rtl8168 ethernet slow download

soluser

Something weird I started to notice a few weeks back:

When I download a big file from the internet via my wired ethernet connection, the download speed maxes out at almost precisely 16 Mbit/s. Using WiFi download speed is as fast as it should be (around 200 Mbit/s).

Since I figured that I had changed some obscure setting in the last few months, I did a complete reinstall of Solus and noticed that when I boot the current Solus installation image (which features the 4.18 kernel) download speed via ethernet is actually fine. After installing and updating Solus, download speed maxes out at 16 Mbit/s again.

Since I noticed that Fedora showed a similar behavior, is it possible that it’s somehow related to the 4.19 / 4.20 kernel?

I’m using the Asus N552VW laptop which comes with the Realtek rtl8168 Ethernet controller.
I read somewhere, that the driver to this controller isn’t open source so the linux kernel uses a rtl8169 driver instead. So I blacklisted the rtl8169 driver and installed the rtl8168 driver from realtek website, but sadly the problem still remains. I use a cable modem (Fritz!box 6490 Cable) and I do not use a IPv6 connection (so IPv4 only).

Any ideas are greatly appreciated! 😉

moriel5

Deleted.
This is odd. What speeds do you get on Ubuntu?

soluser

moriel5
18.04 (live-image, kernel 4.18)

19.04 (live-image, kernel 4.19)

Justin

I'd report upstream on the kernel if it's happening on the exact same OS fine on older kernel driver.

soluser

Justin Do you know of a good and simple online guide about the procedure? To be honest, I've never filed a bug before. I switched to linux just about 1 1/2 years ago. 😉

moriel5

soluser This verifies what Justin had said, this must be a regression since kernel 4.19.

By the way, can you please send me a copy of linux-current-4.18.5-x86-64.eopkg (or something along those lines)?
It should be in /var/cache/eopkg/packages/.

I need to test for regressions with wireless networking stability (probably due to power management), and I do not seem to have the package on my system anymore.

Justin

soluser https://bugzilla.kernel.org/enter_bug.cgi is the Kernel bug tracker. You'll just need to sign up, then file a bug and follow the instructions. They'll ask you for information that they need.

soluser

Justin Thank you, Justin. I just filed my first bug! 😀

soluser

moriel5 I'm sorry moriel5 but on my system that directory is is empty. Probably because I reinstalled solus just a few days back.

pceiley

Looks like the same issue I had. I was able to resolve the issue by setting the pcie_aspm.policy kernel parameter. The r8169 driver introduced power management from kernel 4.19 which doesn't work well with some hardware configurations. Here's the link to the post of my results following guidance from the kernel driver maintainer:
https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/CAMLO_R5m+tFa2yzeMbacROrFirwWN+zCUVAbDd864RHVMNe08Q@mail.gmail.com/

soluser

pceiley Thanks. I tried the various pcie_aspm settings but sadly to no effect. Generally speaking there seem to be problems with the realtek 8169 kernel module across all distributions since the introduction of kernel 4.19. Switching to the 4.9 LTS kernel solved my problem for now.

moriel5

soluser My Ethernet adapter is (not just the driver, but the actual hardware model) the R8169, and while it appears to work well (I still do not have a proper setup to stress check it), since kernel 4.19 it does take much longer for it to connect and disconnect (I have to turn networking off completely when I need it to connect on time to bricked devices I am repairing).
Generally speaking, since kernel 4.19 I have been having networking issues left and right (WiFi is unstable, on my desktop, laptop, and my sister's laptop, regardless of what WiFi adapter is inserted (have checked the Intel 9260, 7260 (Wireless-AC variant), 3165, Qualcomm/Atheros QCA9377, and Realtek RTL8821AE)).
It appears that kernel 5.1 will have additional fixes for these issues, hopefully they get backported.

pceiley

Was worth a shot. Sorry it didn't help you.