How do I find what my Wi-Fi is?

Support & Help Requests Hardware
#1

QUESTION:
Is there a 'sudo' or tool I can use that will seek, find and describe what my Wi-Fi card is on Laptop without opening laptop and it's driver? Apparently, AC/ or n,g,b matters.

WHY:

  • On a 300 Mbps plan, CABLED I'm getting 270 - 345 Mbps with zero bufferbloat.
  • Wi-Fi, I get 23-30 Mbps huge bufferbloat
  • I hope to find a good driver, or source the issue and fix it.

INSTALLED:
Ubuntu-Mate 18.04 on a 'was Windows 10' Samsung laptop (totally reformatted Windows out of the picture before install)

TIA
~i~

#2

From here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HardwareSupportComponentsWirelessNetworkCardsIntel

lspci -vvnn | grep Network

lspci -vvnn | grep -A 9 Network | grep Kernel

Hope this helps (even if I'm not sure for your case).

#3

Use the "hardinfo" tool.

sudo apt install hardinfo

Start the hardinfo tool (menu: System Tools/System Profiler and Benchmark).
Select Devices, then PCI Devices and scroll down to your network devices. If your network is not there it may be under USB Devices.

djb

#4

Thanks Dave Barnes. It tells me that I now have very nice brick :cry:
~i~

#5

Thanks radax05. Unfortunately, it doesn't show my WiFi but Daves solution (below yours) shows the model and with that, I could search for the card, but in the last few weeks, Google,Binh, Start and Duck have built a electronic Trump-wall around Canada, and very hard to escape and search the WWW instead of just Amazon and ebay. Information now days is what's for sale and how much - next door. The WWW is now Local Wide Web.
I'll be in the U.S. next week and will borrow a U.S. device and search then. I hope someone re-invents the WWW real soon. Before the World Wide War :slight_smile:

#6

Could you please post what you think is your wifi card?

Edit: To check what drivers your wireless adapter is currently using, you can run the following command in a terminal:

(Cntrl-Alt-T should open a terminal.)

sudo lshw -C network

"lshw" lists information on your hardware
"-C network" filters the output to only show the network class.

In the output, look for the entry with the description: Wireless interface.

#7

Oh, I never try to "think" - it can be habit forming.
Here is what the "lshw -c " network thinks :slight_smile:

configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=5.0.0-37-generic firmware=N/A ip=redacted latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
resources: irq:17 memory:c0000000-c007ffff memory:c0080000-c008ffff

The issue I have is with my ISP who says on a 300Mbps "Plan", and only getting 25Mbps Up is because I need a 802.11 /AC, not /n, g, or b

I believe that my card is a 802.11 /N and read that /N should be as good as /AC
NOTE: Cabled, I get speeds of 270 - 350 minimal bufferbloat, but wi-fi = 14 - 26 Mbps with high bufferbloat.

~i~

#8

I've posted for you (above this one). Is it the result you expected?

~i~

#9

Not exactly. If I use that command (sudo lshw -C network), I get

  *-network                 
       description: Wireless interface
       product: BCM4311 802.11a/b/g
       vendor: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:0c:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 01
       serial: 00:1c:26:3e:b1:89
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=b43 driverversion=5.4.0-9-generic firmware=666.2 ip=xxx.xxx.y.xyz latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:17 memory:f6cfc000-f6cfffff

which tells me that I have a Broadcom wireless using the BCM4311 driver named wlan0 and that it is functional.

#10

I used that command as you suggested, so I could discover what my 802.11 IS, Following most descriptions, your's says it is a "802.11 A/B/G".

My "product" line just gives manufacturer and model number maybe because it's a laptop - well, thanks anyway mdooley. I appreciate you're taking the time. I'll try calling the manufacturer because their a site is was no help.

I'd post back a copy, but I',m unable to connect 99% of the time, and lose signals. Stuck with Windoze - still.

~i~

#11

My wifi uses a Broadcom device, not an "802.11a/b/g" device. The manufacturer and model are extremely important, the a/b/g not so much. It would be nice for you to follow requested instructions.

https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/net-wireless-troubleshooting-hardware-info.html.en

No more "thinking" on your part.

#12

@ mdooleyModerator
I simply posted the results of the terminal command from the instructions you gave me. I responded with a copy of the result.
Leaves me wondering what I did, or didn't do, to irk your ire.

The link you most recently provided, (I just saw) information is 6 years 5 months old and for Ubuntu 12 not 18.4.

I do search elsewhere/anywhere BEFORE stepping in to it.

~i~

#13

Thanks Internaut. Sorry to have bothered you. I posted my results so that you might compare them with the results that you posted and see if you could do better.

My previous links were an attempt at illumination. Please see yet another -

Good luck.

Edit: Here's the results from another laptop -

*-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: Centrino Advanced-N 6205 [Taylor Peak]
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 34
       serial: 8c:70:5a:14:ef:7c
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=5.4.0-9-generic firmware=18.168.6.1 ip=xxx.xxx.y.xyz latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:32 memory:e2d00000-e2d01fff
#14

My apologies. It was the way it was worded. I took it mean to be a sarcastic suggestions with:

and I hadn't seen any instructions and the link resulted in tonnes more of stuff to read.

My ISP plan is for 300 Mbps but I get 0.5 to maybe 60. They wanted to know what my Wi-fi card is and without opening up the laptop, I asked if there wasn't a way in Ubuntu-M to find it. Again, I misinterpreted your suggestion to be sarcasm. My mistake.

Your link did help by the way.
~I~

#15

OK, let's try something different. The goal is to find out what your laptop network is and also its' drivers.

Please post the results of either inxi -ACDMNSG (which lets you see a lot of things specific to your laptop)

-ACDMNSG
-ACDMNSG.jpg930×399 287 KB

or inxi -N (which displays just the network stuff)

inxi-N
inxi-N.png930×165 143 KB

Your choice.

#16

RESULT

Network: Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCIE Gigabit Ethernet Controller
driver: r8169
Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter
driver: ath9k

It does not show what the suffix /n/g/b/a/c might be.

It very much matters. FYI: /g /b for example, are not capable of dealing with anything over 100 MBbps - if that. The /AC, according to my ISP, is necessary for the 5G, mesh networks, and speeds over 100Mbps and up to 600 Mbps. It's also how they sell their blocks, instead of 100, or1000 Mbps, they piece it off at higher rates.
The /n MIGHT be capable up to 400 Mbps... according to technet groups.

It's why I'm trying to find out if it is /n/g/b/a/c/ac so I can nail down if it's the card, or the ISP can't get it up and over 70 Mbps. My windoze card is /gb so it will not exceed 100 Mbps not that it would do 100, but 70 maybe. This Ubu laptop is a unknown "802.11" without the amendment designation.

For anyone interested in the lettering sufix, this link explains it nicely. AND, if anyone is wondering or complaining about their speed, search out or google "bufferbloat" as well as make sure your NIC is capable.

From the info you gave mdooley , I was able to find the details for the card, minus the /(amendment) identifier and from that I was able to find the specs online as to what it SHOULD be which isn't always what we end up with. If the data I get from your help, is correct and the find on the 'net is correct then I have a AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter.

  • Data Link Protocol
    IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n
  • Compliant Standards:
    ⟿ IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, ⥊IEEE 802.11n←, IEEE 802.1x, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
  • Data Transfer Rate:
    300 Mbps

Thanks again mdooley It was very helpful. I now get 280 - 340 Mbps. You rock!

~i~