AR5523 Wireless Dongle seems slow.(Not any more!)

[BJF]

My newly-revived by muungwana AR5523 wireless USB dongle on fully updated LXDE seems to be slow at sending and receiving data. Could a sympathetic member assist with what to do to verify the data transfer speed and if actually slow, suggest a fix? Thanks.

[Ramchu]

http://speedtest.net/

[muungwana]

what speed are you getting?
what speed do you expect to get

what do these commands give you?

ifconfig

iwconfig

[BJF]

muungwana: This...

[mdm@localhost ~]$ su root
Password:
[root@localhost mdm]# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0B:CD:A5:C3:5C 
          inet6 addr: fe80::20b:cdff:fea5:c35c/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:168 (168.0 b)
          Interrupt:11 Base address:0x8000

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback 
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:70 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:70 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:5880 (5.7 KiB)  TX bytes:5880 (5.7 KiB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:03:2F:30:41:C2 
          inet addr:192.168.2.4  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::203:2fff:fe30:41c2/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:2088 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1886 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:1925466 (1.8 MiB)  TX bytes:211365 (206.4 KiB)

[root@localhost mdm]# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"belkin54g"  Nickname:"localhost.localdomain"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:11:50:EB:B3:77   
          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management max timeout:0us  mode:All packets received
          Link Quality:18/100  Signal level:-84 dBm  Noise level:-96 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.

[root@localhost mdm]#

[muungwana]

your wireless network is called "belkin54g". You should change it to something unique. This factory default name is susceptible to rainbow attack. The changes of somebody using massive amount of computing power to crack your wireless network it too small but it doesnt hurt to be more secure.

your link quality is 18/100, thats 18%. How far as you from the wireless access point? can you get closer and see if the connection is still slow?

[BJF]

We are a bit lax and blase about the router since we are in the middle of a 6.5 acre block of land and there's no road within 400yds of us and it's behind a hill. But you're right.
The router is about 25 feet away from me where I sat and did that test, and through 1 wall. My Asus EeePC and my darling's Compaq C300 can see the router quite well out in her studio about 50yds away and through that same wall and two sets of outside-wall windows as well.
I find that the "new" dongle doesn't perform as well as the "old" one both in speed and range and I suspect that is incurable.

Below is the same -config tests done sat right beside the router:

[mdm@localhost ~]$ su root
Password:
[root@localhost mdm]# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0B:CD:A5:C3:5C 
          inet6 addr: fe80::20b:cdff:fea5:c35c/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:168 (168.0 b)
          Interrupt:11 Base address:0xa000

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback 
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:357 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:357 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:34224 (33.4 KiB)  TX bytes:34224 (33.4 KiB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:03:2F:30:41:C2 
          inet addr:192.168.2.4  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::203:2fff:fe30:41c2/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:190 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:264 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:51478 (50.2 KiB)  TX bytes:47247 (46.1 KiB)

[root@localhost mdm]# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"belkin54g"  Nickname:"localhost.localdomain"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:11:50:EB:B3:77   
          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management max timeout:0us  mode:All packets received
          Link Quality:81/100  Signal level:-44 dBm  Noise level:-96 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.

[root@localhost mdm]#

81% signal at 2 feet!

[muungwana]

earlier today, i moved my desktop and its now practically in contact with the wireless router. Checked signal quality to have an idea of what i was talking about before i reply to you and signal strength said 61/70!!!

signal strength meter and wireless through put seem to be more of an art than a science.

[BJF]

Guess we'll leave it at that then. I have a D-Link router given me by a friend who was having a clear-out. It's a 2.4MHz item with an extension aerial that's about 14 inches long and would probably fry your brain if you were in the same room with it. Might give that a go. Thanks again.

[BJF]

From the Go Figure Dept:

I was getting annoyed at the level of service the dongle was providing following the protracted install. It wasn't near as good as it used to be before I tried to replace it with the later, supposedly better Realtek jobbie. Big Mumbles! So I decided to redo the install. What could possibly go wrong, I thought. So I removed it with Configure>>Remove Connection. Yep, gone. Rebooted, and it installed automagically. Removed it again. Reboot. It reinstalled itself again. But the interesting part is, it now honks along! Sat here in the dining room 10 yards and two walls from the router, signal strength is 34% instead of 12% prior to the removal, and beside the router signal is 98%. Pages load in a fraction of the time. Whatever was choking it has gone. Go figure.

Again thank you Forum for your willing and invaluable help. I'd be lost without you.