in 11.10 it was gone. I have given up on Shell after using it for a week. Now on Linux Mint with Gnome-2 which gives the possibility to configure printers, disconnect from wireless network and even shutdown the computer! (Yes, I know I'm rude but dishing out Gnome Shell to people with desktop/laptop PCs is even more rude).
The bad bit about the design IMO is that the on/off button is *replaced* by the "connecting" or "authenticating" text, and thereby removes any method to turn off/disable/switch wireless, even when it hangs during connect.
Is that a common scenario? Why would you need to turn the WiFi off when you try to connect and it fails? Does it fix a connection problem? Probably, NetworkManager and the drivers should be smart enough to stop/retry when it's needed.
(In reply to comment #11) > Is that a common scenario? Why would you need to turn the WiFi off when you try > to connect and it fails? Does it fix a connection problem? Probably, > NetworkManager and the drivers should be smart enough to stop/retry when it's > needed. It should, but it doesn't. So you're left with this state where NetworkManager is trying to reconnect a bunch of times, and you can't shut the goddamn thing off.
(In reply to comment #12) > It should, but it doesn't. So you're left with this state where NetworkManager > is trying to reconnect a bunch of times, and you can't shut the goddamn thing > off. Of course, if it did there would be no bug report about that. ;-) The question is, is there something NM can do about that, or is the only solution to have a workaround in the UI? It could be worth a bug report in NM to discuss that.
Sometimes, through human error, software error or both, the system begins attempting to connect to a wireless network when I am already connected to another network (such as Ethernet/Wired). In these situations, I want to turn off wireless altogether (to avoid being repeatedly prompted to connect). When attempting to connect to a wifi network (which, in the case of broken/busy APs, can take a long time), the drop-down stops offering the ability to disable wifi / cancel current operation. Presently I have to launch the system preferences which still offers an on/off toggle even if connecting is taking place.
*** Bug 664293 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 669678 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Can we get designer input on this?
*** Bug 663652 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 688247 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 693828 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
I think we fixed this with the new system menu.