Ubuntu 22.04 Hotspot Stops Working

Is your WiFi hotspot not working after the latest Linux update, be it Ubuntu 22.04, Manjaro 21.3 or Fedora 36? Well, here is a fix/workaround for that at least until we get a more permanent fix.

The key issue here is with the "wpa_supplicant-2.10" package cocking up when securing your hotspot with WPA/WPA2. Unfortunately, this causes your WiFi hotspot to stop working for iOS devices and Android 12+ devices. Not too sure what the reason behind that. (ಠ_ರ) ?

For the moment, you can fix this by downgrading to "wpa_supplicant-2.9". For Ubuntu, where how you would do that.

Step 1: Add the required repository for downgrading

Run the following command-line to edit the repository

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following "old-releases" repository to the end of the file.

deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ impish main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ impish-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ impish-security main restricted universe multiverse

And don't forget to save it.

Step 2: Downgrade wpa_supplicant

Run the following to fetch your package list and downgrade the package

sudo apt update
sudo apt --allow-downgrades install wpasupplicant=2:2.9.0-21build1

Do make sure you have marked the package to prevent any update for now.

sudo apt-mark hold wpasupplicant

Let's do a sanity check.

Step 3: Setup Hotspot

You can use use the Network-Manager UI or just run the following command to start or create a hotspot. Since I am on using the XFCE desktop environment, it is pretty much easier to use command-line. 

nmcli dev wifi hotspot

You can view the password via the the Network-Manager UI or you can always view it with the following command

nmcli dev wifi show-password

Step 4: Connecting to hotspot

If all thing goes well, you should now be able to connect to your Ubuntu (22.04) WiFi hotspot with ease.

There you have it... Somewhat fixed for now. I will eventually update this blog post when there is a more permanent fix A.K.A update to the "wpa_supplicant" package.