Wifi speed seems slow

[Bill Thorson]

On 1/29/26 10:48, Daniel Vinci wrote:
> What WiFi card does bob have?
klr:
    00:0c.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Gemini Lake PCH CNVi 
WiFi (rev 03)
       Subsystem: Intel Corporation Gemini Lake PCH CNVi WiFi
       Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi
       Kernel modules: iwlwifi

bob:
    01:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. 
RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
       Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac 
PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
       Kernel driver in use: rtw_8821ce
       Kernel modules: rtw88_8821ce

>
> On Thu, Jan 29, 2026, at 10:36 AM, Bill Thorson wrote:
>> NCLUGers,
>>
>> I am trying to see why my laptop network speed seems slow and get 
>> ideas for if/how I can fix it.  These are a couple test I ran on the 
>> same network with my desktop and laptop right next to each other and 
>> WIFI'ed to the same router connected to Fort Collins Connexion.
>>
>> I don't buy expensive boxes so this is what I have.
>>
>> Desktop named "klr" - 3+ years
>> Zotac Zbox CI329 Nano 
>> <https://www.zotac.com/us/product/mini_pcs/zbox-ci338-nano-windows> 
>> (~$300)
>>    Debian Mate GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
>>
>> Laptop named "bob" - 1 month
>> Amazon.com: TRHRO 14 Inch Traditional Laptop 
>> <https://www.amazon.com/TRHRO-Inch-Traditional-Laptop-Computers/dp/B0FVL485QG> 
>> ($230)
>>    Debian Mate GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
>>
>> Here's a speed test from www.speedtest.com <http://www.speedtest.com>
>>
>>
>> And here is a couple simple ping tests:
>>     Desktop:
>>
>>     bill at klr:~$ ping -c 10 google.com
>>     PING google.com (142.251.46.142) 56(84) bytes of data.
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=1 ttl=117 time=7.23 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=2 ttl=117 time=9.36 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=3 ttl=117 time=7.26 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=4 ttl=117 time=10.2 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=5 ttl=117 time=10.8 ms
>>     64 bytes from ncdena-aa-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=6 ttl=117 time=8.35 ms
>>     64 bytes from ncdena-aa-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=7 ttl=117 time=9.22 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=8 ttl=117 time=6.79 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=9 ttl=117 time=8.16 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=10 ttl=117 time=9.70 ms
>>
>>     --- google.com ping statistics ---
>>     10 packets transmitted, 10 received, 0% packet loss, time 9013ms
>>     rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 6.794/8.713/10.820/1.297 ms
>>     bill at klr:~$ 
>>
>>     Laptop:
>>
>>     bill at bob:~$ ping -c 10 google.com
>>     PING google.com (142.251.46.142) 56(84) bytes of data.
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=1 ttl=117 time=9.16 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=2 ttl=117 time=5.83 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=3 ttl=117 time=427 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=4 ttl=117 time=73.7 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=5 ttl=117 time=677 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=6 ttl=117 time=221 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=7 ttl=117 time=312 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=8 ttl=117 time=164 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=9 ttl=117 time=360 ms
>>     64 bytes from dfw28s35-in-f14.1e100.net (142.251.46.142):
>>     icmp_seq=10 ttl=117 time=210 ms
>>
>>     --- google.com ping statistics ---
>>     10 packets transmitted, 10 received, 0% packet loss, time 9013ms
>>     rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 5.832/245.939/676.631/196.908 ms
>>     bill at bob:~$ 
>>
>> Any idea on how to speed up my very nice and cheap laptop?
>>
>> Bill
>> Only Linux on my desktops/laptops since 1992 starting with SLS 
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softlanding_Linux_System>
>
> Daniel Vinci
> em: me at danielvinci.com
> mx: @xylobol:amber.tel
>
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