[SOLVED] RaLink RT2500 rev 01 - A better driver than kernel?

[crjackson]

I just installed 8.04 on the kids system. My only complaint is that the kernel wireless driver yields a very slow connection. This leads to online games running slow and complaints.

Is there a way to get full speed out of this wireless card or should I buy a new one? If so, which one will give full 54g performance out of the box?

charles@charles-desktop:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a3)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev a3)
00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation CK804 SMBus (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2)
00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:04.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 AC'97 Audio Controller (rev a2)
00:06.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 IDE (rev f2)
00:07.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:08.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:0a.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:09.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2500 802.11g Cardbus/mini-PCI (rev 01)
01:0c.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev 80)
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV370 5B60 [Radeon X300 (PCIE)]
05:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV370 [Radeon X300SE]
charles@charles-desktop:~$

[jmtdstoc]

I have an Asus WL-107G PCCARD with the RT2500 chip and it works out-of-the-box with Ubuntu 8.04, with perfect stability and performance.
I had some problems with it before because I had a hidden SSID on my access point... after making it visible everything worked perfectly.

Hope this helps you in any way!

[comandrei]

Check you speed (right click on the connection and choose Connection information). If it says anything less than 54Mb/s, open up /etc/rc.local (as root) and add the following lines:

   ifconfig wlan0 up
   iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

Replace wlan0 with you interface name. Worked for me.

[crjackson]

Check you speed (right click on the connection and choose Connection information). If it says anything less than 54Mb/s, open up /etc/rc.local (as root) and add the following lines:

   ifconfig wlan0 up
   iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

Replace wlan0 with you interface name. Worked for me.

It does. It says 1Mb/s and that just doesn't work too well. I'm headed in for work right now, but I will try your suggestions when I get home tonight.

[crjackson]

Check you speed (right click on the connection and choose Connection information). If it says anything less than 54Mb/s, open up /etc/rc.local (as root) and add the following lines:

   ifconfig wlan0 up
   iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

Replace wlan0 with you interface name. Worked for me.

Thanks, that did the trick. I guess I won't be buying that new WiFi card after all

[Feenix3k]

I know sudo makes me root, but how do I open up /etc/rc.local ?

[crjackson]

I know sudo makes me root, but how do I open up /etc/rc.local ?

gksudo gedit /etc/rc.local

[Feenix3k]

I see what I did wrong I had iwconfig wlan0 rate 54m instead of iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

[Feenix3k]

Check you speed (right click on the connection and choose Connection information). If it says anything less than 54Mb/s, open up /etc/rc.local (as root) and add the following lines:

   ifconfig wlan0 up
   iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

Replace wlan0 with you interface name. Worked for me.

My roommate who is a geek says this locks wireless to the 54M rate. If you are at a place that does b or 11M it may not work. Unless the rate is reset to 11M.

[Bert Mariën]

Check you speed (right click on the connection and choose Connection information). If it says anything less than 54Mb/s, open up /etc/rc.local (as root) and add the following lines:

   ifconfig wlan0 up
   iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

Replace wlan0 with you interface name. Worked for me.

Worked for me as well.
I did at "fixed" after 54M (iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M fixed)

Thanks.