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Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)

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Re: Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2024, 08:58:39 PM »
 

Şerban S.

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Hi!

I'm glad you made it so far!
As for the issue, maybe you should read some articles about connection sharing over WiFi.
Theory, sounds gorgeous but practice sucks...


[...]
the connection works great for about six minutes, then that connection drops.
[...]

I have a very good internet connection. That is: around 390 MB/s both ways.
Yet, there is a catch. Those values, go for a WIRED CONNECTION.
Although the router is optical, the bandwidth on a WiFi connection, drops to at most 9MB/s and fluctuates from 4,5 to almost 10 MB/s.
Why is that so?
Generally speaking, all WiFi connections are way slower than a wired one. Further more, you need to get the bigger picture: Each device that uses the connection, divides the bandwidth.
So, assuming you have 3 devices, your bandwidth per device is 9 MB/s / 3, which is some 3,33 MB/s.
At this rate, it is unlikely that you can make any use of the connection and is the most likely reason for the failure.
You have to understand that your bandwidth as a user, is limited by your ISP, to this value, unless you pay a subscription for a fixed IP, which might increase your guaranteed bandwidth to some 20 MB/s.
For more, you need to buy a business plan, which goes very high in terms of pricing.
Unfortunately, the figures they present on flyers, refer to wired connections and nobody will guarantee you a certain amount of WiFi bandwidth (I assume that you're at a common level of financing, like me for one, not the "Elon Musk kind...").
Far more, the figures represent Mega Baud / sec (Mbps) which are different from MB - Mega Bytes.
Comercially, my type of subscription is called "Fiberlink 500", yet, if you compute, (500000/1024 = 488 MB). Given the fact that I have 2 phones and the desktop on the same WiFi connection, it is unlikely that the desktop can handle Zoom (or any other similar App), for one. Even on the wired connection, when weather goes sideways, I experience temporary connection breakdown.
So, if that helps, I suggest you use some Internet SpeedTest (There are enough available.)
You can use it to test your phone's speed and the laptop's speed alike.
Check if it matches (or maybe exceeds) the above values. (5 - 10 MB/s)

Best regards, Șerban!
"It's easy to die for an idea. It's way harder TO LIVE for your idea!"
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Re: Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2024, 08:29:07 PM »
 

Linxer2

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More Updates:

Wow, of all the things to have random success with, I got lucky here. As I continued to prepare the device, I made updates with ethernet, and turns out Lite has a third party driver manager and updater (I'm used to mint and never see that anywhere).

So that was nice. It detected and activated the wireless device with ease. In a sense you could say this is now solved, but there is still one lingering problem. I think the existing network issue I'm about to describe is not device specific. I say this because I have 2 other linux laptops that all have the same issue even with different network cards. I'll ask for help once more if anyone is willing to give an answer.

It might be a common issue. On mint, ubuntu, or lite, no matter the device (wireless), if anything connects to a hotspot as wifi, the connection works great for about six minutes, then that connection drops. It will then be unable to reconnect (even if I reset the hotspot) until a full system reboot from the laptop is made. This has also happened before to my home wifi network, but the frequency is extremely rare by comparison. With my hotspot phone it is guaranteed to happen, and I could never really figure out why. The hotspot device in question is an iphone, and other android or windows devices that connect to it do not ever have this issue. There may be a specific forum to this bit, but it will take me a while to search.

The speed of the laptop in total is not bad, totally within what I expected it to do. (one reason I don't want to invest in money on it is simply because I cannot secure it too well where I work, and if I bring it, I add about 1% risk it being stolen).

Also, while I'm here, here is that code output. Might not be useful now, but maybe it could help with the hotspot issue. The usb adapter device specs is as I mentioned in my previous message.

System:    Host: linuxlite-AOD257 Kernel: 4.4.0-210-generic i686 (32 bit)
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 Distro: Ubuntu 16.04 xenial
Machine:   System: Acer product: AOD257 v: V1.14
           Mobo: Acer model: JE06_PT Bios: INSYDE v: V1.14 date: 09/22/2011
CPU:       Single core Intel Atom N455 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB
           clock speeds: max: 1666 MHz 1: 1666 MHz 2: 1666 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Atom Processor D4xx/D5xx/N4xx/N5xx Integrated Graphics Controller
           Display Server: X.org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           tty size: 80x24 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Audio:     Card Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-210-generic
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 250.1GB (2.2% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD2500BPVT size: 250.1GB
           Optical: No optical drives detected.


_________

Summary of Remaining issues: Wifi is now possible, but desired connection to hotspot device randomly drops every six minutes and cannot be reestablished without a linux reboot (a common issue between the hotspot device and ANY other laptop and ANY other linux distro).
 

Re: Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2024, 11:59:11 AM »
 

Linxer2

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Progress and small updates:

Well it turns out that I actually had a spare adapter just lying around and forgot about, so my plan is to see if I can plug in my old TrendNet USB AC1200 Dual Band Wifi adapter stick [Model = TEW-805UB] It is usb 3 but this unit should support 2.0 as well. With most wifi sticks this is where I run into the difficulty. The good news is that I kind of know what I'm working with. No, these things do not just work out of the box when plugging them into linux, be it mint, lite, ubuntu, or anything else, in my experience at least. Also I think someone asked for the specific device. I did mention it is an Acer Aspire One Netbook, D257-13404.

As suggested I will also run the sudo inxi -c 0 -ACdGMNSz command, but I will need about a week of time to even try since I've got some parts I need to work with first. I'm not going to be upgrading the physical components though. This Acer already works just well enough on system specs even as it is. I don't need it to be fast. I just need it to work with a wireless hotspot connection when I'm out of the house. That said, not sure if the ethernet adapter you mentioned would be a good idea, but I will look into it more since I wasn't even aware those were a thing. The netbook would have to connect to a hotspot from my smart phone (and since it is apple, tethering might be more challenging). Of course, this is for when I want to use it out of the house.

In about a week or less, I will copy and paste the output of the code as Şerban S suggested, as this should make some initial steps easier. I will try this with the USB stick plugged in, just in case it detects that device even if it isn't visible to the user. Clearly I know I would have to install some driver, just finding out where is the next big step.
 

Re: Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2024, 07:54:00 AM »
 

Şerban S.

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Hi!

I've been looking at the specs.
It's really a very old machine and since the amount of RAM is 1 GB, it's unlikely that you'll be able to make it run nowadays.
There is yet a hope. It's a HT CPU so it might help a little. If it does support a SSD, than this is the approach.
Now if you can do this shift from HDD to SSD, than the next step is to use the USB to solve the networking problem.
There are some devices that you may use in order to get connected. Since I'm less found to wireless, I recommend to use a device that offers you wired LAN (Ethernet to USB Adapter.)
I'm from România, so it's difficult for me to point you towards a specific store but I had trouble installing WiFi drivers on an ASUS M415U laptop (my wife's laptop).
So, I used a device that works on a USB C and provides 4 USB 3.x ports and a RJ45 (Ethernet).
Now, given the fact that this solved the WiFi drivers (proprietary!) problem, I guess this approach might solve yours too.
I also have a dongle that is useful for this exact type of annoyances.

Here is the output of "lsusb":
Code: [Select]
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0fe6:9700 ICS Advent DM9601 Fast Ethernet Adapter.Manufacturer is Konig.
All you need to do is hook it into any available USB port and jack in the LAN cable. You should be able to connect to your router. Linux Lite will tell you that you are connected to a LAN.
My main problem is that the machine is so old that I couldn't find a decent specs list so I have no idea on what USB it offers.
That's what I could find:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Aspire-One-D257.58255.0.html
Further more, it's very unclear if the architecture is 32 or 64 bit since it looks that there are also 32 bit CPUs with the same code name.
To go further, I recommend you to issue the following in the Terminal:

Code: [Select]
sudo inxi -c 0 -ACdGMNSz
Post please the output in this thread and maybe we will be able to find some workaround.
I also recommend you to search for a 2 GB RAM chip. Having only 1 GB of RAM, makes the machine almost useless nowadays.
I had some years ago a netbook ASUS X51LR, single core and I could find a 2 GB RAM.
So, if you really want to revive this machine, then this is the brief list of changes:
1. Switch to SSD, if possible. The smallest one might have 60 GB (20 GB Root, 20 GB /home and 20 GB for personal data.);
2. Get a 2 GB biscuit;
3. Get a LAN to USB dongle (any match with the above type).
4. Get the inxi report and post it here.

Good luck!
"It's easy to die for an idea. It's way harder TO LIVE for your idea!"
Current Machine:
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Re: Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2024, 06:26:30 AM »
 

Jean-Marc B

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Sorry, I'm not able to help, but I'm curious : I'd be glad to know what you'll use the so calle "relic" for ? I've got at least 2 older notebooks lying somewhere and finding them some use would be fun and better than letting them gather dust. I just need some inspiration you may provide.

Thanks.
Installed LL on old Laptop which became a nice Media Center, then installed it on a 2010 Samsung N150 netbook.
 

Re: Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2024, 04:58:33 AM »
 

kramyugtaht

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From what I understand some USB Wifi adapters will work out of the box/plug and play because the drivers are now part of the kernel, so the key seems to be what kernel version your particular distro (and that version) is using and I guess whether you can run it with a newer kernel. When I was looking into this recently the models recommended in certain articles tend to be more expensive* but they're only a handful, and I don't know that any given brand will be completely Linux friendly - and again there's the version issue. I typically search the product reviews if there are many on the site that sells them and even found the CLI commands for compiling once for an older MX Linux version, though I don't think that's needed anymore with the newer kernel.

I don't know if there is an easy reference for which version the 32 bit LL 3.8 used or can use, that would be the question in my mind.

* BTW I'm waiting for a nano adapter to be shipped for under $1 (including shipping in the domestic US) - it's an older N model but if it turns out to be linux compatible I'll be sure to make some noise about it and do the research to see what might be needed to get it going. Don't know their inventory level but it's not a one off either.
 

Re: Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2024, 01:36:50 PM »
 

Linxer2

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Linux Lite 3.x has been unsupported since April 2021 and should not be used.
On a more general point, wifi adaptors from Panda have been recommended on this forum as being Linux compatible.

Thank you. I will see how far I get and go with a Panda adapter if I run into too much trouble.
I had no choice in using 3x series of lite for this particular laptop due to certain limitations. I read somewhere that any version of 4 and up would not support something I needed (can't remember exactly what it said). 64 Bit will not work on that build, but I think what I read was about wifi capabilities.

Things are going well so far. Looks like it's time for me to carefully go through the steps of getting the device recognized when plugged in, and installing a driver for it to work (probably via ethernet). Wish me luck. I'll post an update Monday night.
 

Re: Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2024, 03:44:02 AM »
 

stevef

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Linux Lite 3.x has been unsupported since April 2021 and should not be used.
On a more general point, wifi adaptors from Panda have been recommended on this forum as being Linux compatible.
clueless
 

Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2024, 07:21:36 PM »
 

Linxer2

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Greetings all.
I have been gradually repurposing an ancient relic with a fresh offline install of Linux Lite. I have realized that I am one device short to give it wifi capability. Acer Aspire one notebook, no usb 3.0, and internal network card has long since been dead.

This is kind of an easy forum cause I'm only looking for suggestions (steps may vary). One thing I know out of the box is that rigging a usb wifi adapter to work on linux is a nightmare. I have yet to decide on a device from the store, and wonder which kind if adapter stick plays nice with linux. If anything, I would like for this to be more of a planner to make this less of a headache before beginning. I attempted to get a wifi stick to work once in the past on a different system and despite many terminal instructions was never able to, so I can sense what I'm in for.

I know the steps may change depending on which device (adapter) is used, but that's why I wanted to ask here. Anyone recommend something universal on what adapter i should order?
If it's all the same in the end, is there any specific forum or instruction page that perfectly illustrates step-by-step how to properly install any wifi adapter? {Please assume that usb 3.0 is not possible and that the wifi adapter in question does not have linux-specific installation media/disk}.

Note: it is possible to hook directly into Ethernet for any updates, just not permanently. I have not yet connected this 'fresh' install of Linux Lite to the internet. If I need to update anything before installing the stick using Ethernet, please let me know.

Other relevant Info:

ACER modle: Aspire One D257 - 13404
Lite version: 3.8 (32 bit)

> The internal network card adapter inside the unit is 100% fried, so instructions on internal network cards should not be included as valid solutions on this post.
 

 

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