Wireless is sluggish with Realtek RTL8188CE

[sniboron]

Hi, I am experiencing really sluggish wireless internet speeds of <1 Mbps using Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01). My internet connection is not a problem because when I connect via ethernet, I get over 16 Mbps. I've been searching online and on this forum, but I can't seem to find a solution.

I installed the proprietary driver from Realtek (rtl8192ce). What's interesting is right after I log into my computer, if I do a speed test right then and there, the speeds are fine. However, if I kick off a subsequent test, I get a <1 Mbps result.

Here's what my mintWifi looks like

Code: Select all

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* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
  -- Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01)
      ==> PCI ID = 10ec:8176 (rev 01)
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth1      no wireless extensions.

wlan1     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"bbxkzzerir" 
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.427 GHz  Access Point: 00:11:50:C8:54:26   
          Bit Rate=54 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=67/70  Signal level=-43 dBm 
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:7553   Missed beacon:0

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr f0:de:f1:7e:1b:13 
          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:40 Base address:0xc000

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:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:1680 (1.6 KB)  TX bytes:1680 (1.6 KB)

wlan1     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr d0:df:9a:cf:1f:4f 
          inet addr:192.168.2.5  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::d2df:9aff:fecf:1f4f/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1492  Metric:1
          RX packets:6844 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:6372 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:7128626 (7.1 MB)  TX bytes:911953 (911.9 KB)

-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...
-------------------------
* VI. querying nslookup google.com...
Server:      192.168.2.1
Address:   192.168.2.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.224.50
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.224.51
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.224.49
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.224.52
Name:   google.com
Address: 74.125.224.48


And my inxi -N

Code: Select all

Network:   Card-1 Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller driver r8169
           Card-2 Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter driver rtl8192ce


Any help is appreciated.

[mads]

Hi!
I had the same issue with my wlan card (Ralink RT2561/RT61). What did work for me was to find the latest
Windows XP driver for my card from Realtek and use ndisgtk (Menu > Administration > Windows Wireless Drivers).

[Canuck]

I checked the Realtek website and there is a specific driver for the RTL8188CE for Linux kernel 2.6.35+.
I had to move from Mint 11.0 to some other distribution because I do not know how to install the needed driver and did not want to take the chance that it would not work on my new Lenova Thinkpad. I ended up changing distributions to one that did have a needed driver for my wireless, as demonstrated on the Live CD.
As I am quite ignorant of matters wireless, if the RTL8188ce driver for Linux works, would you let me know. Also, I would need specific instructions on how to do the install. I would then return to Mint for my laptop

[mads]

I checked the Realtek website and there is a specific driver for the RTL8188CE for Linux kernel 2.6.35+.

I know, and that was not my point. The driver made for Windows has much better performance and stability than the Linux one.
And yes I know that both are made by Realtek, but one is made for millions and big customers, the other one for nerds like me.
In addition, adding the driver using ndisgtk as I've supposed is a clean, easy way to install Windows wireless drivers on Linux systems.
You don't need to configure, make, make install and all that crap.

[sniboron]

I checked the Realtek website and there is a specific driver for the RTL8188CE for Linux kernel 2.6.35+.

I know, and that was not my point. The driver made for Windows has much better performance and stability than the Linux one.
And yes I know that both are made by Realtek, but one is made for millions and big customers, the other one for nerds like me.
In addition, adding the driver using ndisgtk as I've supposed is a clean, easy way to install Windows wireless drivers on Linux systems.
You don't need to configure, make, make install and all that ****.

I installed the wireless driver using ndisgtk. Now I don't see wlan listed under iwconfig. Network manager doesn't have the "enable wireless" option anymore. Any ideas?

Edit: inxi -N still shows the second adapter but now there's no drivers listed for it.

[mads]

I installed the wireless driver using ndisgtk. Now I don't see wlan listed under iwconfig. Network manager doesn't have the "enable wireless" option anymore. Any ideas?
Edit: inxi -N still shows the second adapter but now there's no drivers listed for it.

Before running iwconfig you need to unload 'rtl8192ce' and load 'ndiswrapper':
sudo modprobe --remove rtl8192ce
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper

If ndiswrapper works, you could blacklist the default driver:
su
echo "blacklist rtl8192ce" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
exit

[Matt267]

sniboron,

I have a Dell Mini1018 with a RTL8188CE wireless card running LMDE-Xfce. I used the Linux drivers provided by Realtek and followed the Readme file. The drivers can be found here: http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downlo ... #RTL8188CE

I have had no problem (so far) with these drivers being slow. They have been stable and reliable.

Matt

[mads]

...I have had no problem (so far) with these drivers being slow. They have been stable and reliable.

Dear Matt, with all respect for your opinion about and experience with these drivers. I didn't say they are slow, I said performance is
poor compared to Windows drivers (I am sure about this because I've tried both). When I mentioned stability, I had my own experiences
in mind (randomly losing connectivity). It is not so important, whatever works for the OP and solves his sluggish connection makes me happy.

[Matt267]

mads,

My post wasn't intended to contradicted your post. Canuck asked if the Linux drivers work and for me they work perfectly with my setup. Like you, I hope the OP gets things working. The great thing about Linux is there can be more the one way to get things done.

Matt

[johanPO]

HI Guys

I am having a similar situation. I have a ThinkPad with both Windows and lmde.
It works right out of the box with the newer kernels, however it does not seem to do any rate matching. I am always stuck with 52 Mbits connection. I can not get it above or below (I have a 11n network and under Windows it does this) At least that is what is reported by iwconfig... I am not sure if this is reported OK, but rebooting into windows I get both higher and lower values.


Cheers

[martolives]

My issue is with the same wireless card. When I shut down, or log out of Linux to switch to Windows, and log back into Linux, it just doesn't connect to the wi-fi at all. The "connecting" icon displays for some time, then asks me for the wi-fi password again (which it shouldn't) then refuses to connect until I reset the wi-fi. Resetting the router/modem is the only way I can connect to the net using Linux. Now, I've been through all of the above suggestions and conducted numerous searches online to find a Windows driver to install using Windows Wireless Drivers, but all I can find is .exe downloads, but WWD wants and inf file. I don't suppose you could tell me where to find such a file or download?

[Matt267]

martolives,

The window's drivers found here: http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downlo ... loads=true seem to contain .inf files.

Matt