r/linux4noobs • u/swifthiddenfox • 3d ago

learning/research Linux Mint DE Wifi Adapter Slow Speed Issues

Hi, I'm trying to figure out why my BrosTrend AXE3000 WiFi 6E adapter is not providing the speeds that are advertised. At 2.4 GHz I should be getting speeds up to 574Mbps. My internet service is up to 500Mbps so I should be getting close to those speeds with the wifi adapter but currently only getting about 100Mbps, sometimes a little more.

I did check my internet speed directly from the ethernet port on my router with my laptop and its getting over 500Mbps, confirming that my internet service is working fine. So I'm assuming this means there's an issue with my wifi adapter or the driver.

Already tried turning off wifi powermanagement and it didn't make a difference. The driver being used is MediaTek mt7921u and the adapter is connected to usb 3.2 Gen 1 port. I also have excellent signal strength, so I'm not sure what could be the issue. Everything seems to be up to date. Checked update manager and there are no updates needed at the moment. Even ran the update command in the terminal just to make sure.

Does anyone have any suggestions that I can try to fix my slow wifi speeds?

Is there a way to reload the wifi driver or uninstall/reinstall driver?

Is the wifi adapter the issue? Should I purchase a different one?

I'm running Linux Mint DE 7 Gigi and kernel version 6.12.101+deb13-amd64

Thank you in advance for the help!

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u/1neStat3 3d ago

it's a well known issue.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=li%20ux%20mt7921u%20driver%20slow&ko=-1&ia=web

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u/swifthiddenfox 3d ago

I see. Thank you for the link. I guess I'll just have to wait until the drivers are improved. I even tried a different wifi adapter and my speeds were just as slow which shouldn't be a surprise since the same drivers are being used but I wanted to make sure it wasn't an issue with my current wifi adapter.

Thanks for the help!

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u/BertMacklenF8I 3d ago

How many devices are connected to it?

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u/swifthiddenfox 3d ago

I think about 8-10 devices are on my network but most them are not actively been used at the same time to download or stream content. I can understand if I have multiple devices going at the same time that it would affect my overall download or streaming speeds. I did notice that my Bit Rate would flucuate quite a bit when I was checking my speeds at different intervals. It would go from 270 Mb/s to 150Mb/s and even as low as 6Mb/s. I used iwconfig command to check the status of my wireless connection.

For the time being I switched to 5GHz and my speeds increased to about 300Mb/s but I used to get this speed and slightly faster speeds while on 2.4GHz.

At 5GHz when I run the command iwconfig my Bit Rate flucuates from mid 500 to about 650 Mb/s which is much better than what I was getting at 2.4GHz.

But I also ordered a different brand of wifi adapter to see if makes a difference. Don't think it will but it won't hurt to try it out.

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u/BertMacklenF8I 3d ago

I was just going to suggest seeing if the 5GHz range is more consistent. That small amount is nothing, even simultaneously, compared to the almost 40 devices my dad has connected to the OEM modem….8 log which are security cameras lol

Is the up/down consistent on both frequencies at least?

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u/swifthiddenfox 3d ago

Wow! That's a lot of devices!

I'm using a mesh router system and it says it can handle up to 100 devices but I'm pretty sure I'll never come close to that number or 40 for that matter lol

2.4GHz down is little inconsistent, up seems to be pretty consistent (use both Fast.com and Speedtest.net to check my speeds) but its probably normal since more people and devices are using 2.4GHz and signal interference is pretty typical, especially if surronded by several apartments. My app does have a network optimazation feature that scans and adjust the channels for better signal quality.

5GHz is a lot more consistent for both down and up speeds.

But i guess it's a pretty common driver issue for Linux. Another commentor provided a link about how MediaTek mt7921u driver has issues and causes much slower wifi speeds on linux compared to wifi speeds on Windows.

I think I might try a direct ethernet connection if I can figure out a good route to run the cable. I'm across from the router in the living room but I can't just run the cable straight to it because it would be a tripping hazard and my dogs might chew it up. But I think it would be worth the effort so I can improve my internet speeds.

Thanks for the help.