Issues with internet download speed via USB-Tethering

Issues & Assistance Networking Support
1

My download speed is 3-15mbit/s according to speedtest. Which is way lower than what i have on when im booted to Windows. In Windows its 150mbit/s+ but no difference in upload speeds. And in other devices like my laptop which is running on windows is also no problem. This was also my problem on clean Garuda installation but i’ve been using external wifi dongle(a very poor one).

Also when i restart NetworkManager it is 25mbit/s for like couple minutes before it drops down to the previously mentioned numbers. I don’t know it this is actually an symptom but this is what i’ve been noticing.

What i’ve tried:

  • Switching the NetworkManager backend
  • Different cables and wen’t thru all of my USB ports.
  • I ran Full system update before posting this.
  • Works on other devices
  • USB debugging on and off on my phone(Samsung galaxy a16 5g)
System:
  Kernel: 6.9.9-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.1.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
    root=UUID=5f7664c7-0382-499b-a6ec-951219fb7fa7 rw rootflags=subvol=@
    i915.enable_gvt=1 i915.enable_guc=0 quiet loglevel=3 intel_iommu=on
    vfio-pci.ids=8086:5912,8086:a2f0 ibt=off
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.1.2 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.4.0
    wm: kwin_x11 tools: avail: gtklock, nwg-lock, swayidle, swaylock vt: 2
    dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: MSI model: B250M MORTAR (MS-7A69) v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required>
    UEFI-[Legacy]: American Megatrends v: 2.20 date: 04/06/2017
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-7500 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Kaby Lake
    gen: core 7 level: v3 note: check built: 2018 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x9E (158) stepping: 9 microcode: 0xF8
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 256 KiB
    desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB
    desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3512 high: 3700 min/max: 800/3800 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 3500 2: 3700 3: 3151
    4: 3700 bogomips: 27199
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports:
    active: none empty: DP-3, DP-4, HDMI-A-3, HDMI-A-4, HDMI-A-5
    bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5912 class-ID: 0380
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP106 [GeForce GTX 1060 6GB]
    vendor: ASUSTeK DUAL-GTX1060-O6G driver: nvidia v: 555.58.02
    alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 545.xx+ status: current (as of
    2024-06; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Pascal code: GP10x process: TSMC 16nm
    built: 2016-2021 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: none
    off: DP-2,DVI-D-1,HDMI-A-2 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1c03 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.1
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: nouveau
    alternate: fbdev,intel,nv,vesa dri: iris gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 6400x1440 s-dpi: 92 s-size: 1767x402mm (69.57x15.83")
    s-diag: 1812mm (71.34")
  Monitor-1: DP-2 note: disabled pos: primary,top-center model: Mi Monitor
    serial: <filter> built: 2021 res: 2560x1440 dpi: 108 gamma: 1.2
    size: 600x330mm (23.62x12.99") diag: 685mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 2560x1440 min: 640x480
  Monitor-2: DVI-D-1 mapped: DVI-D-0 note: disabled pos: top-left
    model: BenQ ZOWIE XL LCD serial: <filter> built: 2017 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 92
    gamma: 1.2 size: 531x298mm (20.91x11.73") diag: 609mm (24") ratio: 16:9
    modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  Monitor-3: HDMI-A-2 mapped: HDMI-1 note: disabled pos: bottom-r
    model: Acer K242HL serial: <filter> built: 2014 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60
    dpi: 92 gamma: 1.2 size: 531x299mm (20.91x11.77") diag: 609mm (24")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
    drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: iris device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
    surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia inactive: wayland,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 555.58.02
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
    6GB/PCIe/SSE2 memory: 5.86 GiB
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: 16 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA
    GeForce GTX 1060 6GB driver: nvidia v: 555.58.02 device-ID: 10de:1c03
    surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 1 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel HD Graphics
    630 (KBL GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 24.1.3-arch1.1 device-ID: 8086:5912
    surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 2 type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM 18.1.8 256
    bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 24.1.3-arch1.1 (LLVM 18.1.8)
    device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 200 Series PCH HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs bus-ID: 00:1f.3
    chip-ID: 8086:a2f0 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP106 High Definition Audio
    vendor: ASUSTeK DUAL-GTX1060-O6G driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie:
    gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:10f1
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Kingston HyperX 7.1 Audio
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-11:5 chip-ID: 0951:16a4 class-ID: 0300
    serial: <filter>
  Device-4: Nam Tai E&E Products or OmniVision Sony Playstation Eye
    driver: ov534,snd-usb-audio type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1
    mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-12:8 chip-ID: 1415:2000 class-ID: 0102
  API: ALSA v: k6.9.9-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: N/A
  Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.2.1 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: e1000e
    v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15b8 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp0s31f6 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: TP-Link TL-WN823N v2/v3 [Realtek RTL8192EU] driver: rtl8xxxu
    type: USB rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-6:2
    chip-ID: 2357:0109 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
  IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: enp0s20f0u4 state: unknown speed: -1 duplex: half mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-2: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Info: services: iwd, NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Samsung GT-I9070 (network tethering USB debugging enabled)
    driver: rndis_host v: kernel type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1
    mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-4:9 chip-ID: 04e8:6864 class-ID: 0a00 serial: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.05 TiB used: 423.21 GiB (20.2%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Kingston model: SNV2S1000G
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: ELFK1N.2 temp: 44.9 C
    scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD10EZEX-60ZF5A0 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 0A80 scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 850 EVO 250GB
    size: 232.89 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2B6Q scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 931.51 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 423.21 GiB (45.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-2: /home raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 931.51 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 423.21 GiB (45.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /var/log raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 931.51 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 423.21 GiB (45.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-4: /var/tmp raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 931.51 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 423.21 GiB (45.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.51 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    comp: zstd avail: lzo,lzo-rle,lz4,lz4hc,842 max-streams: 4 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 51.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 55 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 25%
Info:
  Memory: total: 16 GiB available: 15.51 GiB used: 7.38 GiB (47.6%)
  Processes: 318 Power: uptime: 1h 32m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.16 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
    power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 256 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 0 pm: pacman pkgs: 2284 libs: 612
    tools: octopi,pamac,paru Compilers: clang: 18.1.8 gcc: 14.1.1
    Shell: garuda-inxi default: Zsh v: 5.9 running-in: kitty inxi: 3.3.35
Garuda (2.6.26-1):
  System install date:     2024-01-30
  Last full system update: 2024-07-16 ↻
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut nvidia-dkms
  Windows dual boot:       <superuser required>
  Failed units:
1 Like
2

Windows speeds do not relate to Linux.

Have you tested alternate kernels?

A different kernel could possibly improve your speeds.

Have you tested your speeds on other distros?

This adapter has particularly poor performance when used with Linux. It has far from the best drivers in Realtek’s lineup of Linux compatible offerings.
You may want to invest in a USB Wifi adapter with better Linux compatibility.

Welcome to the Garuda forum @oakchair52

1 Like
3

I haven’t tested different kernels or tested speeds on another Distro. I know my wifi adapter isn’t the best because i thought this would be a temporary issue. But i’m not trying to ask help with my wifi speeds.(that is my current workaround) My USB-tethering for internet is slow.

4

Oops, guess I shouldn’t have skimmed your post so quickly.

Are your tethering speeds consistently slow, or does the speed vary by the type of download (ie torrent) or during the daytime vs late at night?

Try tethering someonelse’s phone to compare speeds.

Some carriers are terrible for throttling download speeds long before you hit your data limit. I had to switch carriers because I was getting throttled so badly after downloading a torrent. Sometimes switching to random ports on my BT client would help temporarily, but I’d always get throttled again before too long. I got sick of the crappy speeds and switched to a different carrier and now I get great speeds.

2 Likes
5

tbg is most likely on to something. A year back Xfinity was going to be down for 2 days for upgrades in the area. to get my email at least I tethered my phone and was expecting maybe 25 to 100 megs but was surprised to get the speeds I get with my wired connection which was at 400 megs. Samsung A54.

6

Sorry for the late response. Had to sleep in between.

Yes they are consistently slow but vary between 3 to 15mbit/s if you run the speedtest like right after another one the difference can be 3 to 15mbit/s as well. The speed is noticeable when watching a simple youtube video.

My data plan is unlimited and been using it way before i decided to switch to garuda as my daily system with no issues.

7

I got it working. Using Easytether.

Anyone having this issue:

  • I installed the easytether app to my phone.

  • I installed the easytether on to my system using the easytether’s own website pkg.tar.xz file rather than the one provided by chaotic aur repo. It didnt seemed to work the one provided by repo.

  • In the phone app i just followed the unix guide within the app. Putting usb-debugging on etc.

  • Honestly if you are not stupid like me just read the arch wiki carefully (im sorry) Android tethering - ArchWiki . I tried this before but i couldnt get it to connect with the easytether using the one provided in repo so i gave up with easytether.

  • I was also missing the dhcpcd package.

sudo pacman -S dhcpcd
  • The i just ran it after installing the dhcpcd package.
sudo dhcpcd tap-easytether

Another case of just read the wiki. (im sorry) So if you are having this issue you are probably also missing dhcpcd package and using the easytether provided by chaotic aur repo. Just dont do like me “oh i just install this one from the repo and do the rest. NO just do it how wiki tells you” I dont know if these are broken or idk but this is how i got it to work.

If you have been doing like wiki says with easytether, you are likely missing the dhcpcd package.

The connection doesn’t show up in the networks tab but honestly i do not care at this point. It’s now working.

tldr: i tried to use easytether without success gave up. tried again following the guide carefully success.

3 Likes
8

Nice work.

I thought about posting the link to easytether, but the note on the Archwiki made me think better of it.

Note: The Lite app disables some connections and you must have the paid app for full functionality.

Just out of curiosity, how old is your phone and what brand is it?

I can’t recall anyone in recent memory saying they required this app to use tethering. Most phones these days seem to be capable of tethering without installing extra software.

So glad you figured it out for yourself.

Nice to see another happy member of the Garuda community.

4 Likes
9

My phone is Samsung Galaxy A14. oups i said a 16 in the post. Launch date is: 2023, February 28 for this phone but been with me year or so. Idk if it is a thing but could it be that some security setting lowers speed on other “trusted” OS’s like Windows or macOS and easytether sort of helps to bypass those idk. or something from my interner providers end. But this is good i dont mind using this so it is solved for me atleast.

10

I have used Samsung phones for likely a decade. I’ve never had any issues tethering with the S9 on up to S23.

If you tested a free VPN with easy tether disabled and your speeds were good, then it’s likely your carrier causing the speed drop.

2 Likes
13

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