I have two computers running Ubuntu 14.04 (ok, one is actually Mint 17.1, but that's based on Ubuntu 14.04), and I am looking to use one as a wi-fi hotspot for the other. Both computers have identical USB Wi-fi dongles supporting dual-band (2.4/5 GHz) 802.11a/b/g/n modes. Although I have managed to set up a hotspot, it seems limited to 54 Mbps in either g or a mode, even though the dongles are capable of 300 Mbps in n mode. It is important to me to unlock the full speed of the devices.
What I have tried:
On Computer 1 (which creates a hotspot):
Open NetworkConnections, click Add, select Wi-Fi, click Create. Then fill in the SSID, set Mode to Ad-hoc, leave Band on Automatic (although I have also tried limiting to "A (5 GHz)" or "B/G (2.4 GHz)", chosse Device MAC address. In Wi-Fi Security tab, I select "WPA & WPA2 Personal", and enter a password. in "IPv4 Settings" tab, I select Method "Shared to other computers". Click Save, and connect to it.
On Computer 2 (joins the hotspot):
I cannot use a GUI so I set it up with nmcli
.
# nmcli dev wifi connect SSID password <password>
and I'm off to the races!
... except I lose the race because nmcli dev wifi
reports the rate as 54 Mb/s, and scp
on a large file reports ~3.3 MB/s, which corresponds to 54 Mb/s at half-duplex.
I have also tried setting up the hotspot with ap-hotspot
after disabling NetworkManager on Computer 1, and I have also tried using wicd
instead of Network Manager on Computer 2, but no combination seems to give me N mode/speed greater than 54 Mbps.
Some debug output
Computer 1
user@computer1:$ iwconfig wlan1
wlan1 IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID:"MY_SSID"
Mode:Ad-Hoc Frequency:2.412 GHz Cell: AE:68:F9:9C:EA:00
Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on
user@computer1:$ nm-tool
NetworkManager Tool
State: connected (global)
- Device: wlan1 [MY_SSID-hotspot] --------------------------------------------
Type: 802.11 WiFi
Driver: rt2800usb
State: connected
Default: no
HW Address: 7C:DD:90:79:F2:89
Capabilities:
Wireless Properties
WEP Encryption: yes
WPA Encryption: yes
WPA2 Encryption: yes
Wireless Access Points (* = current AP)
*MY_SSID: Ad-Hoc, AE:68:F9:9C:EA:00, Freq 2412 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 100 WPA2
<snip other networks, all reporting Rate 54 Mb/s>
IPv4 Settings:
Address: 10.42.0.1
Prefix: 24 (255.255.255.0)
Gateway: 0.0.0.0
Computer 2
user@computer2:$ iwconfig wlan1
wlan1 IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID:"MY_SSID"
Mode:Ad-Hoc Frequency:2.412 GHz Cell: AE:68:F9:9C:EA:00
Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
user@computer2:$ nm-tool
NetworkManager Tool
State: connected (global)
- Device: wlan1 [MY_SSID] ----------------------------------------------------
Type: 802.11 WiFi
Driver: rt2800usb
State: connected
Default: yes
HW Address: 7C:DD:90:6C:2B:23
Capabilities:
Wireless Properties
WEP Encryption: yes
WPA Encryption: yes
WPA2 Encryption: yes
Wireless Access Points (* = current AP)
*MY_SSID: Ad-Hoc, AE:68:F9:9C:EA:00, Freq 2412 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 100 WPA2
IPv4 Settings:
Address: 10.42.0.88
Prefix: 24 (255.255.255.0)
Gateway: 10.42.0.1
DNS: 10.42.0.1
iwconfig
andnm-tool
(Use paste.ubuntu.com to paste info and provide link back into comments)