Serval Pro/9.04 Upgrade Question

[Ocean Machine]

I'm all set to have my brand-spanking-new Serval Pro arrive tomorrow, and I was wondering:

Since 9.04 is coming to be coming out in a few days, would there be any problems if I were to just to do a clean install of the 9.04 beta immediately, to avoid having to go through the full upgrade process when Jaunty's officially released? (i.e. will the System76 driver still work etc...)

[thomasaaron]

The System76 Driver will not run on Jaunty yet. We won't release a drive that will run on Jaunty until Jaunty is officially released.

You could install Jaunty now and keep up with updates. However, we probably won't be able to support any issues you may have until the driver is released (as we are still testing).

[Ocean Machine]

So far so good...wireless seems a little slow than it should be, but otherwise all is well! Great computer!

[Ocean Machine]

OK, the wireless is still running a lot slower than it should be. My Vista partition is downloading at speeds probably 3x faster, and I have a Daru2 also on Jaunty that's downloading that fast too. Any ideas how I could speed things up?

[thomasaaron]

What kind of download speeds are you experiencing? And let me know the link to whatever you are downloading.

I'll run some tests on the shop Serval.

[Ocean Machine]

For example, downloading http://mirrors.acm.jhu.edu/isos/ubuntu/jaunty/ubuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso right now on both my Serp5 and Daru2. The Daru2 is downloading at approx. 300 kb/s while the Serp is downloading at 15 kb/s. Both are showing the same signal strength.

[jdb]

For example, downloading http://mirrors.acm.jhu.edu/isos/ubuntu/jaunty/ubuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso right now on both my Serp5 and Daru2. The Daru2 is downloading at approx. 300 kb/s while the Serp is downloading at 15 kb/s. Both are showing the same signal strength.

Compare /etc/resolve.conf between the Daru2 & the Serp5 and see if there is anything extra in the Serp5 file.

jdb

[Ocean Machine]

Compare /etc/resolve.conf between the Daru2 & the Serp5 and see if there is anything extra in the Serp5 file.

jdb

Nope. Both say:

# Generated by NetworkManager
domain WorkGroup
search WorkGroup
nameserver 192.168.2.1

[jdb]

Nope. Both say:

# Generated by NetworkManager
domain WorkGroup
search WorkGroup
nameserver 192.168.2.1

That's sure not the problem.

I don't have any other ideas, but here are a couple of good sites for measuring internet speed.

http://infospeed.verizon.net/speedtest

http://www.vonage.com/support.php?article=497&category=46&nav=102

jdb

[jdb]

That's sure not the problem.

I don't have any other ideas, but here are a couple of good sites for measuring internet speed.

http://infospeed.verizon.net/speedtest

http://www.vonage.com/support.php?article=497&category=46&nav=102

jdb

As soon as I sent that I did think of something else to look at.

Run the command

iwconfig

on both computers and compare 'Bit rate', 'Link Quality', 'Signal level', & 'Noise level' to see if there are any great differences.

jdb

[Ocean Machine]

There was a difference in the bit rate. The Serval shows 11 Mb/s whereas the Daru shows 1 Mb/s. That doesn't sound like that would be the cause.

Only other difference is that the Serval is a 802.11abgn whereas the Darter is a 802.11abg.

The Darter got up to the orange (2M) line on the Verizon speedtest while the Serval only got to the green (256K) line.

[jdb]

There was a difference in the bit rate. The Serval shows 11 Mb/s whereas the Daru shows 1 Mb/s. That doesn't sound like that would be the cause.

Only other difference is that the Serval is a 802.11abgn whereas the Darter is a 802.11abg.

The Darter got up to the orange (2M) line on the Verizon speedtest while the Serval only got to the green (256K) line.

Sometimes the bit rate drops way down to 1M when the link is idle.
At any rate, 11M is way more than 256K so that isn't the problem.

Try pinging google:

ping www.google.com

The icmp_seq numbers should be increasing in sequence, if any are missing it means you are dropping packets.
That will cause re-transmissions & really slow things down.

When you want to stop the ping type control-c

jdb

[Ocean Machine]

Try pinging google:

ping www.google.com

The icmp_seq numbers should be increasing in sequence, if any are missing it means you are dropping packets.
That will cause re-transmissions & really slow things down.

When you want to stop the ping type control-c

jdb

The icmp seq numbers were increasing in sequence without any being skipped.

[jdb]

The icmp seq numbers were increasing in sequence without any being skipped.
You might try booting to a live CD & doing a speed test.
That will tell you whether or not it's a configuration problem.

jdb

[Ocean Machine]

You might try booting to a live CD & doing a speed test.
That will tell you whether or not it's a configuration problem.

jdb

Hm, on a Live session right now. The Verizon speed test only got up to the 512K bar.

[jdb]

Hm, on a Live session right now. The Verizon speed test only got up to the 512K bar.

It doesn't sound like we can blame it on software.

I'm thinking something in the air interface, in no particular order:

1) Interference on the frequency being used.
Is the Daru using the same frequency as the Serval?
If interference was on the Serval xmit frequency it would not show up in the noise level.
If it was on the Serval receive frequency it would show up as a higher noise level.
The more negative the number, the lower the noise level.
I'm seeing -127 dbm on mine.

2) Weak xmit power from the Serval.
The higher the number, the more power.
I'm putting out 15 dbm.
If it is defective, it might not be putting out as much as it says it is.

3) A bad receiver on the Serval.
This would cause it to read a lower signal level.
The more negative the level, the lower the signal.
I'm seeing -36 dbm.
My Link quality is 93/100, the higher the numerator the better.

4) A marginal signal from the wifi box, the Daru might be able to deal with it better.
This could show up as a high (less negative) noise level, a low (more negative) receive level, or poor link quality.

Or any number of things I haven't thought of :(

If you haven't already, you might want to take it somewhere and see if a different access point makes any difference.

jdb

[Ocean Machine]

It doesn't sound like we can blame it on software.

I'm thinking something in the air interface, in no particular order:

1) Interference on the frequency being used.
Is the Daru using the same frequency as the Serval?
If interference was on the Serval xmit frequency it would not show up in the noise level.
If it was on the Serval receive frequency it would show up as a higher noise level.
The more negative the number, the lower the noise level.
I'm seeing -127 dbm on mine.

2) Weak xmit power from the Serval.
The higher the number, the more power.
I'm putting out 15 dbm.
If it is defective, it might not be putting out as much as it says it is.

3) A bad receiver on the Serval.
This would cause it to read a lower signal level.
The more negative the level, the lower the signal.
I'm seeing -36 dbm.
My Link quality is 93/100, the higher the numerator the better.

4) A marginal signal from the wifi box, the Daru might be able to deal with it better.
This could show up as a high (less negative) noise level, a low (more negative) receive level, or poor link quality.

Or any number of things I haven't thought of :(

If you haven't already, you might want to take it somewhere and see if a different access point makes any difference.

jdb

I don't think it can be any of those things. It must be some way in which Ubuntu is communicating with the wireless card. Remember, the Vista partition on the Serval gets normal download speeds over the wireless network.

[jdb]

I don't think it can be any of those things. It must be some way in which Ubuntu is communicating with the wireless card. Remember, the Vista partition on the Serval gets normal download speeds over the wireless network.

Good point, it's a real head scratcher.
What kind of wireless hardware does the Serval have??

Edit:
I just looked it up & it uses Intel 802.11 abg so it's probably 3945ABG.
That's pretty common hardware.

Was it slow before you upgraded, do you have an Ibex disk you can boot to?
You can still download 8.04 from the Ubuntu main page, that would be a good live CD to try.

Does it use the same frequency in windows as it does in linux?
I don't know what utility you use in windows to check that.

jdb

[Ocean Machine]

Good point, it's a real head scratcher.
What kind of wireless hardware does the Serval have??

Edit:
I just looked it up & it uses Intel 802.11 abg so it's probably 3945ABG.
That's pretty common hardware.

Was it slow before you upgraded, do you have an Ibex disk you can boot to?
You can still download 8.04 from the Ubuntu main page, that would be a good live CD to try.

Does it use the same frequency in windows as it does in linux?
I don't know what utility you use in windows to check that.

jdb

Hm, I don't remember; I upgraded almost immediately. I'll give the Hardy live CD a try...

I wouldn't think the frequency could be the issue because my Daru which had the same software settings is working fine...

[Ocean Machine]

Haven't had a chance to try the Live CD yet, but I did try some of the suggestions in this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1139386&highlight=slow+wireless&page=2) thread regarding disabling IPv6 to no avail...

[Ocean Machine]

OK, I tried the 8.10 Ibex Live CD (the distro which shipped with the computer) and there was no improvement in speed.

[jdb]

OK, I tried the 8.10 Ibex Live CD (the distro which shipped with the computer) and there was no improvement in speed.

I'm about out of ideas.
My only remaining question is if any other Servals are having this problem.

jdb

[former_warper]

Mine works fine. I'm reporting 54 Mbs. I also get the same in Sabayon 4.1

[Ocean Machine]

Bumping this thread. Got a new router, which solved the problem. Guess the old one was too old to work with newer wireless cards.