NetworkManager sends packets when idle mode

[newbie1997 (mark huggerberg)]

I used nethogs to see which applications connects to internet when laptop is idling.

I realised that, when laptop is idling (all applications / browser etc closed) NetworkManager still sends packets to somewhere.

HTTP GET Request to : http://fedoraproject.org/static/hotspot.txt

It looks official site but I don’t want any program send packets while idling.
Is there a way to deactive this connection?

Thanks.

[vgaetera (Vladislav Grigoryev)]

You should be able to stop this by removing the following package:

sudo dnf remove NetworkManager-config-connectivity-fedora

[newbie1997 (mark huggerberg)]

First of all, thank you so much for answer & solution.

May it cause a problem if I remove it?

The second question: why should it check connectivity?

[vgaetera (Vladislav Grigoryev)]

@newbie1997

why should it check connectivity?

https://developer.gnome.org/NetworkManager/stable/NetworkManager.conf.html#id-1.2.3.13

This allows NetworkManager to detect whether or not the system can actually access the internet or whether it is behind a captive portal.

Connectivity checking serves two purposes. For one, it exposes a connectivity state on D-Bus, which other applications may use. For example, Gnome’s portal helper uses this as signal to show a captive portal login page. The other use is that default-route of devices without global connectivity get a penalty of +20000 to the route-metric. This has the purpose to give a better default-route to devices that have global connectivity. For example, when being connected to WWAN and to a Wi-Fi network which is behind a captive portal, WWAN still gets preferred until login.

@newbie1997

May it cause a problem if I remove it?

Theoretically, yes, however practically this depends on your workflow, and most likely the potential issues aren’t critical if any.

[newbie1997 (mark huggerberg)]

@vgaetera

Theoretically, yes, however practically this depends on your workflow, and most likely the potential issues aren’t critical if any.

Thank you so much again for this detailed answer.
I think I will leave it, won’t remove.

But still wondering about issues.
My workflow is: I use laptop only browsing internet, Microsoft Teams and programming (python).
So if I remove, will it cause any problem?

When laptop is idle mode, all apps closed so I think removing connectivity-check shouldn’t make an issue right? If yes, I will remove

[vgaetera (Vladislav Grigoryev)]

According to the description, it should be mostly useful on laptop/mobile devices which dynamically connect the internet via different networks, some of those may be restricted such as captive portals or Wi-Fi hotspots, so removing it should be okay if your use case is unrelated to that.

[newbie1997 (mark huggerberg)]

@vgaetera

so removing it should be okay if your use case is unrelated to that.

I use this laptop only in my home, so I guess removing connectivity check is okay for me.
Sorry for taking your time with these small questions but it was important for me.

Thank you so much for all these answers, have a great day