wireless signal "weaker" in Linux than Windows

Hi,

I have an occurrence as at the exact same location, wireless behaves
differently depending on whether I am under Windows or Linux, using same
latptop.

In Windows, signal reads as "excellent" (whatever that really means.)

In linux, signal reads as 81% (so I guess less than ideal.)

In Windows, wireless speed is up to par; but in Linux, it lags
substantially upon initial request or query (as in FF for example) and
then, once it finds the signal, it loads pretty much at "normal" speed.

Both firewalls (windows and linux) are off; just using NAT from DSL
Gateway/Wireless Routeur Combo Netopia.

Is there anything I can do to "boost" the signal under Linux?

(I hope to soon replace the Netopia with the ISP modem + a Linksys
WRT54GL with dd-wrt) but it could be a few weeks away.

--
Mandriva Free 2008.1 (X86_64)
KDE - zsh

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:51:03 +0000, someone posting as stef purportedly
wrote:
[color=blue]
> Hi,
>
> I have an occurrence as at the exact same location, wireless behaves
> differently depending on whether I am under Windows or Linux, using same
> latptop.
>
> In Windows, signal reads as "excellent" (whatever that really means.)
>
> In linux, signal reads as 81% (so I guess less than ideal.)
>
> In Windows, wireless speed is up to par; but in Linux, it lags
> substantially upon initial request or query (as in FF for example) and
> then, once it finds the signal, it loads pretty much at "normal" speed.[/color]

FWIW I'm using a 2008.1 wirelessly on an IBM R51. The signal passes
through 4 walls and a great stinking fridge before it gets to me. I get
only 56-61% and notice no problems. I'd be happy with 81%.



--
poking dumbasses in the forehead, till my finger hurts.

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:51:03 +0000, stef wrote:
[color=blue]
> Hi,
>
> I have an occurrence as at the exact same location, wireless behaves
> differently depending on whether I am under Windows or Linux, using same
> latptop.
>
> In Windows, signal reads as "excellent" (whatever that really means.)
>
> In linux, signal reads as 81% (so I guess less than ideal.)
>
> In Windows, wireless speed is up to par; but in Linux, it lags
> substantially upon initial request or query (as in FF for example) and
> then, once it finds the signal, it loads pretty much at "normal" speed.
>
> Both firewalls (windows and linux) are off; just using NAT from DSL
> Gateway/Wireless Routeur Combo Netopia.
>
> Is there anything I can do to "boost" the signal under Linux?
>
> (I hope to soon replace the Netopia with the ISP modem + a Linksys
> WRT54GL with dd-wrt) but it could be a few weeks away.[/color]

I expect they are using different methods to measure the same thing. I'd
be interested in what your /etc/resolv.conf file looks like - an
extraneous entry there could do pretty much what you describe.

> I expect they are using different methods to measure the same thing. I'd[color=blue]
> be interested in what your /etc/resolv.conf file looks like - an
> extraneous entry there could do pretty much what you describe.[/color]
=================================
Even if I don't have a specific problem I often try commands recommended
on this NG ,just for the sake of learning ...

How would you explain the following being root (running MDV2007.1)

[root@localhost frank]# /etc/resolv.conf
bash: /etc/resolv.conf: Permission denied
[root@localhost frank]#

Frank

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:56:50 +0000, Highland Ham wrote:[color=blue]
>
> How would you explain the following being root (running MDV2007.1)
>
> [root@localhost frank]# /etc/resolv.conf
> bash: /etc/resolv.conf: Permission denied[/color]

the command /etc/resolv.conf indicated you want to execute
resolv.conf which does not have the execute bit set, which is correct
as it does not execute anything. It is a configuration file so you
would do a
cat /etc/resolv.conf
to see contents.

[color=blue]
> [root@localhost frank]#[/color]

You may want to consider giving your node a Fully Qualified Domain (FQDN)
name to prevent possible problems in the future.

Two places to change it.

$ cat /etc/sysconfig/network
NETWORKING_IPV6=no
NOZEROCONF=yes
NEEDHOSTNAME=no <==== add this line
NETWORKING=yes
HOSTNAME=wm81.home.test <==== Sets FQDN on boot.


$ cat /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
127.0.0.1 wm81.home.test wm81


Put .test or .invalid on the end of your domain name. FQDN example:
darkstar.milkyway.invalid
^ ----------------
| |
| `------ domain name
`--- node name

Highland Ham wrote:
[color=blue]
> Even if I don't have a specific problem I often try commands
> recommended on this NG ,just for the sake of learning ...[/color]

good :-)

get any of the Linux shell cheat sheets and put it next to your
keyboard. Helps a lot when you're new to Linux

[color=blue]
> How would you explain the following being root (running MDV2007.1)
>
> [root@localhost frank]# /etc/resolv.conf
> bash: /etc/resolv.conf: Permission denied[/color]

You are trying to run the file instead of viewing it. Use any of the
following to view it

less /etc/resolv.conf
more /etc/resolv.conf
cat /etc/resolv.conf

Type "q" to leave the less and more viewers

cheers

Mark

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:51:03 +0000, stef wrote:
[color=blue]
> I have an occurrence as at the exact same location, wireless behaves
> differently depending on whether I am under Windows or Linux, using same
> latptop.
>
> In Windows, signal reads as "excellent" (whatever that really means.)
>
> In linux, signal reads as 81% (so I guess less than ideal.)[/color]

No, 81% is excellent by any standards.

However, there are actually two important parameters that many people
here confuse. One is signal strength, the actual amplitude of the radio
signal, the other is link quality, a measure of how much traffic can pass
across the link. They can both be measured as percentages of maximum,
and can be wildly different.

What actually counts is link quality, of course.
[color=blue]
> In Windows, wireless speed is up to par; but in Linux, it lags
> substantially upon initial request or query (as in FF for example) and
> then, once it finds the signal, it loads pretty much at "normal" speed.[/color]

Sounds like you need to tell FF not to use IPv6 for DNS. Go to
about:config and search for ipv6.

On Sat, 1 Nov 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<gehcan$un0$1@registered.motzarella.org>, stef wrote:
[color=blue]
>I have an occurrence as at the exact same location, wireless behaves
>differently depending on whether I am under Windows or Linux, using
>same latptop.
>
>In Windows, signal reads as "excellent" (whatever that really means.)
>
>In linux, signal reads as 81% (so I guess less than ideal.)[/color]

And neither term means anything beyond Market-Speak. Signal strength
measurements are almost always meaningless (especially in uncalibrated
commodity grade hardware). About the best you can read into the
figures is 'something is there'.
[color=blue]
>In Windows, wireless speed is up to par; but in Linux, it lags
>substantially upon initial request or query (as in FF for example) and
>then, once it finds the signal, it loads pretty much at "normal" speed.[/color]

Ummm... this is not very informative. Wireless speed (or networking
speed) is normally measured by timing the transfer of a compressed
data file (NOT text). "finding" a signal normally refers to the delay
between you turning on the system, and the system being able to
exchange bits with some other host.

I suspect what you are really referring to is typing some URL into a
browser, hitting 'Enter' and waiting until something shows up. There
is actually a lot of stuff happening between those two points, such
as the browser looking in it's cache, not finding anything and sending
a DNS lookup request, once that has been answered, establishing a
connection to the appropriate web server, issuing a GET, and waiting
while the web server figures out WTF and so on.

A more likely problem is that your system is configured for IPv6, and
is first submitting a DNS request for an IPv6 address for that URL.
In spite of the fact that Internet regulators are pushing IPv6, a lot
of systems are out there that don't understand it, and don't respond
properly. Using a packet sniffer such as tcpdump, ethereal or
wireshark, you'd probably see something like

You "AAAA www.zippity.do.dah" -> DNS Server A
DNS Server A "...... huh?" -> You (or maybe no response at all)
You "AAAA www.zippity.do.dah" -> DNS Server B
DNS Server B "...... huh?" -> You (or maybe no response at all)
You "AA www.zippity.do.dah" -> DNS Server A
DNS Server A "... [url]www.zippity.do.dah[/url] is 192.0.2.14"
You "Hello 192.0.2.14" -> 192.0.2.14

whereas your windoze box which doesn't know about IPv6 skips the first
four packet exchanges. Occasionally, you'll see a properly configured
DNS server, and the Linux traffic would look like

You "AAAA www.zippity.do.dah" -> DNS Server A
DNS Server A "AAAA NOTIMP" -> You
You "AA www.zippity.do.dah" -> DNS Server A
DNS Server A "... [url]www.zippity.do.dah[/url] is 192.0.2.14"

where the 'NOTIMP' is the error message that says "I don't do IPv6",
and that error usually is returned instantly (as opposed to waiting
up to five seconds for the server to say "huh?" or the request to time
out). That 'AAAA' query (what is the IPv6 address of) might be repeated
to DNS server B, but things are a lot faster.

Look at the output of 'sbin/ifconfig -a' and see if you have an IPv6
address assigned to the network interface. That's the clue that you
are running into this problem. The solution to that problem is to add
(or set) 'NETWORKING_IPV6=no' in the file /etc/sysconfig/network.
[color=blue]
>Is there anything I can do to "boost" the signal under Linux?[/color]

It's highly unlikely to be a signal strength problem.

Old guy

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<N4Odne0NctNK85HUnZ2dnUVZ8rydnZ2d@pipex.net>, Highland Ham wrote:
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I expect they are using different methods to measure the same thing.
>> I'd be interested in what your /etc/resolv.conf file looks like - an
>> extraneous entry there could do pretty much what you describe.[/color]
>=================================
>Even if I don't have a specific problem I often try commands
>recommended on this NG ,just for the sake of learning ...[/color]

That's good (and that's why people put cut-and-pastes to show the
command and result in posts), but it is often a good idea to look at
the manual page first, just to see what the command may do.
[color=blue]
>How would you explain the following being root (running MDV2007.1)[/color]

I don't see where it was suggested to try to _run_ /etc/resolv.conf
[color=blue]
>[root@localhost frank]# /etc/resolv.conf
>bash: /etc/resolv.conf: Permission denied
>[root@localhost frank]#[/color]

[compton ~]$ file /etc/resolv.conf
/etc/resolv.conf: ASCII text
[compton ~]$ whatis resolver
resolver (5) - resolver configuration file
[compton ~]$

It's not an executable. (Yes, it takes extra knowledge to know about
that man-page.)

[compton ~]$ whatis cat less more
cat (1) - concatenate files and print on the standard output
less (1) - opposite of more
more (1) - file perusal filter for crt viewing
[compton ~]$

As an aside, it's often really risky/dangerous to type commands as root
without knowing what they are.

Old guy

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:30:46 +0000, ray wrote:
[color=blue]
> I expect they are using different methods to measure the same thing. I'd
> be interested in what your /etc/resolv.conf file looks like - an
> extraneous entry there could do pretty much what you describe.[/color]

# Dynamic resolv.conf(5) file for glibc resolver(3) generated by
resolvconf(8)
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND -- YOUR CHANGES WILL BE OVERWRITTEN
nameserver 192.168.1.1



--
Mandriva Free 2008.1 (X86_64)
KDE - zsh

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:10:14 +0100, Mark Madsen wrote:
[color=blue]
> Sounds like you need to tell FF not to use IPv6 for DNS. Go to
> about:config and search for ipv6.[/color]

I did and it is much better now.

Can you please explain what ipv6 is an what turning it off does for FF?
Tx.



--
Mandriva Free 2008.1 (X86_64)
KDE - zsh

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<geivrr$bn9$2@registered.motzarella.org>, stef wrote:
[color=blue]
>Mark Madsen wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Sounds like you need to tell FF not to use IPv6 for DNS. Go to
>> about:config and search for ipv6.[/color]
>
>I did and it is much better now.
>
>Can you please explain what ipv6 is an what turning it off does for
>FF?[/color]

Linux+IPv6-HOWTO, Linux IPv6 HOWTO

Updated: Oct 2007. The goal of this HOWTO is to answer both basic and
advanced questions about IPv6 on the Linux operating system. This HOWTO
will provide the reader with enough information to install, configure,
and use IPv6 applications on Linux machines.

For further details, see my earlier response to your original question.

Old guy

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:41:54 -0500, Moe Trin wrote:
[color=blue][color=green]
>>
>>Can you please explain what ipv6 is an what turning it off does for FF?[/color]
>
> Linux+IPv6-HOWTO, Linux IPv6 HOWTO
>
> Updated: Oct 2007. The goal of this HOWTO is to answer both basic
> and advanced questions about IPv6 on the Linux operating system.
> This HOWTO will provide the reader with enough information to
> install, configure, and use IPv6 applications on Linux machines.
>
> For further details, see my earlier response to your original question.
>
> Old guy[/color]

Sorry, I missed the long post which threaded below this one in my
newsreader.

You are I believe absolutely correct in that my system must be configured
to use ipv6.

Another confirmation of that is I turned off ipv6 in TB as well, and it is
lightning fast now (I use IMAP). I had noticed the sluggishness in
resolving the domain (DNS) but thought it was caused by something else.

So, a BETTER solution, instead of individually turning off ipv6 by
application; is to do it on a system wide basis.

To quote you:

"The solution to that problem is to add (or set) 'NETWORKING_IPV6=no' in
the file /etc/sysconfig/network."

That should turn off ipv6 for the whole system, correct?

If yes, then setting either FF or TB not to use ipv6 in about:config would
be irrelevant. Correct?





--
Mandriva Free 2008.1 (X86_64)
KDE - zsh

stef <notvalid@nomail.nul> writes:
[color=blue]
>On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:10:14 +0100, Mark Madsen wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Sounds like you need to tell FF not to use IPv6 for DNS. Go to
>> about:config and search for ipv6.[/color][/color]
[color=blue]
>I did and it is much better now.[/color]
[color=blue]
>Can you please explain what ipv6 is an what turning it off does for FF?
>Tx.[/color]

IP V6 is a new internet addressing protocol. Instead of only 4 bytes for
the address (2^32= 4 10^9 addresses) it uses 16 bytes. However many
routers, computers do not understand it yet ( It has only been 10 years, so
what's the hurry). thus as mentioned your system asks for ipv6 addresses
first, and only when it gets a few Duh responses does it ask for the ipv4
address. Telling FF to only use IPv4 eliminates that.

On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 02:54:50 +0000, Unruh wrote:
[color=blue]
> IP V6 is a new internet addressing protocol. Instead of only 4 bytes for
> the address (2^32= 4 10^9 addresses) it uses 16 bytes. However many
> routers, computers do not understand it yet ( It has only been 10 years,
> so what's the hurry). thus as mentioned your system asks for ipv6
> addresses first, and only when it gets a few Duh responses does it ask
> for the ipv4 address. Telling FF to only use IPv4 eliminates that.[/color]

Right, I understand.
I'm sure the routeur I use is not recognizing it, or something of the
sort.

Any ideas as to the system-wide solution to turn off/disable ipv6?

add in line:
NETWORKING_IPV6=no
in /etc/sysconfig/network ?



--
Mandriva Free 2008.1 (X86_64)
KDE - zsh

On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:28:46 +0000, stef wrote:
[color=blue]
> On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 02:54:50 +0000, Unruh wrote:
>[color=green]
>> IP V6 is a new internet addressing protocol. Instead of only 4 bytes
>> for the address (2^32= 4 10^9 addresses) it uses 16 bytes. However many
>> routers, computers do not understand it yet ( It has only been 10
>> years, so what's the hurry). thus as mentioned your system asks for
>> ipv6 addresses first, and only when it gets a few Duh responses does it
>> ask for the ipv4 address. Telling FF to only use IPv4 eliminates that.[/color]
>
> Right, I understand.
> I'm sure the routeur I use is not recognizing it, or something of the
> sort.
>
> Any ideas as to the system-wide solution to turn off/disable ipv6?
>
> add in line:
> NETWORKING_IPV6=no
> in /etc/sysconfig/network ?[/color]

I've also seen this fix:

Create a file in /etc/modpinstall ipv6 /bin/true
with the following line in it:
install ipv6 /bin/true

to ensure ipv6 does not get loaded no matter what

from <[url]http://www.g-loaded.eu/2008/05/12/how-to-disable-ipv6-in-fedora-and-[/url]
centos/>

I noticed that ipv6 module was still being loaded by my system even after
adding the NETWORKING_IPV6=no in the /etc/sysconfig/network file
so I went for the other solution as well to give it a shot and it does
seem that now, ipv6 is not being loaded system wide.

I don't know if I did the right thing or overkill, etc.



--
Mandriva Free 2008.1 (X86_64)
KDE - zsh

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 11:08:31 +0000 (UTC), stef wrote:[color=blue]
>
> I've also seen this fix:
>
> Create a file in /etc/modpinstall ipv6 /bin/true
> with the following line in it:
> install ipv6 /bin/true[/color]

That is the recommendation in /usr/share/doc/initscripts/sysconfig.txt
but that gave me errors only seen during boot. Solution used
alias net-pf-10 off
[color=blue]
> to ensure ipv6 does not get loaded no matter what
>
> from <[url]http://www.g-loaded.eu/2008/05/12/how-to-disable-ipv6-in-fedora-and-[/url]
> centos/>[/color]


What works for me on Mandriva 2008.x is adding
alias net-pf-10 off to /etc/modprobe.conf
and I have NETWORKING_IPV6=no in /etc/sysconfig/network even though
/usr/share/doc/initscripts/sysconfig.txt shows it obsolete.

On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:32:22 +0000, Bit Twister wrote:
[color=blue]
> What works for me on Mandriva 2008.x is adding
> alias net-pf-10 off to /etc/modprobe.conf
> and I have NETWORKING_IPV6=no in /etc/sysconfig/network even though
> /usr/share/doc/initscripts/sysconfig.txt shows it obsolete.[/color]

OK.

alias net-pf-10 off is already in /etc/modprobe/comf as is the other line
in sysconfig/network

I note that even after having applied the NETWORKING_IPV6=no fix, lsmod |
grep ipv6 still showed an ipv6 module loaded.

Only after applying the fix described here:
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/55h6ee>

did the system not load any ipv6 modules.





--
Mandriva Free 2008.1 (X86_64)
KDE - zsh

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 16:08:43 +0000 (UTC), stef wrote:[color=blue]
>
> OK.
>
> alias net-pf-10 off is already in /etc/modprobe/comf[/color]


I wonder if you have a carriage return after the line. Check it by doing a
cat /etc/modprobe.conf
and verify your command line prompt is on the next line.
NOT at the end of alias net-pf-10 off
[color=blue]
> as is the other line
> in sysconfig/network
>
> I note that even after having applied the NETWORKING_IPV6=no fix, lsmod |
> grep ipv6 still showed an ipv6 module loaded.[/color]

How odd. I assume you rebooted after changes.

# modprobe -v ipv6
[root@wm81 ~]#


# grep net-pf /etc/modprobe.conf
alias net-pf-10 off
[root@wm81 ~]#

# cat /etc/sysconfig/network
NETWORKING_IPV6=no
NOZEROCONF=yes
NEEDHOSTNAME=no
NETWORKING=yes
HOSTNAME=wm81.home.test

# chkconfig --list avahi-daemon
avahi-daemon 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 16:44:17 +0000 (UTC), Bit Twister wrote:[color=blue]
> On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 16:08:43 +0000 (UTC), stef wrote:[color=green]
>> I note that even after having applied the NETWORKING_IPV6=no fix, lsmod |
>> grep ipv6 still showed an ipv6 module loaded.[/color][/color]

Opps, module is there
# lsmod | grep ipv6
ipv6 241540 21 nf_conntrack_h323

but I have yet to have slow dns look ups via firefox with no firefox changes.