# Wireless Network Card Speed Problem.

## sunade

Hi All:

I am having a new Wireless card installed and correctly installed. The model of the card is(output of lspci):

00:08.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)

I have used the ndiswrapper, and the following is the output of iwconfig:

eth3      IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"ResNet-Hasbrouck"  Nickname:"Broadcom 4318

          Mode:Managed  Frequency=2.427 GHz  Access Point: 00:1A:1E:9D:85:20   

          Bit Rate=24 Mb/s   Tx-Power=19 dBm   

          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:off

          Link Quality=60/100  Signal level=-53 dBm  Noise level=-59 dBm

          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0

          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

But when I tried to download something by using the card, the maximum speed is only 200-300KB/s. I really doubt that my card is working fully. Is there any chance that I can boost the network card speed. Thanks

 :Smile: 

My system:

Linux sophie 2.6.24-gentoo-r4 #5 SMP Fri Aug 22 16:55:35 EDT 2008 x86_64 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ AuthenticAMD GNU/LinuxLast edited by sunade on Sun Aug 24, 2008 2:41 am; edited 1 time in total

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## avieth

 *sunade wrote:*   

> 
> 
> But when I tried to download something by using the card, the maximum speed is only 200-500KB/s. I really doubt that my card is working fully. Is there any chance that I can boost the network card speed. Thanks
> 
> 

 

 :Shocked:  I rarely get over 350kb/s on my wired network. If you're sure that 500kb/s is too slow you could try using the kernel drivers for that device instead of ndiswrapper.

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## sunade

 *avieth wrote:*   

>  *sunade wrote:*   
> 
> But when I tried to download something by using the card, the maximum speed is only 200-500KB/s. I really doubt that my card is working fully. Is there any chance that I can boost the network card speed. Thanks
> 
>  
> ...

 

sorry, I mistyped the number, actually, the speed never goes up to 300Kb/s. 

I have tried to use the kernel driver, but not accomplished. I don't know whether it's the problem of ndiswrapper or something else.

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## bartlm

I suppose you are downloading something from the internet.

So your download speed is limited by the maximum upstream of the opposite site.

Second speed break is the overhead of the used transfer protokol.

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## Sysa

 *sunade wrote:*   

> Hi All:
> 
> ...
> 
> But when I tried to download something by using the card, the maximum speed is only 200-300KB/s. I really doubt that my card is working fully. Is there any chance that I can boost the network card speed. Thanks
> ...

 

0. iwconfig shows that you have 24 Mbps, did you try to check direct (PC to AP) connection speed?

1. What is your ISP connection speed?!

2. Signal is not perfect (just good!) BTW.

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## jcat

 *avieth wrote:*   

>  *sunade wrote:*   
> 
> But when I tried to download something by using the card, the maximum speed is only 200-500KB/s. I really doubt that my card is working fully. Is there any chance that I can boost the network card speed. Thanks
> 
>  
> ...

 

@avieth:  If you're getting on your local LAN using ethernet, then there's something wrong somewhere!   :Wink: 

I assume you guys are talking about internet downloads.  In which case the bottleneck is you ISP connection speed, wires or not or kernel mods will make no difference.

Cheers,

jcat

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## pappy_mcfae

If you want functional ndiswrapper, use anything but 2.6.24 kernels. Try .22, .25, or .26 kernels. Ndiswrapper support is deliberately disabled. There are two articles on this issue: first second

Blessed be!

Pappy

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## IvanMajhen

Which driver are you using? 

b43 support is buggy in 2.6.24 since it first release based on mac80211.

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## avieth

 *IvanMajhen wrote:*   

> Which driver are you using? 
> 
> b43 support is buggy in 2.6.24 since it first release based on mac80211.

 

I'm using 2.6.25 on my laptop with what I'm pretty sure is a Broadcom 4318. I use the b43 driver and firmware recommended by this document. It works very well.

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## pappy_mcfae

 *IvanMajhen wrote:*   

> Which driver are you using? 
> 
> b43 support is buggy in 2.6.24 since it first release based on mac80211.

 

And it remains buggy as of 2.6.26. I know because I am forced to use it on this machine, as ndiswrapper and the .26 kernel doesn't work for my BCM4311. I don't want to go back to 2.6.22.19 (which supports ndiswrapper completely and stably), because I finally got a sound driver with .26 that allows my headphones to shut off the speakers.

So, I had to compromise. This machine works best with b43 |shudder|. The Toshiba laptop's BCM4318 just loves 2.6.26 and ndiswrapper. Go frickin' fig!   :Rolling Eyes: 

There are sometimes that having a pragmatic philosophy is a real PITA.

Blessed be!

Pappy

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## IvanMajhen

It is not buggy for everyone. Ndiswrapper is buggy if it works for 4318 and doesn't for 4311.   :Laughing:  Try wireless-compat.

OMG, almost every post you write in wireless is how good ndiswraper is.   :Rolling Eyes: 

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## pappy_mcfae

Yes, ndiswrapper is FAR superior in every way to the b43 module, except for one, the kernel devs have a serious boner against it. 

That things don't work in 2.6.26 for the machine in question is not amazing to me at all. When you read this article and this one, you find out the truth about ndiswrapper and the shitty deal it's been given by the kernel devs. It's a miracle that it works at all considering the tide of resentment against it.

In my sig, I plainly say, "Whatever works is right." For the machine with the 4311 driver, ndiswrapper no longer works because of the actions of the kernel devs. For the machine with the 4318, it is apparently not a problem as that device remains true to ndiswrapper support. It is not my fault, nor is it inconsistent with my philosophy.

Even though I am forced to use b43 for now, I am looking to 2.6.27 to see if they'll finally bring ndiswrapper support back to where it was in the good old days of 2.6.22.19. Not that I have any illusions that such is, or will ever be the case.

So, roll your eyes all you want. I'm not the one that broke ndiswrapper support. I'm not the one that brought back a less-than-reasonable facsimile of ndiswrapper support to the kernel. Ergo, it's not my fault if something intentionally broken by the kernel devs breaks on my machinery.

Blessed be!

Pappy

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## IvanMajhen

 *Quote:*   

> Yes, ndiswrapper is FAR superior in every way to the b43 module, except for one, the kernel devs have a serious boner against it. 

 

Ndiswrapper and b43/legacy are two different things. b43 is DRIVER, ndiswrapper is just WRAPPER for ndis api and emulator for win kernel. Do you understand this? 

It is ugly thing to emulate some kernel under other kernel, which you don't even know how it works because it is closed, and then run some binary driver under it, for which you also doesn't know how it works, you can't check if there are stack overflows in win driver, (which broadcom had), running 4KSTACKS kernel is risky with ndiswrapper, shared irq's.... It is recipe for disaster. You can't have reliable system with something ugly like this on such low level like kernel/drivers is/are.

You can't use it under PPC/Alpha. Tell me, what should people on PPC/Alpha platform use?

You have to wait when ndiswrapper devs update their code to work under new kernel and being stuck on older kernel, while new kernel has support for new things, like allowing headphones to shut off the speakers. With every new kernel b43 will work, better every time. And it will stay here, always and maintained.

And to who will you then report bug? To broadcom? Hey broadcom! XP driver doesn't work under PPC linux or xp driver makes my linux kernel panics. What should i do? Answer:""

Or you got new wlan card that works only on vista: Hey ndiswrapper devs! When will vista drivers work under ndiswrapper? Answer: When we figure out how to emulate vista kernel.

 *Quote:*   

> Even though I am forced to use b43 for now, I am looking to 2.6.27 to see if they'll finally bring ndiswrapper support back to where it was in the good old days of 2.6.22.19. Not that I have any illusions that such is, or will ever be the case. 

 

Why are you forced? Use ndiswrapper. It is third-party project and they should follow kernel development. Write a bug to them. 

This is sad thing. You are waiting for better ndiswrapper support? I would understand if you are waiting for better broadcom support... which is excellent on 4318.

 *Quote:*   

> In my sig, I plainly say, "Whatever works is right." For the machine with the 4311 driver, ndiswrapper no longer works because of the actions of the kernel devs. For the machine with the 4318, it is apparently not a problem as that device remains true to ndiswrapper support. It is not my fault, nor is it inconsistent with my philosophy. 

 

"Whatever works is right" is nice sig. You can't say that for ndiswrapper. It works (sometimes, not always, not with every kernel and win driver), but how it works is NOT RIGHT. 

Is somebody paying you to advertise ndiswrapper? You have 15XX posts in 8 months and 1/3 of them are how ndiswrapper doesn't work reliably on kernel higher than 2.6.22. If you would whine so much to broadcom I'm sure they would release drivers.

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## pappy_mcfae

Dude, take a chill pill. 

Pappy

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## jcat

Ooooh, handbags at ten paces.   :Laughing: 

What happened to the poor guy that started this thread.  He's probably run off hiding, doesn't want to get hit by the crossfire...   :Embarassed: 

Cheers,

jcat

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## sunade

Hi All:

Sorry that I don't get back to my problem for sometime, I was quite busy recently since the school is going to start very soon.

I totally agree with Ivan's idea. I was always trying to avoid the use of ndiswrapper. I used the b43/legacy driver in the beginning. I can find my device through the dmesg, but there is no way to connect to my wireless network. Then I have switched to the ndiswrapper. But I accidently installed the 32 bit driver for Windows XP. It works under my box, (kind of weird, since my computer is amd64), however, the wireless card dropped very often. Later, I reinstalled the 64 bit XP driver through ndiswrapper which solves the problem of instability. However, the speed is still too slow. I have used the a similar wireless card under windows, the speed can reach to almost 1M/s in the campus. 

The next step, I would like to give b43/legacy driver another try. If that still doesn't work, I will either upgrade or downgrade my kernel. 

I will keep my progress updated. I appreciated all your suggestions and help.

 *IvanMajhen wrote:*   

>  *Quote:*   Yes, ndiswrapper is FAR superior in every way to the b43 module, except for one, the kernel devs have a serious boner against it.  
> 
> Ndiswrapper and b43/legacy are two different things. b43 is DRIVER, ndiswrapper is just WRAPPER for ndis api and emulator for win kernel. Do you understand this? 
> 
> It is ugly thing to emulate some kernel under other kernel, which you don't even know how it works because it is closed, and then run some binary driver under it, for which you also doesn't know how it works, you can't check if there are stack overflows in win driver, (which broadcom had), running 4KSTACKS kernel is risky with ndiswrapper, shared irq's.... It is recipe for disaster. You can't have reliable system with something ugly like this on such low level like kernel/drivers is/are.
> ...

 

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