Atheros AR9285 wireless poor performance

[Matteo Rossi]

Binary package hint: network-manager

The chip is recognized correctly and connects to the wireless network (802.11g with WPA 2), but connection is very slow even with the computer next to the router

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] Nessun file o directory
CheckboxSubmission: 04e5b427a2a8b9852cdda7df36ef2f13
CheckboxSystem: b633b4f40868d491c2ae5b50030ce6f3
Date: Tue Mar 9 18:50:38 2010
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
IfupdownConfig:
 auto lo
 iface lo inet loopback
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release amd64 (20091027)
IpRoute:
 192.168.0.0/24 dev wlan0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.0.5 metric 2
 169.254.0.0/16 dev wlan0 scope link metric 1000
 default via 192.168.0.1 dev wlan0 proto static
Keyfiles: Error: [Errno 2] Nessun file o directory
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: network-manager 0.8-0ubuntu2
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=it_IT.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-16.24-generic
SourcePackage: network-manager
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-16-generic x86_64

[Matteo Rossi (teo-red90)]

I've seen that iwconfig reports a speed of 1 Mb/s. Anyway forcing it to 54 Mb/s does not produce any result.

[Steven Barrett (damentz)]

I also have the same issue, however, and I'm running Debian.

I did some quick googling and searched through the wireless-testing git repository - does this patch fix it for you?

http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/linville/wireless-testing.git;a=commit;h=5c0ba62fd4b2dce08055a89600f1d834f9f0fe9e

It seems to describe my and your issue.

[Matteo Rossi (teo-red90)]

Sorry, but I'm not a linux expert. How am I supposed to apply that patch?

[Matteo Rossi (teo-red90)]

I downloaded and installed the daily tarball of compat-wireless-2.6 and it seems that the performance seems to have increased.

[Matteo Rossi (teo-red90)]

Anyway, I tested it a little bit more and the network is still much slower than with Windows. How can I check if I applied the patch correctly?

[Matteo Rossi (teo-red90)]

I'm still experiencing lots of problem with the wireless card. Any help?

[Matteo Rossi (teo-red90)]

Using the latest svn version of madwifi plus patch http://madwifi-project.org/attachment/ticket/2391/madwifi-4122-ar9285.patch
increased performance a lot which now is almost identical to Windows'.

Steps to use madwifi:
1. Download http://madwifi-project.org/attachment/ticket/2391/madwifi-4122-ar9285.patch
2. mkdir madwifi, copy madwifi-4122-ar9285.patch to it, enter it
3. svn checkout http://madwifi-project.org/svn/madwifi/trunk/ madwifi_last
4. patch -p0 < madwifi-4122-ar9285.patch
5. cd madwifi_last
6. make
7. sudo make install
8. modprobe -r ath9k
9. modprobe ath_pci

[Ferran (fompi)]

Affected with VPC-CW2X

Thank you, Matteo, #8 worked for me

[Ferran (fompi)]

After 1 hours of network use and 1 hour computer being idle, i'm not connected anymore and having a lot of:

"wifi0: ath_fatal_tasklet: Hardware error;r resetting."

I've also have one

"wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCSIZEDESIRED default value [found=0xd4 (-44) expected=0xde (34)]"

[Matteo Rossi (teo-red90)]

Guys, no improvements yet on ath9k? I have real trouble using madwifi with latest kernel 2.6.35 in maverick, and ath9k performance is not acceptable at all.

[Nathanel Titane (nathanel.titane)]

atheros AR928X not working for me under Gnome/KDE ubuntu 10.10

I've litterally tried everything from BIOS upgrade to daily installs and module loading and kernel changes..

lspci lists hardware and module as running but my laptop switch won't turn blue (HP g60-468ca) and network manager greys out on wireless...

help..

[Bryan Moore (moore-bryan)]

Is there any movement on this? Confirmation, perhaps? This issue is still around and just using Madwifi is a band-aid, not a fix.

[leorojas (leorojas82)]

Thank you Matteo Rossi #8 worked very well for me as well. Slacware 13.1 linux 2.6.33.4, atheros ar9285

[leorojas (leorojas82)]

Actually #8 worked just for the system to create the interface ath0, but wireless network performance is quite bad, slow and unstable. Rather I came back to the new ath9k driver and installed wicd on slackware 13.1.
Now, ath9k is loaded on boot time, wlan0 is then created and wireless network is working properly and fast, just like it used to be on windows.
I am even able to connect through command line (wpa_supplicant and dhcpcd wlan0), using, wifi-radar or wicd, all these methods work very well.

Slackware 13.1 linux 2.6.33.4, atheros ar9285
SOLUTION: ath9k driver

have fun

[Marja Erwin (marja-e)]

Also affects 11.04/Natty.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Marja Erwin (marja-e)]

I can sometimes get a fast connection (10 to 80 kb/sec) but not a stable one (it goes down at inconvenient moments, it sometimes goes down seconds after getting though, etc.)

[Fabio Andrade (fburla-deactivatedaccount)]

This problem still persists in Ubuntu 12.04. It is probably related to the Linux kernel because it happens in a lot of other major distros.

I found a partial solution to my problem. I deactivated the B/G/N wireless mode of my router and enabled G mode only. Might work with N mode only, but I can't afford to do that because I have a device that relies on G mode.

The ath9k driver is broken and some people claim that disabling hardware encryption (how safe is that?) and power management of the wireless device will fix the problem.

As I have noticed, these changes might improve those that have an absolute poor performance or a not very fast Internet connection so they won't notice the lack of higher speeds. The problem must happen differently according to router settings so disabling the driver options might seem to be a fix to some.

In my opinion, the driver is broken, probably relying on undocumented reverse engineering, thus they are presenting problems when working with different routers and wireless modes.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Matteo Rossi, this bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Please do not test the kernel in the daily folder, but the one all the way at the bottom. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested and remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the text:
needs-upstream-testing

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, please comment as to why specifically you were unable to test it and add the following tags:
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

[Matteo Rossi (teo-red90)]

Dear Christopher,

I'm sorry I can't confirm the bug status because my laptop was stolen last year and my new one doesn't have an atheros adapter.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Matteo Rossi, that is most unfortunate your laptop was stolen. This bug report is being closed due to your last comment https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/535222/comments/21 as you no longer have the hardware. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.

[Jonathan Alfonso (alfonsojon1997)]

I'm currently using Elementary OS Luna (based upon Ubuntu 12.04), and it's going TERRIBLY slow. This happens in Ubuntu 9.10, 10.04, 10.10, 12.04, 12.10, and 13.04. I'm stuck using a terrible USB wireless card. Any suggestions?

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Jonathan Alfonso, if you have a bug in Ubuntu, the Ubuntu Kernel team, Ubuntu Bug Control team, and Ubuntu Bug Squad would like you to please file a new report by executing the following in a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

For more on this, please see the Ubuntu Kernel team article:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/KernelTeamBugPolicies#Filing_Kernel_Bug_reports

the Ubuntu Bug Control team and Ubuntu Bug Squad team article:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/BestPractices#X.2BAC8-Reporting.Focus_on_One_Issue

and Ubuntu Community article:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette

When opening up the new report, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

Please note, not filing a new report would delay your problem being addressed as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your understanding.