[SOLVED] Linux wireless TERRIBLE performance on HP Probook 6450b

Red Squirrel · 03-16-2014, 09:15 AM

I accidentally killed the XP install on my work laptop, which is just used as a test/surfing laptop so I decided to put Kubuntu on it instead. It is a Probook 6450b.

First thing I noticed, the wireless has TERRIBLE performance. It is barely usable, even SSH is dog slow. I know it's not the connection because I'm on 12/1 DSL (the DSLAM is literally like 30-50 feet from the modem) and it was not this bad in Windows.

here is a ping -f test just to show how bad it is:

Code:

ping -f -c 10000 192.168.1.1
PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................    
--- 192.168.1.1 ping statistics ---
10000 packets transmitted, 8451 received, 15% packet loss, time 96364ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 1.440/15.303/2127.876/81.856 ms, pipe 24, ipg/ewma 9.637/3.389 ms

I sometimes get 30% or more packet loss even.

Is there anything I can do? From what I read wireless and linux do not mix, so is this something I have to live with? I can probably just buy a wireless bridge and plug into it if worse comes to worse, but it would be nice if there's a way to fix this.

Ser Olmy · 03-16-2014, 09:34 AM

There are issues with some wireless chipsets, mainly because some manufacturers refuse to provide either drivers or documentation.

There are several sub-models of the Probook 6450b, each using a different wireless chipset from either Broadcom or Intel. Which wireless chipset does your particular model have?

Red Squirrel · 03-16-2014, 09:59 AM

Appears to be Intel, here is a lspci output:

I think it's this: 44:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6200 (rev 35)

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82577LC Gigabit Network Connection (rev 05)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 05)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 05)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 05)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev 05)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a5)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 05)
43:00.0 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd MMC/SD Host Controller (rev 01)
43:00.1 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5U2xx (R5U230 / R5U231 / R5U241) [Memory Stick Host Controller] (rev 01)
43:00.3 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 PCIe IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 01)
44:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6200 (rev 35)
ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
ff:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)

rokytnji · 03-16-2014, 10:17 AM

Try lspci -knn to show the driver and maybe sudo dmesg | tail to see if any useful info turns up

or

Go here http://kmuto.jp/debian/hcl/

and it will show which driver you are using when it spits out it's report.

Red Squirrel · 03-16-2014, 10:21 AM

Here's that line:

Code:

44:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6200 [8086:4239] (rev 35)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6200 2x2 AGN [8086:1311]
        Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi

Shows as "works" on that link.

Red Squirrel · 03-17-2014, 02:44 PM

So is there not anything I can do to fix this? If I can't I'll have to go back to XP. Was really hoping to keep Linux. That or I guess I can buy a wireless bridge.

snowday · 03-17-2014, 02:52 PM

Good luck with XP; Microsoft is dropping all support for it in 3 weeks...

I see there are several discussion threads of your exact chipset on ubuntuforums.org so I would check out the excellent information there before giving up.

More info here: http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/iwlwifi

Alternately, you could try a non-Ubuntu distro (Ubuntu has a bad reputation as being rather buggy).

rokytnji · 03-17-2014, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Squirrel

So is there not anything I can do to fix this? If I can't I'll have to go back to XP. Was really hoping to keep Linux. That or I guess I can buy a wireless bridge.

If Kmuto says it works. Then something in your network manager in Ubuntu is not set right maybe by you.
dmesg | tail gives network info.

example from mine which works by the way but I am in Puppy Linux and gave up Ubuntu long ago.

Code:

# dmesg | tail
[   39.309244] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
[   49.201175] acpi-cpufreq: overriding BIOS provided _PSD data
[   99.871464] ieee80211 phy0: rt2x00lib_request_firmware: Info - Loading firmware file 'rt2860.bin'
[   99.893673] ieee80211 phy0: rt2x00lib_request_firmware: Info - Firmware detected - version: 0.34
[  103.942561] wlan0: authenticate with <filter>
[  103.948008] wlan0: send auth to <filter> (try 1/3)
[  103.949933] wlan0: authenticated
[  103.954352] wlan0: associate with <filter>(try 1/3)
[  103.957099] wlan0: RX AssocResp from <filter> (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=1)
[  103.957805] wlan0: associated

I filtered my addresses for this post.

Red Squirrel · 03-17-2014, 03:48 PM

I did not set anything, I just installed and started to use. I don't know how I could have done something, and it's not like it's not working at all, it's just working terribly slow. I was not getting any dmesg output durring that time though.

So is ubuntu known to be buggy then? I suppose I can try a different distro. What would you recommend for a desktop? I usually use CentOS or Debian for servers but Ubuntu is the only desktop centric distro I really know of.

rokytnji · 03-17-2014, 04:08 PM

Try http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=solydxk

The XFCE version is what I went to from Ubuntu. It's pretty solid and beginner friendly also and the forum is pretty helpful also.

Another I like is http://www.mepiscommunity.org/mx It should go final release from rc2 this week.
It is also pretty solid and the Mepis community is one of the best online.

snowday · 03-17-2014, 04:13 PM

You should try some basic troubleshooting steps (like installing the correct "firmware") before you switch distros, in my opinion/experience.

Red Squirrel · 03-17-2014, 04:42 PM

Firmware for what, the network card? I was not even aware I had the wrong one. I have whatever HP put on it when they built it. This is a corporate machine though so I don't really want to play with firmware in case I muck something up, or cause some kind of issue down the line if ever that laptop is taken and redeployed with the corporate image. I'm in a position where I can use it for what I want but I still need to make it ready to be re-imaged with XP if IT decides to take it.

snowday · 03-17-2014, 04:53 PM

Your question suggests you did not read my link in post #7. Your Intel card requires a proprietary "non-free firmware" that is not considered part of the open-source "Linux ecosystem." It is possible that Ubuntu includes this firmware; it is possible they do not; it is even possible they do include the firmware, but it is buggy or they messed up and included the wrong one. I really don't know since I am not an Ubuntu user! I do know there are several users on the Ubuntu Forums asking the exact same question, so I will leave it to you whether or not you wish to pursue that existing knowledge-base.

Red Squirrel · 03-17-2014, 05:03 PM

Hmm, ok, is there a way around that? I really don't want to change the firmware, this PC is not mine, and if ever they need to put XP back on it I need it to work with whatever driver is in the corporate image. Guess I might be out of luck, I'll just have to put XP back on it.

snowday · 03-17-2014, 05:23 PM

You keep twisting our words that we are telling you to "put XP back on it" when I think we are actually encouraging you to do the opposite.

I agree the term "firmware" can be a little misleading in this context; but in fact it will not make any permanent modifications to your computer hardware. It is a software "blob" that is loaded into RAM so the operating system can communicate with your wifi card.

You can read more about the Intel Firmware policies here: http://www.intel.com/support/wireles.../cs-016675.htm

And some general information about wifi in Linux (written for Debian but the same basic concepts will apply to Ubuntu): https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi