[ale] Ubuntu 10.10 on HP Netbooks

[Rich Faulkner]

Hi Ron...all given points.  My user contacted me with this and has had
the issue in more than one location.  Adding a non-Broadcom NIC has
rendered good results for him.  Will test this out further when I'm
hand's on with the unit.  Have to wait for the weekend for that.

Thanks!  


On Tue, 2011-09-06 at 17:12 -0400, Ron Frazier wrote:
> Hi Rich,
> 
> This is not a direct answer to your question, but...
> 
> I've been using Ubuntu 10.04 on two different notebooks, with built in 
> wireless, and one desktop with a USB antenna.  I should be able to get 
> 20+ Mbps when testing internet speed with speedtest.net.  The two 
> notebooks would routinely do that.  And the desktop was routinely 
> flaky.  Its USB antenna was sitting approximately 1 floor above the 
> router (in the basement) and almost right on top of it.  I moved the USB 
> antenna about 4 feet away by using a USB extender cable and placed it on 
> the floor rather than on the piano bench it had been sitting on.  I now 
> get consistent 20+ Mbps out of all three computers.  That is to say that 
> location can have a radical effect, even though you might think it 
> wouldn't.  Now, thinking back, it might have been the box full of 
> dinnerware (forks and knives) that the USB antenna was originally on 
> that was screwing it up.  You can get USB extender cables at Fry's for 
> about $3 to move an antenna around.  If the NIC is built into the 
> notebook, try moving the machine around to different positions.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Ron
> 
> On 9/6/2011 12:07 PM, Rich Faulkner wrote:
> > Thanks for the confirmation guys.  I had a feeling it may be something
> > like that.  Will test more once I have the unit in hand...
> >
> > RinL
> >
> >
> > On Tue, 2011-09-06 at 11:17 -0400, David Tomaschik wrote:
> >    
> >> Most likely it's Broadcom b43-series hardware.  If so:
> >>
> >> 1) They're pretty mediocre chips to begin with.
> >> 2) Finding newer firmware with b43-fwcutter may help.
> >> 3) Might also be the antenna connector has popped loose.  (I have seen
> >> this before, particularly on machines that are cheaply built.)
> >>
> >> David
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 10:43 AM, Rich Faulkner<rfaulkner at 34thprs.org>  wrote:
> >>      
> >>> Anyone have experience/issue with WLAN connectivity for 10.10 on HP
> >>> netbooks?  I have a user reporting spotty connections but does better
> >>> with USB attached NIC.  Will have more specifics later...but thought I'd
> >>> see if anyone here might have something to share.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks.....Rich in Lilburn
> >>>        
> >>
>