Take the 2-minute tour ×

I am running Ubuntu 9.10 and I am experiencing some fairly dire internet speeds from the same connection that Windows machines have no issues with.

All the help I have found online seems to be aimed at older versions of Ubuntu but I have tried some of them;

I have disabled ipv6 I have edited my sysctl.conf file and added the following lines..

net.core.rmem_max = 16777216

net.core.wmem_max = 16777216

net.ipv4.tcp_rmem=4096 39000 187000

net.ipv4.tcp_wmem=4096 39000 187000

net.ipv4.tcp_mem=187000 187000 187000



But to no avail, if anyone has some times aimed at Karmic Koala, or if there is something I am just missing, I would be very grateful.


I should point out, I am able to get online and perform most web tasks fine, I just notice when performing speed tests and downloading large files.

share|improve this question
Network card model? –  marcusw Feb 5 '10 at 21:55
It is a wireless USB dongle - a Belkin Wireless G plus MIMO –  Toby Feb 5 '10 at 22:08

3 Answers 3

up vote 3 down vote accepted

This is probably not the answer you want to hear, but it's likely that there is no (software-based) solution to this. Wireless drivers are notoriously undocumented for open source development, so very oftentimes the drivers running your dongle are reverse-engineered, hacked-together implementations that stand little chance of performing as well as the Windows drivers (which were developed with the full support and help of the manufacturer). This is true of hardware in general, but for some reason is particularly true for wireless network hardware.

Your best bet might be to get a well-supported under Linux card. Here's a list of hardware that might work better for you.

share|improve this answer

You should try the troubleshooting guide at the Ubuntu help pages.

share|improve this answer
Already looked there thanks, no joy. –  Toby Feb 5 '10 at 22:10

I have ubuntu desktops and laptops here and I see similar issues.

The solution for me has been to use the wired ethernet port. Using wireless seems to invite stalls on large files, as well as worse performance on ping and jitter.

With the wired connection I often see the full rated speed of the cable tv internet service on downloads, about 1.2-1.4 MB/sec.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer


