Slow WiFi for HP4720s, Ralink RT3090 [SOLVED]

[vn32427]

Hi There

tl;dr -- WiFi works but very slow, whereas Ethernet works fine. Multiple troubleshooters did not help, and I'm not sure about the driver I need

Long time reader, first time writer, and generally new to Linux Mint. I have a relatively fresh install of Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon Refaela, and the WiFi used to work fine, but now it doesn't.
Options considered and eliminated:
- not router as other devices work fine
- not Internet connection as a cable connection is very fast (240mb/s vs. 0.3 mb/s with WiFi).
- system is fully updated

I have read several guides on the subject (eg. https://goo.gl/jiQNhc) but at the moment I'm a bit confused in regards to my physical WiFi card: on the one hand HP says that my model, 4720s, has Atheros 9285 (http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/publ ... -c02057767) but on the other hand some reviews (eg. http://www.notebookreview.com/notebookr ... 0s-review/) says I have the RALINK 3090. Running some commands on terminal say the same, but I consider the possibility that I just got the wrong drivers (not sure how). My BIOS isn''t being too helpful...
So my first question would be: how do I know what card I actually have?

inxi -Fxx says:

Code: Select all

Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 2000 bus-ID: 45:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: 64:31:50:06:88:16
           Card-2: Ralink RT3090 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe driver: rt2800pci ver: 2.3.0 bus-ID: 44:00.0 chip-ID: 1814:3090
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: e0:2a:82:1b:11:52
           Card-3: Ralink usb-ID: 002-003 chip-ID: 148f:1000
           IF: N/A state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A

and also, sudo mintwifi says (I've omitted irrelevant output):

Code: Select all

-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
  -- Ralink corp. RT3090 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe
      ==> PCI ID = 1814:3090
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"Jerusalem"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 64:7C:34:8E:1D:E9   
          Bit Rate=1 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=70/70  Signal level=-23 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:174  Invalid misc:2803   Missed beacon:0

lo        no wireless extensions.

As far as I can tell the settings are "correct" in the sense of disabling encryption key, power management etc.
At this stage I would mostly want to just re-install the driver, but I'm not sure how to do that: where and how do I get the driver for my network card?

Note that most guides and tips refer to non-functional WiFi, but here's the case is a bit different, just slow...

Many thanks for your help -- and let me know if I can post anything else that could provide useful information
- Ehud

[Pjotr]

Shalom Aleichem!

Please generate an overview of your system like this:
- Launch a terminal window (this is how to launch a terminal window);
- make the terminal window full screen, to avoid chopped lines;
- copy/paste this command into the terminal:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

(if you type: the letter F is a capital letter)

Press Enter.

Copy/paste the output in your next message.

[vn32427]

Hi Pjotr,
Thanks for the swift reply!
Here you go:

Code: Select all

System:    Host: MyHost Kernel: 3.16.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) 
           Desktop: Cinnamon 2.6.13  Distro: Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela
Machine:   System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP ProBook 4720s
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 1411 version: KBC Version 57.31
           Bios: Hewlett-Packard version: 68AZZ Ver. F.0B date: 09/16/2010
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i5 CPU M 460 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 10108.7 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 1199.00 MHz 2: 1199.00 MHz 3: 1199.00 MHz 4: 1199.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Park [Mobility Radeon HD 5430/5450/5470] bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1600x900@60.1hz 
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD CEDAR GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1: Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 
           Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Cedar HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5400/6300 Series] 
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1 
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.16.0-38-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 2000 bus-ID: 45:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Ralink RT3090 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe driver: rt2800pci ver: 2.3.0 bus-ID: 44:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-3: Ralink usb-ID: 002-005
           IF: N/A state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 240.1GB (29.0% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: SanDisk_SDSSDA24 size: 240.1GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 212G used: 65G (33%) fs: ext4 ID: /boot size: 236M used: 46M (21%) fs: ext2 
           ID: swap-1 size: 8.44GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0C mobo: 0.0C gpu: 55.5 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 221 Uptime: 2:09 Memory: 1491.1/7840.3MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4 
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.11) inxi: 1.9.17 

EDIT: at this stage, after re-reading the output, I'm pretty much convinced I have Ralink RT3090 and it is (trying) to work with driver: rt2800pci .
Given this assumption I ran lsmod and got:

Code: Select all

Module                  Size  Used by
ctr                    13049  1 
ccm                    17773  1 
rfcomm                 69509  10 
bnep                   19624  2 
binfmt_misc            17468  1 
hp_wmi                 14109  0 
sparse_keymap          13948  1 hp_wmi
dm_multipath           22843  0 
scsi_dh                14882  1 dm_multipath
snd_hda_codec_idt      59632  1 
snd_hda_codec_generic    69011  1 snd_hda_codec_idt
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     47548  1 
intel_powerclamp       18823  0 
snd_hda_intel          30469  5 
coretemp               13441  0 
snd_hda_controller     30228  1 snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec         139682  5 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
snd_hwdep              17698  1 snd_hda_codec
kvm                   452088  0 
snd_pcm               104112  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
uvcvideo               81073  0 
snd_seq_midi           13564  0 
videobuf2_vmalloc      13216  1 uvcvideo
snd_seq_midi_event     14899  1 snd_seq_midi
videobuf2_memops       13362  1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_core         59104  1 uvcvideo
snd_rawmidi            30876  1 snd_seq_midi
v4l2_common            15681  1 videobuf2_core
videodev              153793  3 uvcvideo,v4l2_common,videobuf2_core
media                  21903  2 uvcvideo,videodev
arc4                   12608  2 
rt2800pci              13630  0 
rt2800mmio             20986  1 rt2800pci
rt2800lib              89076  2 rt2800pci,rt2800mmio
joydev                 17393  0 
rt2x00pci              13287  1 rt2800pci
serio_raw              13483  0 
rt2x00mmio             13603  2 rt2800pci,rt2800mmio
btusb                  32497  0 
rt2x00lib              55307  5 rt2x00pci,rt2800lib,rt2800pci,rt2800mmio,rt2x00mmio
bluetooth             446409  22 bnep,btusb,rfcomm
mac80211              652777  3 rt2x00lib,rt2x00pci,rt2800lib
snd_seq                63074  2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
6lowpan_iphc           18702  1 bluetooth
intel_ips              18484  0 
snd_seq_device         14497  3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
snd_timer              29562  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
cfg80211              494362  2 mac80211,rt2x00lib
eeprom_93cx6           13344  1 rt2800pci
lpc_ich                21093  0 
crc_ccitt              12707  1 rt2800lib
snd                    79468  21 snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device
soundcore              15047  2 snd,snd_hda_codec
shpchp                 37047  0 
mei_me                 19696  0 
mei                    87875  1 mei_me
hp_accel               26034  0 
lis3lv02d              20156  1 hp_accel
mac_hid                13227  0 
input_polldev          14607  1 lis3lv02d
parport_pc             32741  0 
ppdev                  17671  0 
lp                     17759  0 
parport                42348  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
dm_mirror              22135  0 
dm_region_hash         20862  1 dm_mirror
dm_log                 18411  2 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror
radeon               1412941  4 
psmouse               106610  0 
i2c_algo_bit           13413  1 radeon
ahci                   34062  2 
ttm                    93588  1 radeon
libahci                32424  1 ahci
drm_kms_helper         61574  1 radeon
r8169                  71694  0 
drm                   311018  7 ttm,drm_kms_helper,radeon
mii                    13934  1 r8169
wmi                    19193  1 hp_wmi
video                  20128  0 

Not sure if it helps, though.

[Pjotr]

You could try the following:

1. Disable IPv6:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... able-IPv61
(item 2.2, right column)

2. The easy generic solutions, which should give you a newer driver for your wireless:

a. Install the latest kernel from the 3.16 series:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... el-updates
(item 3, right column)

Then reboot.

b. When no improvement: install the latest kernel from the 3.19 series.

Then reboot.

c. When no improvement: install the latest kernel from the 4.2 series.

Then reboot.

d. When still no improvement: check for a newer BIOS / UEFI and when available, install it.

Does this help?

[vn32427]

Hey, it works now!!
Step 2.a resolved it. For the record, I had to fiddle with a terminal command to allow the updates (I think it was sudo --configure -a or something like that), but the OS itself told me to do that -- really straightforward.

Thank you so much, I was about to give up on Linux

Cheers,
- Ehud

[vn32427]

Hi Pjotr,

Unfortunately the issue persists -- not sure why I thought it was resolved
I've done all the steps up to updating Kernel to 4.2 (inclusive), WiFi still just as slow.

I'm considering the BIOS updates [http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/publ ... =2020#tab5 and http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/publ ... =2020#tab5] but I'm not sure about this...

1) Are these updates are related to the issue? when I read the details, they don't say anything about the network card.
2) Linux Mint is not on the list of the supported OSs; are we sure it would make a difference?
3) I'm not sure exactly how to update the BIOS; the .EXE files I downloaded seem to be Windows-y

Note that my current BIOS is older than these updates; it's from 2010 and the two updates are from 2011.

If there's a different way to update the Network driver / hardware only?

Thanks again!
- Ehud

[Pjotr]

Try this:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... the-router
(item 2.6, right column)

[Jaydemir]

It might have nothing to do with your OS.

I've seen various laptops have issues with certain wireless channels.

First, is your router dual band? (ie it broadcasts "Wifi 2.4" and "Wifi 5G")

If no, keep reading.

Traditional WiFi uses 11 different channels to broadcast on. I HAVE SEEN laptops that, for example, crawl on channel 1 but internet is much faster on channel 9.

Open your browser. In the URL bar type 192.168.1.1, or 192.168.0.1, or 192.168.10.1 (depending on your router). One of those SHOULD take you to your router settings. Off hand I only know how to get into Netgear routers, and the credentials are admin/password.

Find your wireless options and look for Wireless channel. You should have options of 1 thru 11 (13 and 14 if you're in Europe)

At this point, it's trial and error. Choose a channel, hit apply, and it will kick you off. Sign back on and run a speed test. Wash, rinse, repeat.

If all of them fail:

Create a USB Bootable of any linux distro and run a speed test to see if it isn't some whacky setting on yours. If you get the same result I'd chalk it up to a bad wireless card.

My desktop has a small USB wifi adapter I got on eBay for like 5 bucks. I pull atleast 20Mbps on a regular basis. It was pretty much plug and play on Linux Mint. I'd recommend that as an alternative.

Hope this helps!

[vn32427]

Update: for a long stretch the WiFi was perfectly fine (ie. fast!) but last night again, it dropped to an anguishing ~300bytes per second.

So, I tried the Channel trick -- the router was set to "set automatically [6]", which means that when I encountered the slowness it was on ch. 6.

I changed it to be manual, [7], and voilà! the speed immediately went up to normal (~2mb/s). Did not require a restart!

I'd like to think that was the issue all along, but it's possible there were several "root causes" here.

Hopefully, no more updates; but if it breaks again I might come back here.

Thanks all!

[Jaydemir]

Update: for a long stretch the WiFi was perfectly fine (ie. fast!) but last night again, it dropped to an anguishing ~300bytes per second.

So, I tried the Channel trick -- the router was set to "set automatically [6]", which means that when I encountered the slowness it was on ch. 6.

I changed it to be manual, [7], and voilà! the speed immediately went up to normal (~2mb/s). Did not require a restart!

I'd like to think that was the issue all along, but it's possible there were several "root causes" here.

Hopefully, no more updates; but if it breaks again I might come back here.

Thanks all!

keep me posted. I've worked in telecommunications for years, you'd be surprised how often I run into channel issues.

[vn32427]

Sorry for the tardiness, but this is now resolved

Thank you for your help!