Raspberry Pi 0w and 02w random network disconnects

[gitbls]

Describe the bug

Pi0w and Pi02w wifi drops at random times. While the network recovers and reconnects, the wifi is not useful during an event.

The disconnects happen at random times. I've had systems go for more than a day without a disconnect, and I've seen them every 10-15 minutes.

This issue is discussed in forum post https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=399597

My WiFi network is a few eero Pro6e devices running in bridge mode. I saw the same behavior with the original eero pro devices before I swapped them out.

For completeness, here's the initial connect after a reboot, which is fine:

Jul 29 11:17:21 wpa_supplicant[581]: nl80211: kernel reports: Registration to specific type not supported
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.2719] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: internal-starting -> disconnected
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.2723] Wi-Fi P2P device controlled by interface wlan0 created
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.2738] manager: (p2p-dev-wlan0): new 802.11 Wi-Fi P2P device (/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/3)
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.2749] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): state change: unmanaged -> unavailable (reason 'managed', managed-type: 'external')
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.2773] device (wlan0): state change: unavailable -> disconnected (reason 'supplicant-available', managed-type: 'f>
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.2799] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): state change: unavailable -> disconnected (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8213] policy: auto-activating connection 'PortalOfWonder' (28eee37b-32ed-4de3-bf37-07adcd6fa493)
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8236] device (wlan0): Activation: starting connection 'PortalOfWonder' (28eee37b-32ed-4de3-bf37-07adcd6fa493)
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8241] device (wlan0): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8253] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTING
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8263] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8277] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) access point 'PortalOfWonder' has security, but secrets are required.
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8278] device (wlan0): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8334] device (wlan0): state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8355] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8372] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) connection 'PortalOfWonder' has security, and secrets exist.  No new se>
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8405] Config: added 'ssid' value 'PortalOfWonder'
Jul 29 11:17:21 kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_set_power_mgmt: power save disabled
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8406] Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8407] Config: added 'bgscan' value 'simple:30:-65:300'
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8408] Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'WPA-PSK WPA-PSK-SHA256 FT-PSK'
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8408] Config: added 'psk' value '<hidden>'
Jul 29 11:17:21 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: Trying to associate with e8:d3:eb:19:5e:c6 (SSID='PortalOfWonder' freq=2437 MHz)
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8879] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> associating
Jul 29 11:17:21 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349041.8881] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): supplicant management interface state: disconnected -> associating
Jul 29 11:17:22 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: Associated with e8:d3:eb:19:5e:c6
Jul 29 11:17:22 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-SUBNET-STATUS-UPDATE status=0
Jul 29 11:17:22 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=COUNTRY_IE type=COUNTRY alpha2=US
Jul 29 11:17:22 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349042.0157] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associating -> 4way_handshake
Jul 29 11:17:22 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349042.0158] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): supplicant management interface state: associating -> 4way_handshake
Jul 29 11:17:22 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: WPA: Key negotiation completed with e8:d3:eb:19:5e:c6 [PTK=CCMP GTK=CCMP]
Jul 29 11:17:22 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to e8:d3:eb:19:5e:c6 completed [id=0 id_str=]
Jul 29 11:17:22 wpa_supplicant[581]: bgscan simple: Failed to enable signal strength monitoring
Jul 29 11:17:22 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349042.0327] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: 4way_handshake -> completed
Jul 29 11:17:22 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349042.0329] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) successful. Connected to wireless netwo>
Jul 29 11:17:22 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349042.0329] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): supplicant management interface state: 4way_handshake -> completed
Jul 29 11:17:22 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349042.0335] device (wlan0): state change: config -> ip-config (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:22 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349042.0348] dhcp4 (wlan0): activation: beginning transaction (no timeout)
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.0680] dhcp4 (wlan0): state changed new lease, address=192.168.92.237, acd pending
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.2051] dhcp4 (wlan0): state changed new lease, address=192.168.92.237
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.2117] policy: set 'PortalOfWonder' (wlan0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.2438] device (wlan0): state change: ip-config -> ip-check (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.2528] device (wlan0): state change: ip-check -> secondaries (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.2539] device (wlan0): state change: secondaries -> activated (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.2555] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_SITE
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.2615] device (wlan0): Activation: successful, device activated.
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.2641] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_GLOBAL
Jul 29 11:17:24 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785349044.2661] manager: startup complete

Here's the log of an entire disconnect event. Note that the USB disconnect in the first line has nothing to with the WiFi issue, but is included to show that there are no relevant log lines before the disconnect event.

Jul 30 13:07:54 kernel: usb 1-1.2.3: USB disconnect, device number 10
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=e8:d3:eb:19:5e:c6 reason=0 locally_generated=1
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: BSSID e8:d3:eb:19:5e:c6 ignore list count incremented to 2, ignoring for 10 seconds
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.5023] device (wlan0): ip:dhcp4: restarting
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=CORE type=WORLD
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.5025] dhcp4 (wlan0): canceled DHCP transaction
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=USER type=COUNTRY alpha2=US
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.5026] dhcp4 (wlan0): activation: beginning transaction (no timeout)
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.5027] dhcp4 (wlan0): state changed no lease
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.5029] dhcp4 (wlan0): activation: beginning transaction (no timeout)
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.5106] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: completed -> disconnected
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.5107] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): supplicant management interface state: completed -> disconnected
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.6000] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.6002] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): supplicant management interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: Trying to associate with 20:be:cd:f1:0c:07 (SSID='PortalOfWonder' freq=2437 MHz)
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.6579] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> associating
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.6582] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): supplicant management interface state: scanning -> associating
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: Associated with 20:be:cd:f1:0c:07
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-SUBNET-STATUS-UPDATE status=0
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=COUNTRY_IE type=COUNTRY alpha2=US
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.7356] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associating -> 4way_handshake
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.7358] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): supplicant management interface state: associating -> 4way_handshake
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: WPA: Key negotiation completed with 20:be:cd:f1:0c:07 [PTK=CCMP GTK=CCMP]
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 20:be:cd:f1:0c:07 completed [id=0 id_str=]
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: bgscan simple: Failed to enable signal strength monitoring
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.7535] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: 4way_handshake -> completed
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.7614] device (wlan0): ip:dhcp4: restarting
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.7756] dhcp4 (wlan0): canceled DHCP transaction
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.7758] dhcp4 (wlan0): state changed no lease
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.7761] dhcp4 (wlan0): activation: beginning transaction (no timeout)
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.7765] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): supplicant management interface state: 4way_handshake -> completed
Jul 30 21:28:39 NetworkManager[496]: <info>  [1785472119.8472] dhcp4 (wlan0): state changed new lease, address=192.168.92.237, acd pending

A few points worth noting:

• The disconnect event (EVENT-DISCONNECTED) happens with no relevant log entries before it. That is, there's no event logged that might indicate what is causing the disconnect.
• At the start of the recovery process the REGDOM first is set to WORLD, and then to the correct country (US in my case).

Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=CORE type=WORLD
Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=USER type=COUNTRY alpha2=US

This seems wrong, especially since this does NOT happen when the WiFi is first brought up, as you can see from the log shown above. This is a concern because according to AI (may or may not be correct) this causes the WiFi chip to:

• Reset channels
• Reset transmit power
• Sometimes reset the association entirely

Clearly if AI has mis-represented the issues this is not a large concern, but still a curiosity worth investigating.

• Ignore list count incremented log entry. Not sure what this is, but wanted to point it out. AI says "wpa_supplicant temporarily blacklists the AP for 10 seconds after a disconnect it thinks is “bad.” But there's no indication of why it was perceived to be "bad".

Jul 30 21:28:39 wpa_supplicant[581]: BSSID e8:d3:eb:19:5e:c6 ignore list count incremented to 2, ignoring for 10 seconds

Some things I've tried, primarily based on AI guidance that passed my sniff test

• Tried to initialize cfg80211 with a correct REGDOM in addition to the one in cmdline.txt, in an attempt to stop the recovery-time REGDOM flapping

  • (sudo) echo "options cfg80211 ieee80211_regdom=US" > /etc/modprobe.d/cfg80211.conf

• Disable powersave

(sudo) cat > /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/wifi-powersave-off.conf
[connection]
wifi.powersave=2  #Valid values: default (0), ignore (1), disable (2), enable (3)

• Switched from NetworkManager to systemd-networkd to finger or absolve NetworkManager, and also so I could fully control wpa_supplicant.conf

  • In addition to a properly-configured wpa_supplicant.conf, added bssid=mm:aa:cc:mm:aa:cc because I was seeing a bit of flapping between two eeros. This stopped the bssid flapping, but did not resolve the core issue.

• Added EmitLLDP=yes to the wlan .network file based on an ejolson suggestion in the forum post. Also did nmcli c mod PortalOfWonder connection.lldp 1 to another 02W still managed by NetworkManager.

None of these attempts have resolved or even reduced the frequency of the problem.

I will also modify one of the 02w systems to test using iwd to see if wpa_supplicant can be absolved.

I've just started monitoring a Pi4 connected via WiFi to see if it has a similar problem and will update this issue with the results in a day or two.

I am happy to run further tests on either a 02w or a 0w.

Steps to reproduce the behaviour

Set up a 0w or 02w connected to the WiFi network and monitor it. Disconnects happen, at least on my network, and the network

Device (s)

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

System

cat /etc/rpi-issue
Raspberry Pi reference 2026-06-18
Generated using pi-gen, https://github.com/RPi-Distro/pi-gen, ca8aeed0ae300c2a89f55ce9617d5f96a27e99e5, stage2

vcgencmd version
May 21 2026 11:21:57
Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
version 288930ab4712b99596f32732664aaaeb881ef1e0 (clean) (release) (start)

uname -a
Linux p2m 6.18.34+rpt-rpi-v8 #1 SMP PREEMPT Debian 1:6.18.34-1+rpt1 (2026-06-09) aarch64 GNU/Linux

Logs

See above.

Additional context

No response