How To Increase Your Internet Connection Speed in Linux

[Jay514]

Updated 11-2-11 Please Note =
Since the Ubuntu 11.04 Release update, due to the changes made too the wireless driver's & kernel - this issue has not been present on any of my systems & I HAVE BEEN able to achieve the wireless N -300MBPs Speed too my router & NAS. If this issue still persist with your hardware, You May alternatively try to insert 300M in place of the 54M, "which 54M used to be the max for the driver configuration".I suggest trying both & see what your hardware is able to achieve.

How To Increase Your Internet Connection Speed in Linux

For a very long time ( the past 3 release cycles ) I have noticed that the internet connection speed & Download Speed for All Linux Distros I have Tested (including & Ubuntu & their Editions ,Linux Mint & their CE's, Knoppix,YLMF OS, Ect.All Linux ) were very Slow as Compared to the speed on the same ISP & Hardware as the Win OS. I do not know if something was removed from a source package or what caused this decrease, but it is somewhat Linux Wide.
I have extensively looked for solutions & tested connection Speeds with Win Vs Linux Under the same exact Hardware Platforms from various sources on line The Internet ( Speedtest.net,Pingtest.net & Ect.) & from my hardware & various other computer systems( iwlist, iwconfig, ifconfig ,ect.)
Due to the release of the New LTS of Ubuntu 10 & LTS LinuxMint 9, I was thinking that it may resolve these issues, but it seems that even more Users have This Problem. So I have searched in vain for a solution & today I finally made a breakthrough, that has enabled me to achieve the same speed as my Win OS on the same Hardware, More Than Doubling My Speed in Linux !
Now I cannot guarantee that it will work with all Hardware In all situations, But I will Attempt to recreate the steps taken to achieve the desired results.
Like I said This may (or May Not ) fix Some wireless Hardware & may fix Other connections to give you the same Internet Speed & Download Speed That you get with Win on the Same Hardware.

Just as a test for your own proof, to see if it speeds up your connection, go to one of the on line speed testing sites & run a speed test before ( now ) & after (later) you have made these changes. I use Speedtest.net, but there are many others, just search in google.com.


Basically we are forcing your hardware to connect @ the maximum speed Every Time, rather than choose a lower speed , as is the default.

Ok we are going to open a terminal & find out what your hardware connection Is to the internet.

To open a terminal in Linux you can use the combo keys ( Ctrl )+( Alt )+( T )

Open a terminal for wireless enter iwconfig then hit enter. For wired eithernet enter ifconfig & hit enter.

This should display the hardware & location of =
EX =

Code: Select all

mi@Mint8-KDEX64 ~ $ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth2      IEEE 802.11  Nickname:""
          Access Point: Not-Associated
          Link Quality:5  Signal level:207  Noise level:166
          Rx invalid nwid:0  invalid crypt:0  invalid misc:0

mi@Mint8-KDEX64 ~ $


So here you can see that my wireless adaptor is located @ ( eth2 )
YOURS MAY BE DIFFERENT SUCH AS Wlan0 OR WLAN1, note the location, keep the terminal open.


Then were going to Navigate Open the file as root user with your text editor(gedit,kate,leafpad,Ect. whatever your text editor may be for the relevant desktop version you are using ),The text file we are Going to open is /etc/rc.local
In the open terminal input, or copy & paste this code:

For Gnome

Code: Select all

sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

For KDE

Code: Select all

sudo kate /etc/rc.local

For LXDE

Code: Select all

sudo leafpad /etc/rc.local

Enter your password.(The cursor will not show you entering your password.) This should open the rc.local file as root in the text editor.

Add this exactly. to the end of the list replacing ( wlan0 ) with whatever is in your connection readout previously in the terminal you opened.

Code: Select all

iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

At The End your text file should look like this =
...
# By default this script does nothing.
iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M
exit 0


Now save the file ( from the text editor drop down menu ) & close the Text editor. Now Close the Terminal.

By adding this to the end of the rc.local file, every time your computer connects to the Internet,It looks for the maximum speed that your connection offers.

Now You Must Reboot your Computer.

This works on all four of my systems I have modified, so far giving me the same speed that I get in Win.
I hope this works as well for you, Comments & suggestions are welcome, Have a Good Day,
Jay

[GhoS]

I'm not going to dispute that it works for you, but I actually find Linux to be slightly faster than my Windows OS on the same connection without any tweaks. Perhaps hardware has something to do with it. Just my two cents.

[Jay514]

You are correct, it may limited to only some Hardware & may not work for all. Although Many users are having this issue.
By adding this to the end of the rc.local file, every time your computer connects to the internet,It looks for the maximum speed that your connection offers.

That is all it does, so you do not connect @ a lower rate.

[Jay514]

Exploder PMed me & says it works for him

I appreciate you passing on this information. I tried gnome-look, it normally takes a while to load, it doesn't any more! I pay for the premium service from Comcast, now it actually seems worth it. Thanks again.

Your Welcome, Glad it works for you.

[Pilosopong Tasyo]

Nice tutorial

Original reply deleted/edited due to erroneous test results. Sorry about that.

Just to clarify: the rate used in iwconfig refers to the data throughput as far as upstream within the LAN is concerned, based on my observations when playing around with iwconfig.

BTW, my rc.local setting is almost the same as yours, with one additional line added before iwconfig:

Code: Select all

ifconfig wlan0 up
iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

exit 0


[DrHu]

It depends on your wireless connection.

Whether or not it your ISP or it is an open connection that you make use of..

The bit rate of the wireless connection will usually go to the max in any case, or at least as fast as the connection will allow; and if you have no control over it (you don't own the router), then it won't make much difference..

Somewhat more useful is determining the MTU frame rate available for your connection and adjusting that to match what is available via the router (AP, Access point), you are connected to.
--to avoid frame fragmentation, which requires re-transmittal of packets received: but again, most of the time the automatic modes (auto), rather than setting the MTU manually are sufficient..

Also, I wouldn't want to depend on my recollection of speed, by assuming something is faster because..
--I would have to see it measured, preferably almost concurrently on the same connection and the same computer while it is active..

[Jay514]

Thanks For the feedback Guys, I know that this will not work for all Hardware, but since it seems to help some I made the How To.

@ DrHu = Some good points there, I ran all of my test on 3 Laptops w/ Wireless & 1 Desktop w/ Ethernet connection to my Wireless router, Connected to a aDSL Modem. The modem is ATT's & it presented no issues.
I measured the speed before & after independently on each system, with the tools @ the following pages on-line
HERE = http://speedtest.net/
& HERE = http://www.pingtest.net/
Using the same Hardware, Connection,Same Speed test settings, From to The Nearest Server, Measuring Download & Up Load Speed, Ping, Line Condition, Packet Loss , Rate, ECT.
On Every System, My Speed was increased, Some more than others, but better than Before & Better than Win on the same Hardware ( In All my Laptops Cases ) So for some reason, My Linux was not & has not been connecting @ the Maximum Rate for quite a while now, on any Linux Distro I have been using, Why, I do not know, Maybe some packages were changed, Ect.This fixes my issues,so far.

[tdockery97]

Hmmm. Didn't work for me on HP laptop. My problems is really kind of weird, though. I use Wifi. I am dual booting Windows 7 and Isadora. When I log in to the Wifi with the sign on code, whichever OS I sign on with has very limited d/l speeds around 30 KB/s. The other OS runs at 160 KB/s (about 1 mbps). So of course normally I sign in with Windows so Isadora has the fast speed. Unfortunately, sometimes I forget and sign on with Isadora, then I have to use Windows for up/downloading files. Anyone ever hear of such a problem before? If so, how to solve?

[Nick_Djinn]

I thought this was about something else....you know, if you get a "testing router" you can use it in a way that will give you speeds up to 20 mbps compared to the cap of 1 to 12. All you need is a basic cable subscription.

I pay for my internet, but its an interesting tid bit.

[merc1973]

I'm curious if this would help... I'm afraid I could screw it up, lol. Maybe if I do this, my screen wont Fade-out-dark when loading large pages (not sure why it does that.... )

[GhoS]

Finally decided to give it a try. It was actually a touch slower for me. I'm on a 7mbps connection and got 6.84 without the change and 6.54 with it. I didn't think it would matter since I get pretty good speed anyway. Sounds like it does make a change for some.

[tinla]

It is a good information about internet speed test!!!
I test my internet speed, through this site www.ip-details.com/internet-speed-test
My speed test results are,
upload speed:0.52 kbps
download speed:1.96 kbps
I check my speed test before and after of the downloading process!!!!!!

[camilomusic71]

Worked like a charm, went from roughly 2 mps to 7 in just a couple of minutes. Thanks!!
(p.s. very well explained, thanks for that too)

[ramartz]

works for me as well.. thanks for the tips m8!

[Jay514]

Evidently, It seems that some of you users still have this issue. I am curious as what settings you guys changed too = ( 54M or 300M ) in order too achieve the increase. Do any of you guys use an NAS, or have a router with storage, drives attached, as I do, & have you measured your speed too the attached drive over the wireless network. Just curious, Thanks for posting.

Glad to know it is still working for you guys,
Jay

[chowanec]

If on a wired connection, do you just replace all iwconfig with ifconfig? And for max speed, do I use 300 or 1000 (gigabit)?

Thanks!

-Chow

[z06gal]

I use dnsmasq. It is usually one of the first things I install after a fresh install.

[Jay514]

@chowanec ,
It may work for your wired network adapter, but only if your hardware supports 1gbps speed. I have not tried it , but theoretically; you can use ifconfig & either setting( 300M & 1000M ) too obtain the desired maximum. If it does not change then you can always revert the settings to the original config.
You can test your speed too & from your NAS or Wireless Router & it will tell you the speed.
Do not be confused, but This will not change the speed up of your maximum cap from your ISP, but will allow your computer to connect too the Internet @ the maximum speed allowed by your hardware , up too the maximum cap. It is most helpful when greater speed is desired for transfers Too & From a NAS or another machine on a network.

@z06gal,
I can see where this could be helpful for DNS servers & changing the DNS can be helpful in certain configurations.However This How Too has nothing too do with DNS & would therefore require a completely separate thread. Thanks for the input guys,

Have a great Day ,
Jay

[mrjoeyman]

screwed my shyte up, but it was fun trying Speed was the same but loading time was longer between pages. I put it back and all is well.

[podagee]

didnt work for me either it was a nice try though.