Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

[guv999]

Hi.
I would really appreciate some help with this one. This problem is really frustrating.
My BB speed should be 25 MB down and 2.5 MB upload.
Using a wired connection on my Lenovo 570 laptop I can achieve 24.5MB down using Windows 7 partition and 2.5MB upload. I achieve very comparable speeds using Windows 7 wirelessly as well
Using my Kubuntu partition I only every achieve a maximum of 12 MB download with a wired connection and approx 2.4 upload
On my desktop, which solely runs Kubuntu with a wired connection I can again only achieve a maximum of 12 MB download speed.
To confirm I am using my ISP's own speedtest
Am I missing some sort of configuration in KDE that is slowing the connection down?
Historically I have had no problems with Linux download speeds and this seems to have developed in 11.04 and now 11.10 over the past 2-3 months.
I have ran the speedtest in both Chromium and Firefox just to rule out any browser issues
Further actual download speeds tend support the findings from the speedtests

Really appreciate any help with this one if you need any further information please ask

[Teunis]

Re: Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

Please tell us what network card your computers have.

I assume your reference to earlier speeds include using the same (desktop) computer?
Are you able to get both computers to simultaneously download with 12MB?

[guv999]

Re: Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

Hi
My desktop PC - which solely runs Kubuntu with a wired connection has a Realtek PHY RTL8201EL / 8201CL LAN card.
I have a laptop which has both Kubuntu and Windows 7 partitions has an Atheros 9825 wireless card.
I will check out the impact of simultaneously running the speedtest across both Kubuntu partitions shortly and report back.
Interestingly I used a Mint Gnome live DVD and on both machines achieved downloads at the 24MB mark.

[LinuxRocks]

Re: Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

Hi
My desktop PC - which solely runs Kubuntu with a wired connection has a Realtek PHY RTL8201EL / 8201CL LAN card.
I have a laptop which has both Kubuntu and Windows 7 partitions has an Atheros 9825 wireless card.
I will check out the impact of simultaneously running the speedtest across both Kubuntu partitions shortly and report back.
Interestingly I used a Mint Gnome live DVD and on both machines achieved downloads at the 24MB mark.

Interestingly, I have heard other people complain also about the download speeds in KDE. I have not seen this issue myself, but its not the first I have heard of it.

I wonder if you disable network manager or use wicd. If you disable network manager, you will have to set up ifup/down configs, but its not hard.

Test that too. wicd might be a better choice for you to test with. Make sure you remove the network manager stuff after installing wicd so they don't conflict.

Joe

[guv999]

Re: Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

Thanks for all the advice. So far I am not seeing an improvement.
I tried running speedtests with both Kubuntu installs simultaneously. The result of this is that one machine hogged 12 MB down load, and the second machine completed the test at 12 MB once the first machine finished.
I also installed WCID and removed network manager, and again this has made no difference.
Any other ideas anyone?

[guv999]

Re: Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

I have tried a couple more things today and have discovered the following:
I have now installed Linux Mint Gnome on my PC which has a wired connection.
Once it has been installed I am experiencing the same issues as with Kubuntu. Downloads capped at 12MB.
I have ran it off live CD again, and everything is perfect I get over 24MB download every time
I run Firestarter Firewall on my machine, and have tried disabling it on the off chance of it causing any issues, I have also even changed my ethernet cable just in case.
Throughout all of this my laptop running Windows 7 is getting download speeds of 24MB constantly.
I really am lost and if anyone can advise anything, or requires any further information please let me know
Thanks

[Teunis]

Re: Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

In certain cases there have been problems with WPA encryption, are you in a safe enough location to do the test with WEP or better no encryption at all?
Of course encryption should only play a role in WIFI but you never know until you try...

It's quite remarkable the Live CD runs at full speed but the install does not, have you tested with a fresh install, I mean before attempting any updates including this option during the install?

[oshunluvr]

Re: Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

Curious behavior.

Since more than one flavor of Ubuntu has the same symptoms I presume it's not a desktop issue. If you're inclined, trying a non-debian based distro (Suse, PCLinuxOS, RedHat, Sabayon, etc) would be a good test.

I would suspect some setting that is default on the live version is not making it over to the install. Try detailing system settings from the liveCD sessions: ifconfig, route, /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf, etc, and compare to installed session.

Anyone else have have an idea where to look?

[dibl]

Re: Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

I'd look at the ethernet kernel module(s) that is running in the Live CD session, and then look again at the module(s) in the installed session.

[SteveRiley]

Re: Down Loads Speeds in Kubuntu 50% of those achieved under Windows

I wonder whether we'd see a difference if the wired interface were left unmanaged. To try this, edit the file /etc/network/interfaces and add these lines:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Reboot and then conduct your tests. Let us know your results.