[SOLVED] Only A(5GHz) and B/G(2.4GHz) Wi-Fi Band available

[Casanova]

Hello everyone, first post and sadly about an issue with fresh install LM 20.1 Cinnamon.
I'm new to Linux Mint, trying do De-Microsoft my life a little.
Really loving this awesome OS, and you guys are great for maintain this forum up and updated
The problem: my wifi download speed is capped to ~37mb (Bit Rate of only 6mb/s). No VPN enable, tested it multiple times on web browser test sites and CLI using speedtest.
I have a isp connection of 240mb for download and 20mb for upload (no problem with upload), i'm able to reach this speed on windows 10 (this same machine, dual boot, secure boot disable, pci power manager turned off), but on LM i can't get this speed connection.
Using it wired have a little better result, of ~56mb, but still far low from the same test using Windows 10 (~242mb).
Upgrading from kernel 5.4 to 5.8 did nothing, the issue persist.
One important thing that i noticed is that, under Network Connections, my Wi-Fi Bands are only A(5GHz) and B/G(2.4GHz), no N/AC available, as you can see in the print bellow, network controller is QCA9377 802.11ac, but looks like this ath10k_pci driver for LM recognize only A and B bands/protocols


https://imgur.com/a/CQFPVww

Here some information:

Code: Select all

iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

enp2s0    no wireless extensions.

wlp3s0    IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"sala"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.22 GHz  Access Point: 60:63:4C:66:91:80   
          Bit Rate=6 Mb/s   Tx-Power=30 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=66/70  Signal level=-44 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:66   Missed beacon:0

Code: Select all

lspci -nnk |grep -iA3 net
]02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 15)
	Subsystem: Dell RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [1028:086f]
	Kernel driver in use: r8169
	Kernel modules: r8169
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [168c:0042] (rev 31)
	Subsystem: Dell QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [1028:1810]
	Kernel driver in use: ath10k_pci
	Kernel modules: ath10k_pci

Code: Select all

lshw -C network
  *-network                 
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: enp2s0
       version: 15
       serial: 3c:2c:32:f7:d4:51
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=5.8.0-48-generic firmware=rtl8168h-2_0.0.2 02/26/15 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=MII
       resources: irq:17 ioport:3000(size=256) memory:a4404000-a4404fff memory:a4400000-a4403fff
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
       vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       logical name: wlp3s0
       version: 31
       serial: 00:05:16:64:d9:75
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath10k_pci driverversion=5.8.0-48-generic firmware=WLAN.TF.2.1-00021-QCARMSWP-1 ip=192.168.2.89 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:131 memory:a4200000-a43fffff

Code: Select all

rfkill list all
0: hci0: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

Code: Select all

ping -s 1472 9.9.9.9
PING 9.9.9.9 (9.9.9.9) 1472(1500) bytes of data.
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=1 ttl=56 time=174 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=2 ttl=56 time=194 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=3 ttl=56 time=217 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=4 ttl=56 time=240 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=5 ttl=56 time=142 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=6 ttl=56 time=142 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=7 ttl=56 time=140 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=8 ttl=56 time=140 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=9 ttl=56 time=140 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=10 ttl=56 time=143 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=11 ttl=56 time=140 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=12 ttl=56 time=141 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=13 ttl=56 time=140 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=14 ttl=56 time=141 ms
1480 bytes from 9.9.9.9: icmp_seq=15 ttl=56 time=144 ms
^C
--- 9.9.9.9 ping statistics ---
15 packets transmitted, 15 received, 0% packet loss, time 14020ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 140.082/158.517/240.410/31.509 ms

Code: Select all

ls /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/
board-2.bin  board.bin  firmware-5.bin  firmware-6.bin

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxpmrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.8.0-48-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa 
  base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: G3 3579 v: N/A serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Dell model: 09NPNP v: A04 serial: <filter> UEFI: Dell v: 1.5.1 
  date: 11/01/2018 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 44.5 Wh condition: 44.5/56.0 Wh (79%) 
  model: LGC-LGC3.553 DELL 99NF291 status: Full 
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.50 GiB used: 2.17 GiB (14.0%) 
  RAM Report: 
  permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-8300H bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Kaby Lake rev: A L2 cache: 8192 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
  bogomips: 36799 
  Speed: 900 MHz min/max: 800/4000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 900 2: 900 
  3: 900 4: 900 5: 900 6: 900 7: 900 8: 900 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 630 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:02.0 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107M [GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile] vendor: Dell 
  driver: nvidia v: 450.102.04 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 1050/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 450.102.04 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.8.0-48-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000 bus ID: 02:00.0 
  IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Dell driver: ath10k_pci v: kernel port: 3000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  Device-3: Qualcomm Atheros type: USB driver: btusb bus ID: 1-7:5 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 78.21 GiB (16.4%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 840 PRO Series size: 476.94 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 164.33 GiB used: 78.07 GiB (47.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda7 
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 96.0 MiB used: 32.8 MiB (34.2%) fs: vfat 
  dev: /dev/sda3 
  ID-3: /home/<filter>/pCloudDrive size: 7.00 GiB used: 108.8 MiB (1.5%) 
  fs: fuse source: ERR-102 
  ID-4: /run/timeshift/backup raw size: 167.46 GiB 
  size: <superuser/root required> used: <superuser/root required> fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/sda7 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 47 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 

Just an example of a Speedtest result:
https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/09a9 ... facb73cb28

Please let me know if you need more info.
Any help is appreciate

Thanks in advance!

[AZgl1800]

Uh,
those are the ONLY two WiFi bands in current use.

What are you looking for?
The Wireless telephone carriers use a whole slew of frequencies, some of which overlap our WiFi bands.

As for the speed, a poor signal strength will reduce the maximum speed possible.

Are you in the kitchen with a Microwave oven next to you?
Those operate in the 2.4 g band, as does Bluetooth on our phone.

searching the 'net, brings these up fast:

Consumer ovens work around a nominal 2.45 gigahertz (GHz)—a wavelength of 12.2 centimetres (4.80 in) in the 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz ISM band—while large industrial/commercial ovens often use 915 megahertz (MHz)—32.8 centimetres (12.9 in).

Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances using UHF radio waves in the ISM bands, from 2.402 GHz to 2.480 GHz, and building personal area networks.

[Casanova]

Thanks, but unfortunately the frenquency interference is not the issue.
No microwave around, only 4 meters away from the router, and from the same place i boot to windows 10 and get full ~242mb connection.
Today i installed and booted LM 20 in windows 10 using virtualbox, got same issue, ~37mb donwload connection with wireless connection :/
Correct me if i'm wrong, but shouldn't the Band frequencys N and AC be available to, instead of only A/B/G?
Any other ideas?

[AZgl1800]

Thanks, but unfortunately the frenquency interference is not the issue.
No microwave around, only 4 meters away from the router, and from the same place i boot to windows 10 and get full ~242mb connection.
Today i installed and booted LM 20 in windows 10 using virtualbox, got same issue, ~37mb donwload connection with wireless connection :/
Correct me if i'm wrong, but shouldn't the Band frequencys N and AC be available to, instead of only A/B/G?
Any other ideas?

Those are not specific bands, it is a different Protocol.

the actual frequencies in use are the 2.4g and 5g frequency bands.

We need a good WiFi guru in here to help you out,
I'm thinking that maybe the WiFi drivers in your Linux install might not be the right ones.

Here is an example of my WiFi hotspots, for me, there are two different T-Mobile Hotspot modems in our home.
This came about because each modem is only allotted 100gB/month of DATA bandwidth....
My daughter likes Netflix and that chews up a bunch of data fast,
and I like to watch YouTube University

when we both were using just a single Hotspot, we exceeded the 100gB limit, and got Throttled back to 128Kbps which is a super PITA. also if one of us is downloading something, the other one wasn't able to do much, as the 4G, 5G signal strength to our home is pretty low.


Note that Protocol is NOT shown, only the Frequencies available ( bands )

WiFi Signals.png (40.3 KiB) Viewed 2458 times

[AZgl1800]

I just went back and reread your first post, where you showed the hardware available.

Code: Select all

Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [168c:0042] (rev 31)
	Subsystem: Dell QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [1028:1810]

To me, it appears the hardware is not capable of the 'N' protocol.
I searched for your hardware and did not come up with much, but this link discusses the issue:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1277359 ... -20-04-lts



when I look at my Network specs, it does not even mention the protocols
But, as this laptop is only 18 months old,

Code: Select all

Network:   Device-1: Intel Wireless-AC 9560 [Jefferson Peak] driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 5000 bus ID: 00:14.3 
           chip ID: 8086:a370 
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel 
           port: 3000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 

I looked for the Specs on my hardware:
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... -9560.html


====================
send JeremyB an email, he is the WiFi guru here.
viewtopic.php?p=1951172#p1951172

he fixed my problems.
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=137362

.

[Casanova]

Thanks a lot AZgl1500, for taking your time helping me.
I'll contact JeremyB.
Like you said, i agree that it might be a driver issue.

[Casanova]

I decided to open my laptop to see the wireless card, and guess what? The model is totally different from Qualcomm QCA9377, actually it is a generic ngff/m2 wifi card
Really strange because i bought this new from Dell online store in january 2019, opened it once just to apply a better thermal compound and clean the cooling system...
Anyway, i'll try to find if this wifi card have drivers for LM, since it works ok on windows 10, or better, will get a Intel ax200 or 210 instead.
Thanks everyone for your support

[AZgl1800]

I decided to open my laptop to see the wireless card, and guess what? The model is totally different from Qualcomm QCA9377, actually it is a generic ngff/m2 wifi card
Really strange because i bought this new from Dell online store in january 2019, opened it once just to apply a better thermal compound and clean the cooling system...
Anyway, i'll try to find if this wifi card have drivers for LM, since it works ok on windows 10, or better, will get a Intel ax200 or 210 instead.
Thanks everyone for your support

My previous laptop, which was a super thinbook by ASUS, had a bundle of WiFi issues, at first it simply would not recognize the card.... Jeremy fixed that for me.

then I opened it up to find out why it only saw 2.4g ???

it had a piece of crap WiFi card in it, not the one spec'd by ASUS....
so someone, sold me a refurb unit

I found the correct WiFi card and wonder of wonders, it was an Intel WiFi card, and 18.3 Cinnamon recognized it immediately and it went to work on 5g

doubled my ability to download back when I had access to a LAN ISP.... feeding a NetGear WiFi router

[JeremyB]

See if the suggestions at https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php ... st13614520 fix it

[Casanova]

Tested with some other drives, didn't work.
Got an intel ax200, installed it, booted, worked like a charm

Code: Select all

lspci | grep Network
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (rev 1a)
casanova@Blackbird:~$ speedtest

   Speedtest by Ookla

     Server: Star Line Telecom - Samambaia (id = 28524)
        ISP: Claro NET
    Latency:    10.51 ms   (0.95 ms jitter)
   Download:   249.05 Mbps (data used: 250.1 MB)                               
     Upload:    21.00 Mbps (data used: 10.8 MB)                               
Packet Loss:     0.0%
 Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/950e8e03-ab1c-4861-9dc3-54be354ea876

This topic can be marked as solved.
Solution: Misinformation about hardware wireless card factory installed, replaced with a new card with much better driver support.