# REALLY Slow 802.11b connection

## Vlad

Let me just start off by saying I've searched the forums (and google) to a decent degree with no luck in finding a topic matching my problem. So if this has been asked before, I apologize in advance.

I'm using a DWL-650 802.11b wireless pcmcia card and a PCI cardbus controller.  

I setup pcmcia per the instructions and have it working. There is one problem, however: I only get ~12KB/sec.  Now, I'm not too far away from my wireless access point; I've tried getting really close to it and have the same problem.  The connection works...I can load up webpages, connect to ftp sites, etc.  The only thing that doesn't seem to be working is my bandwidth!  If anyone has any suggestions and/or ideas on how to fix this, it would be really appreciated. Thank you!

Vlad

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## ttam

The drivers in the kernel default to 2MB/s and as I recall don't allow 11MB/s speeds.

Try using pcmcia-cs and the linux-wlan-ng drivers from linux-wlan.com.

That's the ONLY way I've gotten my DWL-650 to operate at full speed.

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## Vlad

Alright I'll give that a try.  Still though, even if it defaults to 2Mb/s, I should be doing better than 12kB/sec....ah well. I'll download those drivers and give them a shot. Nothing better to do this Sunday anyways. Thanks!

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## chadh

For my orinoco card (orinoco_cs) drivers, I actually have to use the kernel drivers to get 11Mb/s according to iwconfig.  If iwconfig reports 2Mb/s, then the first thing to try is to set the card to 11Mb/s mode with 

```
iwconfig eth0 rate 11M
```

BTW, I only get about 356KB/s or 396KB/s across my wireless network, even when iwconfig is reading 11Mbps.

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## Vlad

Thanks for the idea Chadh.  Unfortunately, I was screwing with my kernel/pcmcia settings and I've ended up totally disabling my ability to connect to my wireless LAN :(  cardmgr keeps telling me it can't find the pcmcia driver in /proc/devices...double checked my kernel config and everything seems like it should be fine; even tried removing all kernel modules/the kernel tree/pcmcia-cs.  

A scan of google revealed a "solution" to my problem; but the solution is totally cryptic and doesn't really explain how to solve the problem (more like what it is).

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