[SOLVED] I suspect laptop wireless speed has a ceiling

Michael Piziak · 02-19-2021, 09:13 AM

I recently had an internet speed upgrade to 400 mbps.
My desktop and mom's iphone both reach close to this speed on a speed test.
However, my HP Pavilion 17-g161us tops out at 50 mbps.

Not that it matters much, because 50 mbps is plenty enough speed. Was just curious if the wireless ability of the laptop is limited by it's wifi card, etc....

pan64 · 02-19-2021, 09:44 AM

https://support.hp.com/sk-en/document/c04754321
https://www.centurylink.com/home/hel...d-you-use.html

So probably 150 Mbps is "available", but it may depend on different things as it was discussed on that page.

It can be a driver problem too (probably check /var/log for related info).

also see here: https://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux...-strength.html

Michael Piziak · 02-19-2021, 10:03 AM

What do I type to check /var/log please.

Code:

michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Host Bridge -OPI (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 5500 (rev 09)
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Audio Controller (rev 09)
00:04.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Processor Thermal Subsystem (rev 09)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP USB xHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP MEI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev e3)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #2 (rev e3)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #3 (rev e3)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #4 (rev e3)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP LPC Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SATA Controller [AHCI Mode] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SMBus Controller (rev 03)
08:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 0a)
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ lspci | grep -i broadcom
08:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ lspci | grep -i wireless
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ lspci -vv -s 0c:00.0
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ 
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ lspci -k | more
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Host Bridge -OPI (rev 09)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Broadwell-U Host Bridge -OPI
	Kernel driver in use: bdw_uncore
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 5500 (rev 09)
	DeviceName: Intel(R) Graphics GT2
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company HD Graphics 5500
	Kernel driver in use: i915
	Kernel modules: i915
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Audio Controller (rev 09)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Broadwell-U Audio Controller
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:04.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Processor Th
ermal Subsystem (rev 09)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Broadwell-U Processor Thermal Subsyst
em
	Kernel driver in use: proc_thermal
	Kernel modules: processor_thermal_device
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP USB xHCI Controller (
rev 03)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Wildcat Point-LP USB xHCI Controller
	Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: xhci_pci
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP MEI Control
ler #1 (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Wildcat Point-LP MEI Controller
	Kernel driver in use: mei_me
	Kernel modules: mei_me
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio C
ontroller (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audi
o Controller
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #1 
(rev e3)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #2 
(rev e3)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #3 
(rev e3)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #4 
(rev e3)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP LPC Controller (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Wildcat Point-LP LPC Controller
	Kernel driver in use: lpc_ich
	Kernel modules: lpc_ich
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SATA Controller [AHC
I Mode] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Wildcat Point-LP SATA Controller [AHC
I Mode]
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
	Kernel modules: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SMBus Controller (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Wildcat Point-LP SMBus Controller
	Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
	Kernel modules: i2c_i801
08:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43142 802.11b/g/n 
(rev 01)
	DeviceName: Broadcom BCM43142 802.11 b/g/n 1x1Wi-Fi + BT4.0 M.2 Combo Ad
apter
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company BCM43142 802.11b/g/n
	Kernel driver in use: wl
	Kernel modules: bcma, wl
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL810xE PCI Expres
s Fast Ethernet controller (rev 0a)
	DeviceName: Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet co
ntroller
	Kernel driver in use: r8169
	Kernel modules: r8169
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ 
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ 
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ 
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ sudo lshw -C network
[sudo] password for michael: 
  *-network                 
       description: Wireless interface
       product: BCM43142 802.11b/g/n
       vendor: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:08:00.0
       logical name: wlo1
       version: 01
       serial: 60:6d:c7:e9:a3:c1
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=wl0 driverversion=6.30.223.271 (r587334) ip=192.168.1.224 latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:18 memory:c3100000-c3107fff
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:09:00.0
       logical name: eno1
       version: 0a
       serial: dc:4a:3e:e0:0e:61
       capacity: 100Mbit/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 autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=5.8.0-43-generic firmware=rtl8107e-2_0.0.2 02/26/15 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=MII
       resources: irq:19 ioport:3000(size=256) memory:c3004000-c3004fff memory:c3000000-c3003fff
michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$

pan64 · 02-19-2021, 10:07 AM

would be better: lspci -vv -s 08:00.0

Timothy Miller · 02-19-2021, 10:16 AM

BCM43142...max speed is THEORETICALY only 150 mbps as it's a 1x1 N card. Real world max speeds are often about 1/2 that, and will drop as your signal lessens further from the AP. Also, the drivers for linux for Broadcom aren't the greatest in the world. They're very much non-optimized, although at least they work. If you have AC or AX AP available, you could look into getting an inexpensive wifi card upgrade (Intel 8265AC + BT, 2x2 A/B/G/N/AC, probably cost ~$20) if you wanted faster connection speeds to your AP.

michaelk · 02-19-2021, 10:16 AM

My first guess is that 1x1 Wi-Fi indicates a single antenna, data stream which would limit you to 54 mbps.

But Timothy Miller is probably more correct.

Michael Piziak · 02-19-2021, 10:42 AM

I'm well satisfied with it's speed now, and have no use to upagrade the wifi card, etc....
It's much faster than my 1200 baud modem on my Commodore 64

Code:

michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$ lspci -vv -s 08:00.0
08:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
	DeviceName: Broadcom BCM43142 802.11 b/g/n 1x1Wi-Fi + BT4.0 M.2 Combo Adapter
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company BCM43142 802.11b/g/n
	Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
	Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
	Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
	Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 18
	Region 0: Memory at c3100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: wl
	Kernel modules: bcma, wl

michael@michael-HP-Pavilion-Notebook:~$

pan64 · 02-19-2021, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Piziak

I'm well satisfied with it's speed now, and have no use to upagrade the wifi card, etc....
It's much faster than my 1200 baud modem on my Commodore 64

In that case probably you can mark the thread solved (if your question is answered).