included driver r8169 poor performance over RTL8101E Fast Ethernet Chipset

[aldebx]

Ubuntu 7.10 with linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.22 version 2.6.22-14.37
included driver r8169 gets loaded for device with Realtek RTL8101E chipset which is a Fast Ethernet device.

Problem: Ethernet networking has poor performance (with 100Mbps Full Duplex link transfer rates are only ~15Mbps)

Expected: transfer rates ~100Mbps

Workaround: removing the cited r8169 driver and installing by hand r8101 driver from www.realtek.com.tw then loading it via modprobe enables me to achieve transfer rates of ~ 80Mbps

Possible solutions: include driver r8101 into the modules package, remove r8169 driver, fix r8169 driver

Reference: the same misbehavior ascribed to r8169 driver but concerning Gigabit Devices with chipset RTL8111 has been discussed and fixed in Bug #114171 in launchpad.

Thank you!

[cdenley (cdenley-failsafeinc)]

I was having a similar problem with my Linksys EG1032v3. Using the r8169 driver, samba cifs transfers were about 14Mbps. After switching to the driver from the Linksys website (eg1032v3), transfers were back to normal at about 325Mbps. I tried testing it with the hardy alpha3 livecd, but I couldn't get it to boot.

[Neil Jeffery (neilneil2000)]

I also have a problem with the r8101 chipset. I get incredibly poor intermittent connectivity.

At boot the kernel loads the r8169 module and assigns it to the Ethernet port. If I do a rmmod and insmod the 8101 driver it works fine.

I have tried blacklisting the r8169 driver but it seems to have no effect.

[Sergio Zanchetta (primes2h)]

The 18 month support period for Gutsy Gibbon 7.10 has reached its end of life -
http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-7.10-eol . As a result, we are closing the
linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.22 task. It would be helpful if you could test the
new Jaunty Jackalope 9.04 release and confirm if this issue remains -
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/904overview. If the issue still exists with the Jaunty
release, please update this report by changing the Status of the "linux (Ubuntu)"
task from "Incomplete" to "New". Thanks in advance.