Poor Wifi Connection: rtl8821ae, using netctl, attemping to optimize

Errant · 2017-05-16 03:11:56

I have encountered poor wifi connection from my desktop to my router after I moved back home for the summer. I noticed the slower speeds when upgrading my system with pacman, which depicted speeds at about 300-500 Kb/s (recently an upgrade I did experiences an average of 150Kb/s). To test my internet connection speeds I have been using speedtest.net and testmy.net.

Arch Linux on Desktop = 0-12 Mb/s
Windows on (Same) Desktop = 30-40 Mb/s
Mac Laptop = 70-110 Mb/s

My desktop build with Arch Linux uses Realtek's rtl8821ae wireless card. My system is dual booted with Windows. The laptop and desktop are next to each other when testing and both using wifi. These results indicate hardware problems, or at least differences, as seen between the difference in Mac wifi crushing the other two. More importantly, the poor performance in arch Linux compared to windows when on the same system indicates software/kernel drivers issues in my arch Linux.

I have no easy access to Ethernet connections in my house and when I return to university, I will unfortunately have no possible Ethernet connection. Therefore, I really need to ensure my wifi is optimized and reliable.

I currently use netctl to automatically join my home wireless network. I use KDE, but do not utilize the typical plasma specific NetworkManager, and have its service disabled. Unfortunately, after all this mess, I am doubtful my netctl set up is 100% perfect, but this may just be paranoia. If anyone has any tips to confirm my netctl set up is faulty, please let me know.

I have done about three days of research since this has occurred last Friday (May 12th), but I have yet to find a promising solution. It appears nearly all Realtek drivers are terrible to work with and as such, the support in Linux is subpar. If anyone has any advice to solving this problem, please share. After my search for a solution, I realize this is a consistent problem that arises for Arch users, so when you inquire about something, or ask me to test something, please explain why so that future readers may understand the troubleshooting process.

What I have tried:

I have tried adjusting the settings of the rt8821ae module in /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8821ae.conf as suggested here. I also set them all to 0, and tried other combinations I do not remember. If you want me to try some specific settings and post results, just ask. If you could tell me what these options even do to the driver, that would also be appreciated. I get the boolean switches and that swenc is encoding, and thus swlps part has something to do with software.
```
options rtl8821ae ips=N fwlps=N swlps=Y
```
I also found the github issues (here) on the repository for Realtek drivers in Linux, which shed some light on the difficulty with Realtek WiFi. I have not used their drivers in that repo, because they are running into the same issues as I am to no avail. I use the standard, appropriate Linux drivers obtained through pacman.
Getting and using the modprobe.d file from Ubuntu as stated here and seeing if it sets the settings correctly for rtl8821ae. There was no change.

I have not tried and am trying to avoid unless absolutely necessary:

ndiswrapper
kernel downgrade

Hopefully Useful Information: (If you need anything more, please let me know.)

At every boot of arch linux I get the following error messages. I typically ignore due to not using Blue tooth, and the ACPI errors were stated by someone to be not critical. Any input on these errors?

[    0.022750] ACPI Error: [\_SB_.PCI0.XHC_.RHUB.HS11] Namespace lookup failure, AE_NOT_FOUND (20160930/dswload-210)
[    0.022758] ACPI Exception: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20160930/psobject-227)
[    0.022795] ACPI Exception: AE_NOT_FOUND, (SSDT:xh_rvp08) while loading table (20160930/tbxfload-228)
[    0.030432] ACPI Error: 1 table load failures, 4 successful (20160930/tbxfload-246)
starting version 232
[    2.742320] usbhid 1-6:1.2: couldn't find an input interrupt endpoint
[   12.851356] hid-generic 0003:1B1C:1B36.0002: usb_submit_urb(ctrl) failed: -1
/dev/sda4: clean, 647615/5349376 files, 15851239/21387264 blocks
[   13.244692] Bluetooth: hci0: Failed to load rtl_bt/rtl8821a_config.bin

snippet from dmesg:

[   13.244239] Bluetooth: hci0: rtl: examining hci_ver=06 hci_rev=000a lmp_ver=06 lmp_subver=8821
[   13.244240] Bluetooth: hci0: rtl: loading rtl_bt/rtl8821a_config.bin
[   13.244691] bluetooth hci0: Direct firmware load for rtl_bt/rtl8821a_config.bin failed with error -2
[   13.244692] Bluetooth: hci0: Failed to load rtl_bt/rtl8821a_config.bin
[   13.245309] Bluetooth: hci0: rtl: loading rtl_bt/rtl8821a_fw.bin
[   13.246233] Bluetooth: hci0: rom_version status=0 version=1
[   13.246240] Bluetooth: cfg_sz 0, total size 17428
[   13.251666] AVX2 version of gcm_enc/dec engaged.

Upon examining full dmesg here, I think it reveals some key information. Unfortuneately, I am still new to arch, so I'll be working to understand everything here myself.

iwconfig

enp0s31f6  no wireless extensions.

wlp5s0    IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"Screaming Trumpets"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: F8:1E:DF:F9:44:BD   
          Bit Rate=72.2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=60/70  Signal level=-50 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:2   Missed beacon:0

lo        no wireless extensions.

enp4s0    no wireless extensions.

iw wlp5s0 info

Interface wlp5s0
        ifindex 3
        wdev 0x1
        addr 4c:bb:58:d9:1e:b6
        type managed
        wiphy 0
        channel 11 (2462 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2462 MHz
        txpower 20.00 dBm

iwlist wlp5s0 scanning

wlp5s0    Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: F8:1E:DF:F9:44:BD
                    Channel:11
                    Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
                    Quality=62/70  Signal level=-48 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"Screaming Trumpets"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                              9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                    Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
                    Extra:tsf=000000ca51c879e8
                    Extra: Last beacon: 4976923ms ago
                    IE: Unknown: 001253637265616D696E67205472756D70657473
                    IE: Unknown: 010882848B960C121824
                    IE: Unknown: 03010B
                    IE: Unknown: 0706555320010B1E
                    IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                    IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: 2D1AAC4117FFFFFF0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 33027E95
                    IE: Unknown: 3D160B000400000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 46050200010000
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101010003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
                    IE: Unknown: DD0700039301720320
                    IE: Unknown: DD0E0017F20700010106F81EDFF944BD
                    IE: Unknown: DD0B0017F20100010100000007

systemctl list-unit-files | grep enabled

autovt@.service                                                        enabled  
display-manager.service                                                enabled  
getty@.service                                                         enabled  
iptables.service                                                       enabled  
netctl.service                                                         enabled  
netctl@wlp5s0\x2dScreaming\x20Trumpets.service                         enabled  
sddm.service                                                           enabled  
systemd-timesyncd.service                                              enabled  
remote-fs.target                                                       enabled

System defaults for rtl8821ae driver:
systool -vm rtl8821ae

Module = "rtl8821ae"

  Attributes:
    coresize            = "217088"
    initsize            = "0"
    initstate           = "live"
    refcnt              = "0"
    taint               = ""
    uevent              = <store method only>

  Parameters:
    debug               = "0"
    disable_watchdog    = "N"
    fwlps               = "Y"
    int_clear           = "Y"
    ips                 = "Y"
    msi                 = "Y"
    swenc               = "N"
    swlps               = "N"

  Sections:
    .bss                = "0xffffffffa14a8480"
    .data               = "0xffffffffa148f000"
    .exit.text          = "0xffffffffa148ce32"
    .gnu.linkonce.this_module= "0xffffffffa14a8140"
    .init.text          = "0xffffffffa111c000"
    .note.gnu.build-id  = "0xffffffffa148d000"
    .rodata.str1.1      = "0xffffffffa148e550"
    .rodata.str1.8      = "0xffffffffa148e710"
    .rodata             = "0xffffffffa148d040"
    .strtab             = "0xffffffffa111f1c0"
    .symtab             = "0xffffffffa111d000"
    .text               = "0xffffffffa1476000"
    __mcount_loc        = "0xffffffffa148e0c8"
    __param             = "0xffffffffa148e790"

---
If this cannot be solved in Arch Linux, then I will and have considered switching out the Nic for an Intel or other version, but I am wary that I will encounter similar issues when trying to set this up.

[EDIT: 2017/5/16 22:31] : Changing writing style to increase readability of post

Last edited by Errant (2017-05-17 02:46:19)

kalyanbabu · 2017-05-16 03:57:19

Hi Errant,

Just to know, you said that speed is low while upgrading the system . Is the speed normal while downloading any files from websites other than arch repos?
I had a similar kind of problem, while downloading from pacman mirrors , its dead slow , but remaining downloads are good.

Errant · 2017-05-16 16:48:45

As stated before, I used speedtest.net and testmy.net to get the download speeds I presented. The speed is slow overall outside of these tests and pacman. I experience delayed speeds in downloading streaming youtube videos, and sometimes even a basic webpage.

If you are experiencing slowness only in your pacman downloads, then it might be beneficial to download and use reflector to obtain the most up-to-date servers with prioritizing the best speeds when you download.

Unfortunately, this does not solve my system wide issue. It bothers me because I did not experience this until I moved it home, and all other devices work fine and I had never experienced this kind of connection speeds earlier when I had this arch machine running at home in the same room. Same router and set up as well. Granted, back then I did use NetworkManager, but I already tried switching back and nothing changed speed wise. I only experienced random signal drops, which seems to be standard with Realtek and arch, from what I've been reading.

I dislike not knowing what is causing this issue.

Last edited by Errant (2017-05-16 16:51:55)

Arch Linux

#1 2017-05-16 03:11:56

Poor Wifi Connection: rtl8821ae, using netctl, attemping to optimize

#2 2017-05-16 03:57:19

Re: Poor Wifi Connection: rtl8821ae, using netctl, attemping to optimize

#3 2017-05-16 16:48:45

Re: Poor Wifi Connection: rtl8821ae, using netctl, attemping to optimize

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