extremely low wifi connection on FC7 but not on Windows

[ispanico]

Dear all,

I have a laptop Asus F3JP with the:
Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
wifi card.

I installed 2 software to control the wifi connection: wifiradar and wlassistant.

The first one is not able to connect to the specifie network name. It even doen't find all the network lines I can reach.
The second one it is able to see the different lines and to connect to the one I choose.

The problem is that once the connection is established, it is extremely slow compare to the
connection form the same place and same computer that I can establish by windows.

I don't understand the reasons for this.
Could you please help me to get the best speed I can with that signal?

Thank you all
Ciao

[stevea]

First - it may not be a wifi problem per se. It's possible your DNS service is messed up.
So as a first test try pinging your WAP router or another local LAN system and compare the times for both OSes.
# ping 192.168.0.1
PING 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.63 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=1.47 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=2.24 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=1.52 ms

If the times are similar it implies that the connection is OK.
If so the try/compare "ping google.com". If thiose times are very
different the examine your /etc/resolv.conf file and compare the
output of "nslookup google.com" on both.
==
If the ping times are significantly differerent ,post the output of
"iwconfig" . You'll get something like:
eth1 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"bigblue"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.447 GHz Access Point: 00:13:10:FB:54:50
Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm Sensitivity=8/0
Retry limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Security mode:open
Power Management:off
Link Quality=77/100 Signal level=-52 dBm Noise level=-92 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:17 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
--
Note the bit rate, link quality, noise, Tx excessive ...

[funtomas]

I am using 3945ABG wireless from intel and my net connection in linux (ubuntu 8.04) is 760/96 kbps in vista there is 1500/256 kbps (download/upload)

dell inspiron 6400 / E1505

driver iwl3945



I am looking here because I always have found answer on this forum when I have been using Fedora

[ispanico]

Hello

so, sorry for the great delay in answering

I can say that I tested the connection and I got
rather high download and upload speed (4000kb/s and 3000kb/s)
and this under linux.
I tried also under Windows in the same way and I got a value slightly lower.
Then I tried to download a file (so I did not surf the web) the last knopix release
and I downloaded at an average of 80 Kb/s under linux.

All this test probably confirm that the connection is good and there is something
wrong somewhere (video driver??) because every time I surf the web (under linux only)
it takes ages to open a normal window...

I really don't understand the reason but this is getting me trouble : I can't use linux at home
since I just have wifi...

Thank you for all your help

[sideways]

Some things to try:

try putting this line first in /etc/resolv.conf

nameserver 4.2.2.2

Does it improve anything? If so then DNS is the problem, if not then remove the line and try a different browser , konqueror or opera, and see if anything improves

[ispanico]

Hello,

so I tried to put: nameserver 4.2.2.2
(I had 192.168.1.1 and I left this line as second line with the comment argument in front # , I don't think it is a problem)
it looks like it is a bit faster but still incredibly slow compare to window..
I tried also with opera and with that it is even slower, I tried also konqueror but it is the same.
I don't have any idea..????

I post here the output for iwconfig:
lo no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID:"Doglia"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.442 GHz Access Point: 00:005:B2:1A:39
Bit Rate=11 Mb/s Tx-Power=15 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
Encryption key:9683-BE98-D5 Security mode:open
Power Management:off
Link Quality=63/100 Signal level:-69 dBm Noise level=-127 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

eth0 no wireless extensions.

pan0 no wireless extensions.

here it it the result for:
ping 192.168.1.1
PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=2.24 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=2.08 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=2.15 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=2.06 ms

and
PING 4.2.2.2 (4.2.2.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=248 time=19.7 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=248 time=18.5 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=248 time=20.2 ms


What should I try more?
Thank you all

[ispanico]

Hello,

so I correct what I said:
before I put the 4.2.2.2 and then I thought I had to logoff and in, so I did it but i didn't know
that it would have restore the 192.168.1.1.
Now I did it again, I put the 4.2.2.2 and the speed is much better. Nevertheless I tried to ping the following:
ping 4.2.2.2
PING 4.2.2.2 (4.2.2.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=248 time=18.9 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=248 time=18.9 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=248 time=19.9 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=248 time=19.6 ms

and
ping 192.168.1.1
PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=2.20 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=2.10 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=2.08 ms

and I see this difference. The 192.168.1.1 gives a faster response time compare to the 4.2.2.2 but I have no problems in surfing now.

Is there any explanation?
Which is my problem exactly and how should I do to have the right number since the beginning in the file
/etc/resolv.conf ?

Thank you a lot

[sideways]

the problem is the dns server settings in your wifi router (which is ip 192.168.1.1) are not good. You should have an admin page for the router (try http://192.168.1.1) and see if there is an option to dynamically load the dns settings from the isp, then reboot the router. Otherwise, if you can only manually edit the dns settings then temporarily set 4.2.2.2 and contact you isp to mention the slow dns problem.

By putting the line 'nameserver 4.2.2.2' first in /etc/resolv.conf that server then becomes the dns lookup, it is just one of many free dns servers you can use. 4.2.2.1 - 4.2.2.6 are all available and easy to remember in an emergency.

It's not really a permanent solution since the availability is not guaranteed, your isp should provide an ip for its own dns service.

And as you noticed you have to manually edit resolv.conf everytime you reboot or restart networking, you can overcome that by editing the ifcfg-wlan0 or if you were using NetworkManager there's also an option to manually set the dns providers. But since it's a temp fix you should try to resolve the issue in your router first.

EDIT
pinging 192.168.1.1 should be much faster than 4.2.2.2 since the former is your local router, only a few meters away.

[ispanico]

Hello

ok so I probably understand but
the question why under windows I don't have this problem still remain
open....

I tried to see which dns under window I have but I could not find it
is there a particular trick to see it?

Why under linux it doesn't get the right dns while under window it does?

Anyway thank you a lot.

[sideways]

If I remember correctly, In windows there's a properties dialog for each network connection, and the dns servers are set in the tcp/ip section (just below the bit where you select dhcp or manual ip)

[ispanico]

Hello,

thank you, I looked there but there is not information about the dns settings,
I mean there are places where I can put a fix number now that the dhcp is selected I have no info about the dns which has been chosen.
I tried to look for it somewhere else in windows but
I think the most important think to know is why under linux the authomatic choice of the dns
is not the correct one....

In any case thank you lot again.

[sideways]

type 'ipconfig /all' at a dos prompt

[ispanico]

Hello,

so with this command I can see the dns but the strange thing is that
the server dns the server dhcp and the gateway has all the same value
192.168.1.1
????
Any explanation?
Then where is the problem Linux/windows

Thank you a lot

[sideways]

I'm not sure, If the windows machine has 192.168.1.1 set for the dns then it doesn't make sense that it is much faster than the linux machine.

If setting 4.2.2.2 in resolv.conf results in much faster browsing in linux then I can't understand why it isn't necessary to change anything in windows (You're positive the windows browsing speed is fast with dns=192.168.1.1?)

Puzzling one that.

[ispanico]

Hello,

Well, at the time I checked the dns with the command ipconfig /all
that is what I found out...
I will check it again better and I will tell you as soon as I will be back home from work.
But I am sure that when I put 4.2.2.2 in Linux everything went really better..
Is there a different way to see the DNS under windows? could that number be simply wrong displayed?

Yes, also to me that I am not an expert looks really strange?!!

Thank you for all I post news later on