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Tags: 16.04   networking   drivers   wireless   atheros  
Link: πŸ” See Original Answer on Ask Ubuntu ⧉ πŸ”—

URL: https://askubuntu.com/q/998636
Title: Help 6Mb/s WIFI connection speed Qualcomm Atheros Device [168c:0042] (rev 31)
ID: /2018/01/22/Help-6Mb_s-WIFI-connection-speed-Qualcomm-Atheros-Device-_168c_0042_-_rev-31_
Created: January 22, 2018    Edited:  April 9, 2018
Upload: April 8, 2024    Layout:  post
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My connection information also shows 6 Mbps:

$ iwconfig
enp59s0   no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlp60s0   IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"TELUS1213-5G"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.22 GHz  Access Point: 70:F1:96:42:5F:06   
          Bit Rate=6 Mb/s   Tx-Power=17 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:on
          Link Quality=64/70  Signal level=-46 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:81   Missed beacon:0

However speedtest.net reports almost 60 Mbps throughput:

internet speed wifi

Running the same test on an Ethernet adapter rated at 1000 Mbps results in same 60 Mbps Internet download speed. So speed is limited by ISP not by WiFi. Relevant lspci -vv:

3b:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 10)
	Subsystem: Device 0707:2400
	Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
	Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
	Latency: 0
	Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 16
	Region 0: Memory at dd600000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]
	Region 2: I/O ports at d000 [size=128]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: alx
	Kernel modules: alx

3c:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 32)
	Subsystem: Bigfoot Networks, Inc. QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
	Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx+
	Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
	Latency: 0
	Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 137
	Region 0: Memory at dd200000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2M]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: ath10k_pci
	Kernel modules: ath10k_pci

I can’t explain why the iwconfig speed is so low when the real speed is so high. The same results are obtained from other Linux CLI sources:

$ iw dev wlp60s0 link
    (... SNIP ...)
	freq: 5220
	RX: 1421503515 bytes (4545343 packets)
	TX: 131449836 bytes (1061284 packets)
	signal: -55 dBm
	tx bitrate: 6.0 MBit/s

	bss flags:	short-preamble short-slot-time
	dtim period:	2
	beacon int:	100

$ iwlist wlp60s0 bitrate
wlp60s0   unknown bit-rate information.
          Current Bit Rate=6 Mb/s
⇧ Libinput: Change Touchpad 2 finger and 3 finger clicks Where to find power option config file(s) for 17.10  β‡©