Topic: [Unresolved] Poor speeds with RT2800 drv and external wifi USB antenna

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Post #1

rmacielalves

26 Jun 2017, 00:03

Hi all!

I get the internet from a wireless ISP with an external antenna. The signal keeps between -65dB and -69dB.

USB External Antenna --> TL-WR842NDV1 --> devices

I've been trying to improve my signal, but the RX always stays at 1Mbps-2Mbps (40kB/s ~ 100kB/s download rate) sometimes jumps to 11Mbps (300kb/s ~ 400kB/s download rate) for a few seconds then drop again.
Reconnecting gives me a nice boost for a minute, then the speed drops again.

Plugging the USB antenna directly into PC (Windows 10) I get better speeds and stability (stays at 48Mbps all the time, 500kB/s ~ 700kB/s download rate) than plugging into router USB.

My guesses are the drivers, since Windows drivers are different from *nix, or the router can't supply enough power to keep a stable signal.
I have to use a passive HUB to get the antenna working on the router since the router itself refuses to recognizes the antenna directly.

Any clue?

OpenWRT version:

Model            TP-Link TL-WR842N/ND v1
Firmware Version    OpenWrt Chaos Calmer 15.05.1 / LuCI 15.05-149-g0d8bbd2 Release (git-15.363.78009-956be55)
Kernel Version        3.18.23

USB Drivers:

kmod-lib-crc-itu-t
kmod-rt2x00-lib
kmod-rt2x00-usb
kmod-rt2800-lib
kmod-rt2800-usb

USB lsusb

root@OpenWrt:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 148f:2070 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT2070 Wireless Adapter
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

USB dmesg

Thu Jun 25 18:41:17 2017 kern.info kernel: [  684.960000] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 23 using ehci-platform
Thu Jun 25 18:41:18 2017 kern.info kernel: [  685.110000] hub 1-1:1.0: USB hub found
Thu Jun 25 18:41:18 2017 kern.info kernel: [  685.110000] hub 1-1:1.0: 4 ports detected
Thu Jun 25 18:41:22 2017 kern.info kernel: [  689.390000] usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 24 using ehci-platform
Thu Jun 25 18:41:22 2017 kern.info kernel: [  689.630000] usb 1-1.1: reset high-speed USB device number 24 using ehci-platform
Thu Jun 25 18:41:22 2017 kern.info kernel: [  689.760000] ieee80211 phy1: rt2x00_set_rt: Info - RT chipset 3070, rev 0201 detected
Thu Jun 25 18:41:22 2017 kern.info kernel: [  689.790000] ieee80211 phy1: rt2x00_set_rf: Info - RF chipset 0006 detected
Thu Jun 25 18:41:22 2017 kern.debug kernel: [  689.800000] ieee80211 phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'

PHY Info

root@OpenWrt:~# iw phy phy2 info
Wiphy phy2
        max # scan SSIDs: 4
        max scan IEs length: 2285 bytes
        Retry short limit: 7
        Retry long limit: 4
        Coverage class: 0 (up to 0m)
        Available Antennas: TX 0 RX 0
        Supported interface modes:
                 * IBSS
                 * managed
                 * AP
                 * AP/VLAN
                 * WDS
                 * monitor
                 * mesh point
        Band 1:
                Frequencies:
                        * 2412 MHz [1] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2417 MHz [2] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2422 MHz [3] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2427 MHz [4] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2432 MHz [5] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2437 MHz [6] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2442 MHz [7] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2447 MHz [8] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2452 MHz [9] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2457 MHz [10] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2462 MHz [11] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2467 MHz [12] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2472 MHz [13] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 2484 MHz [14] (disabled)
        valid interface combinations:
                 * #{ managed, AP, mesh point } <= 8,
                   total <= 8, #channels <= 1
        HT Capability overrides:
                 * MCS: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
                 * maximum A-MSDU length
                 * supported channel width
                 * short GI for 40 MHz
                 * max A-MPDU length exponent
                 * min MPDU start spacing
root@OpenWrt:~#

Link info

Connected to xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx (on wlan2)
        SSID: [REDACTED]
        freq: 2412
        RX: 844269296 bytes (745511 packets)
        TX: 58334751 bytes (590279 packets)
        signal: -69 dBm
        tx bitrate: 24.0 MBit/s

        bss flags:      short-slot-time
        dtim period:    1
        beacon int:     100

Thanks in advance!

Edit Aug 15 2017: Added OpenWRT version and lsusb output.

(Last edited by rmacielalves on 26 Sep 2017, 08:57)

Post #2

rmacielalves

3 Aug 2017, 21:28

Update: Adding nohwcrypt=y in /etc/modules.d/rt2800 seems to improve a lot the connectivity.

Speeds are good now like in Windows with official drivers.

(Last edited by rmacielalves on 18 Aug 2017, 00:15)

Post #3

rmacielalves

15 Aug 2017, 07:00

Unfortunately I'm still getting low RX rate even with nohwcrypt. Just plugged the antenna on a computer and I get 4-5Mbps on speedtest.net, while with the antenna plugged in into router USB I get 800kbps, odd...

Post #4

tapper

15 Aug 2017, 08:21

What about upgrading to LEDE 17.1.2 to see if any changes have bin made to the drivers?

Post #5

anarchy99

15 Aug 2017, 09:20

you are having multiple problems with such a setup. you did not post your openwrt version/revision.

Post #6

mk24

15 Aug 2017, 13:52

It appears that the AP you are connecting to does not support 802.11n, it may be g only hardware. That is a situation that may not be well tested.

Post #7

rmacielalves

15 Aug 2017, 20:23

tapper wrote:

What about upgrading to LEDE 17.1.2 to see if any changes have bin made to the drivers?

Will check about LEDE builds, thanks!

anarchy99 wrote:

you are having multiple problems with such a setup. you did not post your openwrt version/revision.

Sorry, I missed that: Chaos Calmer 15.05.1, added to the first post.

mk24 wrote:

It appears that the AP you are connecting to does not support 802.11n, it may be g only hardware. That is a situation that may not be well tested.

The AP is routerboard device, set to work with G rates. It's a not-so-long range link, approx. 70mts from main AP with visibility (only a tree in front). It's a public wifi offered by my city, which offers nice speeds (6Mbps/6Mbps, measured by speedtest.net) all the time when antenna is plugged on my computer.

Thank you all for the help!

Post #8

rmacielalves

26 Sep 2017, 08:55

Just to let anyone know:

I got bored and tried to test with latest trunk, unfortunately I couldn't get to install necessary packages (xsystem: wget: vfork: Out of memory), so I installed LEDE 17.01.2 instead as suggested by @tapper.

Minor difference, but not what I was expecting.

With the antenna plugged in into a computer (running Windows Server 2016) I get the maximum speed allowed from this access point:

Here is the translated information from netsh:

    Name                   : Externo
    Description            : 802.11 USB Wireless LAN Card
    GUID                   : *snip*
    MAC Address       : *snip*
    Status                  : Connected
    SSID                   : *snip
    BSSID                  : *snip*
    Network type           : Infrastructure
    Radio type             : 802.11g
    Encryption         : Open
    Encoding                 : None
    Connection method        : Automatic
    Channel                : 11
    RX Rate (Mbps)    : 54
    TX Rate (Mbps)   : 54
    Signal                 : 90%
    Profile                : *snip*

However if plugged into router instead, and with LEDE now, I get:

Speed starts at ~4Mbps and slowing down to 1Mbps.

Now you may ask: Why you don't keep your computer to route internet with your antenna? Well, power costs and the computer is a bit damaged (chipset needs reballing, keeps corrupting data/downloads and many other issues with its motherboard)

That's it! If the latest drivers can't solve this mystery, I don't know what can, since it works superb on Windows.

Thank you all who helped.

(Last edited by rmacielalves on 26 Sep 2017, 22:29)

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