Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

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Lendal
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Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by Lendal »

Greetings, everyone. Thanks in advance for your patience and whatever insights you may have that might help me solve the following issue.

I dual boot Linux Mint Mate 18.3 Sylvia and Windows 7 on the same 5-year old Gateway desktop, which still has it's original Realtec Ethernet Gigabit adaptor. And I'm using a Netgear Nighthawk Pro gigabit router.

Mostly, everything works fine. Except the wired ethernet connection is slower on Mint than it is with Windows 7. I determined this by copying the same file from the same Synology NAS box to the Desktop of both OS's. The copy takes about 15% longer with the Mint OS. Plus, with the Mint Mate OS, the light on the router goes clear instead of it's default amber. Thus indicating a non-gigabit connection with Mint and a gigabit connection with Windows7.

"Not a big deal", you say? Well, probably true. Although, 15% slower is still "slower" and "clear" isn't as good as "amber" would be, clearly. (See what I did there?)

So, not a big deal but it is annoying and nags at me that I've been unable to "fix" it. I know how to get to the terminal command line and I'm not afraid to use it! (as evidenced by the fact that I've already had to restore the Mint system from backup once, so far).

So, if anyone's already solved this, please share.

And, again, thanks for your insight and patience.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
SuperBoby

Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by SuperBoby »

Hi,

Can you give us a bit more information :

Code: Select all

$ inxi -Fxz

Code: Select all

$ ethtool <NIC>
where <NIC> should be replaced by your NIC ID. If you don't have ethtool on your system : $ sudo apt install ethtool
Lendal
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Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by Lendal »

First of all, thanks for responding, Superboby.

And, here's the output from the first command:


lendal@MintDT ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System: Host: MintDT Kernel: 4.15.0-43-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
Desktop: MATE 1.18.0 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3)
Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine: Mobo: Gateway model: FX6860
Bios: American Megatrends v: P03-A3 date: 04/18/2012
CPU: Quad core Intel Core i7-3770 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 8192 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 27137
clock speeds: max: 3900 MHz 1: 1596 MHz 2: 1596 MHz 3: 1596 MHz
4: 1596 MHz 5: 1596 MHz 6: 1596 MHz 7: 1596 MHz 8: 1596 MHz
Graphics: Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Cape Verde XT [Radeon HD 7770/8760 / R7 250X]
bus-ID: 01:00.0
Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1680x1050@59.95hz
GLX Renderer: AMD CAPE VERDE (DRM 2.50.0 / 4.15.0-43-generic, LLVM 6.0.0)
GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card-1 Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7700/7800 Series]
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
Card-3 C-Media CM108 Audio Controller
driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 002-008
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-43-generic
Network: Card-1: Ralink RT3090 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe
driver: rt2800pci v: 2.3.0 bus-ID: 03:00.0
IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 04:00.0
IF: enp4s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Card-3: Ralink RT5572 Wireless Adapter
driver: rt2800usb v: 2.3.0 usb-ID: 002-004
IF: wlx9cefd5ffcbab state: N/A mac: N/A
Drives: HDD Total Size: 5001.0GB (72.4% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: Samsung_SSD_850 size: 500.1GB
ID-2: /dev/sdb model: Samsung_SSD_850 size: 500.1GB
ID-3: /dev/sdc model: WDC_WD40EZRZ size: 4000.8GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 451G used: 156G (37%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
ID-2: /boot size: 472M used: 339M (76%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda1
ID-3: swap-1 size: 8.55GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-1
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C gpu: 36.0



And here's the output from the second command:

lendal@MintDT ~ $ ethtool enp4s0
Settings for enp4s0:
Supported ports: [ TP MII ]
Supported link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full
Supported pause frame use: No
Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
Advertised link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full
Advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
Link partner advertised link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
1000baseT/Full
Link partner advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Link partner advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
Speed: 1000Mb/s
Duplex: Full
Port: MII
PHYAD: 0
Transceiver: internal
Auto-negotiation: on
Cannot get wake-on-lan settings: Operation not permitted
Current message level: 0x00000033 (51)
drv probe ifdown ifup
Link detected: yes
lendal@MintDT ~ $


Wow! That's a lot of crap to plow through! I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to help with this.

-Len
:)
SuperBoby

Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by SuperBoby »

Hi,

(just a precision : always post console text in code tags on the forum, like I did. It's far easier to read :wink: )

I was looking to verify if your NIC was properly set in Gigabit mode, which is the case judging by the inxi output. Are you 100% sure about the information given by the colour of the LED on your router ?
Lendal
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Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by Lendal »

Well, as to the color indications of the router LED's, it says in the router instructions that the amber color indicates a gigabit connection.

However, it doesn't go into any detail as to exactly how it determines which jacks are and which ones are not in gigabit mode. So, the router may be looking at some odd informational bit somewhere that the command you gave me for the interface information isn't also using. Dunno...

It is suspicious though that the actual speed of the exact same file transter is in fact 15% slower using the Mint OS than it is using the Win7 OS. I suppose we could just assume that the Linux system overhead creates that anomaly and be done with it. I had always just assumed that the Linux system would be leaner and faster that the Windows system. Oh, well...

Thanks again, SuperBoy for responding and trying to help here. But I think I'm just going to go back to using the Win7 OS. There's a couple of other significant differences in the two OS's that are also tipping the scales away from Linux for me. So, yeah. It's been interesting checking out Linux for the past several weeks but the time has come to drive a stake in the ground and I'm finding myself back into Win7 territory with a hammer in one hand and a stake in the other.

:|
SuperBoby

Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by SuperBoby »

As you wish ! Just out of curiosity, what are your other reasons in favor of Win7 ?
Lendal
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Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by Lendal »

Ok, keep in mind that these are things important to me personally. Not intended as arguments for one OS being "better" than the other.

First, with Windows, I can use the Voice Attack program to enable voice commands for my PC. Things like; Mute, Scroll Down/up, Volume Down/Up, Time, Set A Timer For "___" Min, Shut Down The PC, Run "____", etc., etc. All voice activated macros that I can set up individually myself. It works fine with a desk mic so headphones aren't necessary. Lots of flexibility and possibilities.

Second, I'm a fan of MMORPG's. Most of which only play well on Windows. 'nuff said there.

Third, Linux, for all it's talk of great "stability" has lots of stuff that just doesn't work unless you're willing to spend hours searching the internet or hanging out in forums like this. Example? Sure. I have two Synology NAS boxes on my home LAN. One older one with smaller capacity and the other a newer one with lots of storage. Anyway connecting to them is annoyingly "iffy" with Mint, while 100% reliable with Windows. I've spent literally days and days fussing with that issue with no success at all. In fact, so much fussing and poking around with it, that I've completely @#$%-ed up my Mint system and actually had to restore it from backup. Say what you will but that has literally NEVER happened with Windows in all the years that I've used Windows PC's and tablets.

But then, on the other side of the coin, I've totally abandoned Windows 10. I've gone back to Windows 7. Why? Because Windows 10 is a POS! Security holes you could drive a truck through, forced updates that crash your system, tons and tons of "bloatware", and now Microsoft seems to have decided that's it needs to become even more bloodthirstly commercial than it used to be and that's saying something!

So, yeah. Out of all the choices available to me Windows 7 is by far the most attractive.

:?
Niketathakare88

Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by Niketathakare88 »

First, use some online speed-test company to measure your Internet speed.
Usually, there thy monitor your speed with the closest server to your location (pings must be less than 50ms and you download/upload speed must be near your provider offer. Then try also the same test from you mobile phone (there is app there)

If those two ranking are not almost same, then we must check on your local computer from drivers, misconfiguration or some malware.
SuperBoby

Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by SuperBoby »

Lendal wrote: Tue Dec 25, 2018 5:43 pm Ok, keep in mind that these are things important to me personally. Not intended as arguments for one OS being "better" than the other.

First, with Windows, I can use the Voice Attack program to enable voice commands for my PC. Things like; Mute, Scroll Down/up, Volume Down/Up, Time, Set A Timer For "___" Min, Shut Down The PC, Run "____", etc., etc. All voice activated macros that I can set up individually myself. It works fine with a desk mic so headphones aren't necessary. Lots of flexibility and possibilities.

Second, I'm a fan of MMORPG's. Most of which only play well on Windows. 'nuff said there.

Third, Linux, for all it's talk of great "stability" has lots of stuff that just doesn't work unless you're willing to spend hours searching the internet or hanging out in forums like this. Example? Sure. I have two Synology NAS boxes on my home LAN. One older one with smaller capacity and the other a newer one with lots of storage. Anyway connecting to them is annoyingly "iffy" with Mint, while 100% reliable with Windows. I've spent literally days and days fussing with that issue with no success at all. In fact, so much fussing and poking around with it, that I've completely @#$%-ed up my Mint system and actually had to restore it from backup. Say what you will but that has literally NEVER happened with Windows in all the years that I've used Windows PC's and tablets.

But then, on the other side of the coin, I've totally abandoned Windows 10. I've gone back to Windows 7. Why? Because Windows 10 is a POS! Security holes you could drive a truck through, forced updates that crash your system, tons and tons of "bloatware", and now Microsoft seems to have decided that's it needs to become even more bloodthirstly commercial than it used to be and that's saying something!

So, yeah. Out of all the choices available to me Windows 7 is by far the most attractive.

:?
Well I can understand you, in fact there's no "absolute better OS", everyone needs something that suit their needs. But having this kind of feedback is always useful for future improvement. I'm curious about the Synology NAS issue though, but I don't have one myself so I can't investigate.

And yes, for most games Windows is still the OS to go to, but Steam is currently reversing the balance in favor of Linux since they launched their Steam OS, with their recent addition of Steam Play + Proton. (This just for your information, I'm not trying to make you come back to Linux :) )

Thanks for taking the time to write this.
Lendal
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Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by Lendal »

Ah, yes... the Synology NAS situation. Very frustrating! Ok. Keeping in mind that I've been trying hard to suppress my memories of the whole wretched affair. Here's the long sad story as best I can recall it.

I have 3 PC's running Windows 10 and my main desktop running Windows 7. None of these machines have any problem whatsoever with mapping drives to either of my Synology NAS boxes. A couple of well placed mouse clicks and, Viola! All the directories and files appear before your eyes ready and waiting to be copied, pasted, viewed or whatever.

I also have two PC's running Mint Mate 18.3 Sylvia. My experience with connecting to the NAS boxes has been identically futile with both of them.

The Mint PC's both use the Caja file manager (which is fine for most stuff) except connecting to the NAS boxes. Caja has three ways you can try and connect to shares on your LAN. First thing to try is to just click on the Network choice in the left hand navigation pane.

This brings up the Network window which usually contains whatever shares it found on the LAN. It's not consistant, though. Sometimes it finds the shares and sometimes it doesn't. Also, it seems to divide the shares, when it does find them, into two categories. First, it lists the two NAS box icons, usually two or three times each for some unknown reason. Then, it lists a seperate item for "Windows Network", which you can click on, if you want to. It has literally NEVER listed anything there ever! Under any circumstances!

The second thing you can try, when the shares you expected to see aren't there, is to put the smb:\\server\share address in the address field at the top of the Network window. That's usually the second thing you try after nothing comes up in the Network window when you click on the Network option in the first place. That, however, has never actually shown anything that wasn't there in the first place and so has been completely useless for me.

The third thing to try with Caja is to open up it's file menu and select Connect to Server. You put in the server name or IP address there and, if it finds the server, It consistently returns a window asking for your userID and password for the share.

And that's where the main problem appears. Caja won't accept any userID and password. No matter what you put in there, it gives you an 'incorrect ID/password' error and let's you try again. Endlessly. This problem applies to all three options above because the first two options will randomly show shares on the network for the two NAS boxes but, when you click on them, it comes back with the userID/PW error. And just to rub it in, the first two methods aren't consistent in showing or not showing the various shares.

So, I researched it as best I could and installed and later removed various bits and pieces of Linux network sharing 'stuff'. Tons of SAMBA and CIFS stuff that comes up in the Software manager when you search for it and/or appears in various helpful posts around the internet Linux/Mint forum world. None of it worked, though

It was somewhere about that time that I stuffed up the Mint OS properly and had to completely restore it from a backup image. My cat learned a few new words she'd never heard before during those dark hours.

Anyway, I eventually came to the conclusion that Linux had it's own way of finding as well as then authenticating to network shares. It finally seemed to come down to the fact that Mint wouldn't connect to, or sometimes even show, a share on one or the other of the NAS boxes if the user ID I was using had been signed into the NAS box lately.

Or so I thought. But then I found that even when I carefully logged out before disconnecting and even cleared the file manager's cache on the NAS box, the authentication was still far from consistently successful. At that point, I gave up the effort.

The cat and I returned to the comfy desk chair in front of the Win7 PC and things have been purring along nicely over there ever since. Thank you very much, Mr. Gates.

I warned you it was going to be a long sad story. If you got this far, it's your own fault. Don't blame me...

:|
SuperBoby

Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by SuperBoby »

Lendal wrote: Sat Jan 05, 2019 9:17 pmAnd that's where the main problem appears. Caja won't accept any userID and password. No matter what you put in there, it gives you an 'incorrect ID/password' error and let's you try again. Endlessly.
After a bit of research, it does not look unsolvable to me. If you ever want to give it a new try, don't hesitate to come back to this forum :wink:
Lendal
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Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by Lendal »

I won't abandon Linux, SuperBoby. You've been very helpful and supportive, which I've found to be typical of most Linux users.

I'll just give it a rest for a couple of months or maybe a year or two. And then next time around I may give Ubuntu another go instead of Mint. One of these days they'll get that fugly interface straightened out over there.

Ironically, the best thing about Linux these days is Windows 10. I don't know if you've ever tried to go to the official Microsoft forums for their technical help or not but they are an especially useless and annoying lot. Always asking for more information while offering tons of sympathy but never actually providing any useful help.

So, yeah. Whenever you get really frustrated with your Linux install, go check out the Microsoft support forum. It's quite entertaining when you don't actually need any of their 'support' or have a problem for them to solve.

:?
SuperBoby

Re: Slow Cabled Ethernet Connection

Post by SuperBoby »

I actually tried Windows 10 on one of my PCs, for something like 3 days. And I reverted back to Windows 7. The reason ? Automatic updates that you can't disable. WHY ?! :shock: Even Apple doesn't do that. They give annoying notifications, but they don't force you into it...

(There are other reasons too, like the whole built-in spyware things... *shudder*)

You know, I actually think that in the upcoming years, we may witness a rise of Linux usage among non-initiated people on PC. We may see a lot more manufacturers giving a try at pre-installed Linux distros. IMO, Google and Steam are going to help a lot in this direction. If that ever happens, Linux support should improve a lot on all levels. Let's hope for the best !
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