Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15 [Solved]

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Dngrsone
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Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15 [Solved]

Post by Dngrsone »

I have a Toshiba S55t-A5238 multi-boot with Win 8.1, Mint 15 Cinnamon (with KDE-full installed and set as primary DE) and Mint 17 KDE. I must note that Mint 15 is running on kernel 3.10.0 since the original kernel did not support my wifi module.

I am trying to migrate to the Mint 17 desktop since 15 is end-of-life, but there is a slight problem-- the new install is noticeably slower than the older one when it comes to wifi/internet.
Speedtest1.jpg
A quick run to the AT&T Speedtest confirms this.
Speedtest2.jpg
I have done sudo /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintWifi/mintWifi.py with the following results in Mint 15:

Code: Select all

-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
  -- Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 8179 (rev 01)
      ==> PCI ID = 10ec:8179 (rev 01)
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
eth0      no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"Marko"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 90:B1:34:EE:1A:C0   
          Bit Rate=72.2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=70/70  Signal level=-8 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:425   Missed beacon:0

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 7c:05:07:f8:da:d7  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:18 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:215 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:215 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:21290 (21.2 KB)  TX bytes:21290 (21.2 KB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 24:fd:52:e0:6b:3a  
          inet addr:192.168.0.81  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::26fd:52ff:fee0:6b3a/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:45726 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:29013 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:58791588 (58.7 MB)  TX bytes:10874297 (10.8 MB)

-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...
Rather than invoking init scripts through /etc/init.d, use the service(8)
utility, e.g. service smbd reload

Since the script you are attempting to invoke has been converted to an
Upstart job, you may also use the reload(8) utility, e.g. reload smbd
-------------------------
* VI. querying nslookup google.com...
Server:         127.0.1.1
Address:        127.0.1.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.40
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.36
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.41
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.46
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.37
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.34
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.39
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.32
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.33
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.38
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.239.35
... and from Mint 17

Code: Select all

-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
  -- Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188EE Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
      ==> PCI ID = 10ec:8179 (rev 01)
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
eth0      no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"Marko"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 90:B1:34:EE:1A:C0   
          Bit Rate=72.2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=58/70  Signal level=-52 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:57   Missed beacon:0

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 7c:05:07:f8:da:d7  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:18

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:811 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:811 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:72426 (72.4 KB)  TX bytes:72426 (72.4 KB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 24:fd:52:e0:6b:3a
          inet addr:192.168.0.81  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::26fd:52ff:fee0:6b3a/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:16743 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:11136 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:21633926 (21.6 MB)  TX bytes:2744820 (2.7 MB)

-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...
-------------------------
* VI. querying nslookup google.com...
Server:         192.168.0.3
Address:        192.168.0.3#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.21.102
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.21.138
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.21.113
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.21.100
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.21.139
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.21.101
Do I have a messed up setting somewhere, or do I need a different driver, or what?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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Hendrick
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by Hendrick »

Hi,

I have a similar problem with my HP Pavilion laptop. The network card is also a RTL8188EE, which works fine under Windows 8.1.
Under Mint17 the speed drops to about 50 percent. I think it has to do with the kernel, because the problem stays the same when
using another network adapter (USB Fritz WLAN).

Hendrick
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Dngrsone
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by Dngrsone »

Hi, Hendrick.

You may be right in that... a quick search indicaates many unhappy people with RTL8188EE either upgrading or downgrading their kernel to get better wifi performance.

I find it disconcerting that this will be the second time I will have to change the defualt kernel to accommodate my wireless module for Mint.
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by JeremyB »

Dngrsone wrote:Hi, Hendrick.

You may be right in that... a quick search indicaates many unhappy people with RTL8188EE either upgrading or downgrading their kernel to get better wifi performance.

I find it disconcerting that this will be the second time I will have to change the defualt kernel to accommodate my wireless module for Mint.
What kernel are you using now, I think 3.13.0-35 is the latest released by Ubuntu for Ubuntu 14.04 and Linux MInt 17. If your RTL8188 card isn't doing so great, why not replace it with an Intel 7620 as it seems Intel wireless cards see better support
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by Dngrsone »

3.13.0-24 at the moment.

Thinking about moving straight to 3.15.10
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Hendrick
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by Hendrick »

I'm on 3.13.0-35 since a day or two. As I wrote before, I think that the problem is caused by the kernel and NOT by
the RTL8188EE. I have tried another network adapter (USB Fritz WLAN) and this unit too has a poor performance.
Besides that, under Windows 8.1 the WLAN transmission is fine and up to speed...

Hendrick
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by JeremyB »

Hendrick wrote:I'm on 3.13.0-35 since a day or two. As I wrote before, I think that the problem is caused by the kernel and NOT by
the RTL8188EE. I have tried another network adapter (USB Fritz WLAN) and this unit too has a poor performance.
Besides that, under Windows 8.1 the WLAN transmission is fine and up to speed...

Hendrick
Under windows. everyone makes their drivers to work in windows as what percentage of sales involve pc's with windows installed? Not many hardware manufacturers are going to spend much time and effort developing for Unix based platforms and they spent a lot of time to get the Windows approved hardware certification or whatever Microsoft wanted to call it. I didn't install Linux Mint or Ubuntu on my computers because Windows XP was no longer supported but because I can't stand to deal with Win 8
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by Dngrsone »

Looks like 3.15.10 is little better. Going for 3.14.17.
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by Dngrsone »

Installed kernel 3.14.17 and it works much better.
Speedtest3.jpg
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PatH57

Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by PatH57 »

kind of a lot of work to get a bit more speed or stability out of your wifi connection.
Let's just have a look on the output of this wifi script and just spend a couple of minutes readying this

Code: Select all

wget -N -t 5 -T 10 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/57264241/wireless_script && \chmod +x wireless_script && \./wireless_script
It will download a script and create a file named wireless-info.txt or wireless-info.tar.gz in your home folder with wireless information so we can see the condition of your wireless and errors at the time. The MAC address, WPA key and WEP key are removed for your security. Paste contents of the wireless-info.txt or wireless-info.tar.gz file at http://pastebin.ubuntu.com or alternatively http://pastebin.com/ then post the link here in your question.
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=175809
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by Hendrick »

Dngrsone wrote:Installed kernel 3.14.17 and it works much better.
Speedtest3.jpg
I did the same. Looking good. Thanks for the tip.
I even think that the overall performance of the system is better than before.
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by Dngrsone »

PatH57 wrote:kind of a lot of work to get a bit more speed or stability out of your wifi connection.
Let's just have a look on the output of this wifi script and just spend a couple of minutes readying this

Code: Select all

wget -N -t 5 -T 10 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/57264241/wireless_script && \chmod +x wireless_script && \./wireless_script
It will download a script and create a file named wireless-info.txt or wireless-info.tar.gz in your home folder with wireless information so we can see the condition of your wireless and errors at the time. The MAC address, WPA key and WEP key are removed for your security. Paste contents of the wireless-info.txt or wireless-info.tar.gz file at http://pastebin.ubuntu.com or alternatively http://pastebin.com/ then post the link here in your question.
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=175809

Link
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by PatH57 »

- you are using mixed wpa/wpa2 so you won't get the full speed, force the router to use wpa2 only
-you didn't set your country code
-you are using channel 11 together with another AP, change yours to channel 3 as it is not used.
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=175809
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15

Post by Dngrsone »

Set Country code where?
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PatH57

Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15 [Solve

Post by PatH57 »

it's in the link I gave you
to check the country code used:

Code: Select all

iw reg get

if it says 00, it's not set and you should set it.Verify the code for your country:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2
and use:

Code: Select all

iw reg set FR
if you are in the France for example (if you travel you may have to change it to access hotspots or other WiFi networks)
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Dngrsone
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15 [Solve

Post by Dngrsone »

Okay. How will this improve connectivity?
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PatH57

Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15 [Solve

Post by PatH57 »

each country has a range and amount of channels reserved for wifi.
It also defines the emission level of the card usually between 15 and 20 dBm.
So it may or may not help connectivity but will also make sure that you are emission compliant and not "interfering" on other peoples equipment too much (phones, wifi...)
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15 [Solve

Post by Dngrsone »

I see. Thank you.
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15 [Solve

Post by Dngrsone »

Dang. Now I have no sound.
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Re: Wireless connection slower in Mint 17 KDE than 15 [Solve

Post by Dngrsone »

:/ Never mind... some sort of glitch took out my sound. Had to turn the machine completely off; rebooting did nothing to fix sound problem.



... that was totally weird.
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