Max 100mbit/s - hardware limit on +5 year laptop? [SOLVED]

[Niels_DJ]

Hi all and happy new year

Upgrading my internet connection from 20 to 200 mbit/s I wondered why the speed test showed 96 mbit/s when measuring cabled with WiFi turned of.
Contacting service desk they asked if my laptop could communicate faster? Using my new Dell job laptop for a speed test on WiFi showed 200 mbit/s and I have to realise that I might not get the full value for money on my old laptop.
Searching in this forum gave me two results - either the driver settings can be changed or the network card is just too old.

I hope I can get advice for the first option but are ready to accept the second.

Below I have copied a standard report - hope it can reveal it.

Br
Niels

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-58-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 
           wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: S400CA v: 1.0 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: ASUSTeK model: S400CA v: 1.0 serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends 
           v: S400CA.208 date: 02/05/2013 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 32.1 Wh condition: 37.1/45.3 Wh (82%) volts: 11.2/11.2 
           model: ASUSTek X402--40 serial: <filter> status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-3217U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge 
           rev: 9 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 14366 
           Speed: 1796 MHz min/max: 800/1800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1796 2: 1796 3: 1796 
           4: 1796 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:0166 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) v: 4.2 Mesa 20.0.8 
           compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:1e20 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-58-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: AzureWave 
           driver: ath9k v: kernel port: f040 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 168c:0032 
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK driver: alx 
           v: kernel port: e000 bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 1969:1091 
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 488.13 GiB used: 241.49 GiB (49.5%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HTS545050A7E380 size: 465.76 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: SanDisk model: SSD U100 24GB size: 22.37 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 21.89 GiB used: 17.31 GiB (79.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb1 
           ID-2: /home size: 40.13 GiB used: 33.05 GiB (82.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda9 
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 3.73 GiB used: 59.4 MiB (1.6%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda2 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Device-1: 1-1.1:49 info: IMC Networks type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 1.1 
           chip ID: 13d3:3402 
           Device-2: 1-1.2:4 info: Sunplus Innovation type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 1bcf:2883 
           Device-3: 1-1.3:48 info: Atmel type: HID driver: hid-generic,hid-multitouch,usbhid 
           rev: 2.0 chip ID: 03eb:881a 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 53.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 3300 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http: //dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:ungoogled_chromium.list 
           1: deb http: //download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Ubuntu_Focal/ /
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //mirrors.dotsrc.org/linuxmint-packages ulyana main upstream import backport
           2: deb http: //mirror.one.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //mirror.one.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //mirror.one.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //repo.skype.com/deb stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list 
           1: deb http: //repository.spotify.com stable non-free
Info:      Processes: 222 Uptime: 2d 5h 38m Memory: 5.70 GiB used: 2.66 GiB (46.6%) Init: systemd 
           v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 7/9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client 
           inxi: 3.0.38 

[AidenJames1995]

Looking at the Network section in the info you provided, both WiFi and Ethernet should be able to do over 100 Mbit/s (WiFi seems to be limited to 300 Mbit/s and Ethernet should be able to get a gigabit/s). The possible limiting factor here might be your switch/router. What's the make/model of either (or both)? That might only have 100 Mbit/s ports. You're going to run at the speed of the slowest link in the chain.

[Niels_DJ]

Thank you replying.

Looking at the Network section in the info you provided, both WiFi and Ethernet should be able to do over 100 Mbit/s (WiFi seems to be limited to 300 Mbit/s and Ethernet should be able to get a gigabit/s). The possible limiting factor here might be your switch/router. What's the make/model of either (or both)? That might only have 100 Mbit/s ports. You're going to run at the speed of the slowest link in the chain.

My router is s Sagemcom F@ST 3890V3 - and I get > 220 mbit/s on both WiFi and cable from my new job pc measured right now - my Linux pc is 42/94 mbit/s for WiFi/cable.

Slowest link does not seem to be the router then?

[Niels_DJ]

Any other ideas for the slowest link?

You're going to run at the speed of the slowest link in the chain.

[antikythera]

what is the txqueuelen value you get from ifconfig for the wired adaptor?

[Niels_DJ]

Is it important that it is connected?
Here is without

enp3s0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
ether 74:d0:2b:70:ff:31 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
device interrupt 19

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host>
loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback)
RX packets 31516 bytes 3314228 (3.3 MB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 31516 bytes 3314228 (3.3 MB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

wlp2s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255
inet6 fe80::e914:dc33:61cf:aa99 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
ether 24:0a:64:02:c4:57 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 778122 bytes 1020569073 (1.0 GB)
RX errors 0 dropped 10145 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 409523 bytes 91838600 (91.8 MB)
TX errors 0 dropped 2 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

[Niels_DJ]

Connected

enp3s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 192.168.0.18 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255
inet6 fe80::c25:bd13:93c7:2f7a prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
ether 74:d0:2b:70:ff:31 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 394 bytes 49568 (49.5 KB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 536 bytes 79794 (79.7 KB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
device interrupt 19

[antikythera]

Okay, it still says Gigabit. But you may need to do the following:

Right Click the Network Manager icon on the panel> open Network Connections> Wireless Connection 1 properties and set Link Negotiation to Ignore. Apply that if you changed it. Then disconnect and re-connect.

[Niels_DJ]

Checked that - it was already set to ignore.

[antikythera]

Okay, wait for an answer from JeremyB then. He may have something to help from his github for your adaptor to get it working better but I'm not sure how valid it will be in 2021 with current kernels.

[Niels_DJ]

Thank you very much for the effort.

[Niels_DJ]

Any new suggestions for an increased speed?
/Niels

[Niels_DJ]

Still an issue for me

[ricardogroetaers]

I wondered why the speed test showed 96 mbit/s when measuring cabled with WiFi turned of.

The commands below respond:
inxi -Niz
sudo lshw -c network
More than that, only the manual for the motherboard or cable network card or your old laptop.

[Niels_DJ]

If I understood correct you wanted the result of the two commands

Code: Select all

Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k 
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link 
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx 
  IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  WAN IP: <filter> 

and

Code: Select all

*-network                 
       description: Wireless interface
       product: AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter
       vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wlp2s0
       version: 01
       serial: 24:0a:64:02:c4:57
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=5.4.0-65-generic firmware=N/A ip=192.168.0.10 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:17 memory:f7d00000-f7d7ffff memory:f7d80000-f7d8ffff
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet
       vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       logical name: enp3s0
       version: 10
       serial: 74:d0:2b:70:ff:31
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm pciexpress msi msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=alx latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
       resources: irq:19 memory:f7c00000-f7c3ffff ioport:e000(size=128)

Neither WiFi nor ethernet have full speed - WiFi 50 mbit/s and Ethernet 100 mbit/s

[ricardogroetaers]

If I understood correct you wanted the result of the two commands

Code: Select all

Network:
    Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx 
  IF: enp3s0 state: down  

and

Code: Select all

*-network                 
         *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet
              capacity: 1Gbit/s
       

Neither WiFi nor ethernet have full speed - WiFi 50 mbit/s and Ethernet 100 mbit/s

Command:
inxi -Niz
It should be used with the cable connection enabled to see the actual speed of the connection at that time.

However the command:
sudo lshw -c network
It shows that the capacity of the cable network card, of the computer to which the command was applied, is 1 Gbit/s, approximately 1000 Mbit/s. Much higher than the contracted internet provider service (200 Mbit/s).

Therefore, I can only assume that:
-the router or switches, which takes the cable connection to the computer, only works at 100 Mbit/s
-the network cable, which connects the router or switches to the computer only works at 100 Mbit/s. Probably a CAT5 cable.

A suggestion would be to purchase a cable faster:
CAT 5E -> up to 1 Gbit/s
CAT 6 -> up to 10 Gbit/s
CAT 6A -> 10 Gbit/s or more
Check that the category nomenclature (CAT) of network cables in your country is the same.

[Niels_DJ]

Of cause it should be cabled ...

Code: Select all

Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k 
  IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx 
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link 
  WAN IP: <filter> 

From my work laptop the speed is measured to 250 mbit/s - the router is not the bottle neck.

[motoryzen]

Of cause it should be cabled ...

Code: Select all

Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k 
  IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx 
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link 
  WAN IP: <filter> 

From my work laptop the speed is measured to 250 mbit/s - the router is not the bottle neck.

--Correct. The router itself isn't the bottleneck.

And you, Niels, are also correct about it having gigabit ethernet ports.

per https://mediacomcc.custhelp.com/euf/ass ... asheet.pdf

x3 1Gbps ethernet ports
x1 2.5Gbps ethernet port ( it's an modem and router all in one or the old school networking hardware term " gateway" ) --

Please post the results of that "inxi -Niz" command without quotes before trying the " manual" speed adjustment method on your wired network connection applet via Linux...and after.

Select that Wired connection from the drop down if it isn't already , select that Cog under it, dealing with the "Link negotiation"...set that to Manual and under that setting about the speed...set that to 1Gb/s, Full Duplex

Now let click that applet on that panel again and disable that wired connection. wait a good 5+ seconds, re enable it. run that "inxi -Niz" There is only one space between inxi and the -Niz .

IF....there are no settings problems in that combo unit, you're not running a VPN ( virtual private network that is much slower in speed than solid one's like PIA, etc), that is the only device on that same network that is running any speed tests what so ever, ( and we've both already confirmed all of your hardware contains no bottlenecks here), and you're 100% sure the ethernet cable from that LM cinnamon PC is cat5e or faster and in good shape.....this should solve it or I can't think of what could.

I just tested this for myself on my LM 20.1 Cinnamon Desktop PC ( asrock micro atx z97 motherboard with a night hawk mode ax...something router ( whatever is the 300 buck router at bestbuy ) with an Arris Modem made to handle up to 2.5Gbps speeds . I manually set my PC's ethernet connection to 100Mb/s. my ookla speed test ( regular stock as well as manually selecting on the site " single" both maxed out around 80 ish Mbps and 90 ish respectively ( I always get slightly faster speed readings from ookla with selecting the single connection type), , then changing the setting back to 1Gb/s, disabling the wired connection..waiting 10 seconds..reenabling it. Waiting until I see the pop up message that my connection is restored, ran the stock and single selection tests at ookla and my full fiber internet speeds are back at 880 ish for stock and over 900 for single.

My point in this exercise is to rule out whether or not in your LM cinnamon PC that the network connection manual adjustment speed settings are actually working correctly. IF they are, and there is no other variable to solve, this should fix the problem.

Otherwise, I question if that cable coming from the combo unit of yours is at least cat5e or better....or only older. Or is there a setting in the settings page of that combo unit that is throttling the speed of that Linux PC via Qos or something else.

Either it's a cable being used or a setting in that Linux Mint Cinnamon PC. That's what I'm betting on. --

[Niels_DJ]

Ok
Before

Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k
IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx
IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
WAN IP: <filter>

After

Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k
IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx
IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
WAN IP: <filter>

So it is simply not possible to set it to a faster speed?

[motoryzen]

Ok
Before

Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k
IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx
IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
WAN IP: <filter>

After

Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k
IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx
IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
WAN IP: <filter>

So it is simply not possible to set it to a faster speed?

-- If you have confirmed you're using a cat5e, cat6 or high number cat cable from that combo unit straight to that Linux PC, then the last thing I can think of is ensuring in your combo unit's settings page that there aren't any qos or other physical lan port limiting settings set or set involving that Linux PC. Remember that just " cat 5 " won't work with Gigabit level speeds. cat5 supports max of 100Mbps where as cat 5e supports up to 1000 Mbps.

Maybe even try a different port if the cable isn't the problem.


Knowing my luck, there is probably something simple I'm missing.