This is the official linux driver source for Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E/RTL8103E/RTL8105E/RTL8106E/RTL8107E FE 100M NICs, obtained from here. Tested on Ubuntu 20.04 in my Dell Inspiron 1440 laptop, ethernet works flawlessly with a speed of 95 Mbps upload and download.
Since Ubuntu 18 these NICs are being used with the default r8169 driver (which is for the R8169 gigabit ethernet controller only), which causes terrible download and upload speeds. Installing the official driver for 810xE series fixes it.
Driver version: 1.035.03
Release date: 26/05/2020
NOTE: I upgraded to another laptop few months ago so I'm no longer maintaining this repo.
- First of all, clone this repo to some folder and cd into that folder
- Install basic dependencies for compiling the driver:
sudo apt install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r) - Unload the existing r8169 driver:
sudo modprobe -r r8169 - Block the r8169 driver in modprobe:
sudo sh -c 'echo blacklist r8169 >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf' - Run the automatic build & install script:
sudo ./autorun.sh. Ignore errors if any. - Check if the driver is loaded:
lsmod | grep r8101, it will return a single line liker8101 204800 0 - If the driver is not loaded, then run
sudo modprobe r8101. - Now try connecting. If you don't see the connection then you might need a reboot.
- Enjoy ethernet speeds upto 100Mbps!
<Set the network related information>
1. Set manually
a. Set the IP address of your machine.
# ifconfig ethX "the IP address of your machine"
b. Set the IP address of DNS.
Insert the following configuration in /etc/resolv.conf.
nameserver "the IP address of DNS"
c. Set the IP address of gateway.
# route add default gw "the IP address of gateway"
2. Set by doing configurations in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
/ifcfg-ethX for Redhat and Fedora, or /etc/sysconfig/network
/ifcfg-ethX for SuSE. There are two examples to set network
configurations.
a. Fixed IP address:
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
ONBOOT=yes
TYPE=ethernet
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
IPADDR=192.168.1.1
GATEWAY=192.168.1.254
BROADCAST=192.168.1.255
b. DHCP:
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
ONBOOT=yes
<Modify the MAC address>
There are two ways to modify the MAC address of the NIC.
1. Use ifconfig:
# ifconfig ethX hw ether YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY
,where X is the device number assigned by Linux kernel, and
YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY is the MAC address assigned by the user.
2. Use ip:
# ip link set ethX address YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY
,where X is the device number assigned by Linux kernel, and
YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY is the MAC address assigned by the user.
<Force Link Status>
1. Force the link status when insert the driver.
If the user is in the path ~/r8101, the link status can be forced
to one of the 4 modes as following command.
# insmod ./src/r8101.ko speed=SPEED_MODE duplex=DUPLEX_MODE autoneg=NWAY_OPTION
where
SPEED_MODE = 100 for 100Mbps
= 10 for 10Mbps
DUPLEX_MODE = 0 for half-duplex
= 1 for full-duplex
NWAY_OPTION = 0 for auto-negotiation off (true force)
= 1 for auto-negotiation on (nway force)
For example:
# insmod ./src/r8101.ko speed=100 duplex=0 autoneg=1
will force PHY to operate in 100Mpbs Half-duplex(nway force).
2. Force the link status by using ethtool.
a. Insert the driver first.
b. Make sure that ethtool exists in /sbin.
c. Force the link status as the following command.
# ethtool -s ethX speed SPEED_MODE duplex DUPLEX_MODE autoneg NWAY_OPTION
where
SPEED_MODE = 100 for 100Mbps
= 10 for 10Mbps
DUPLEX_MODE = half for half-duplex
= full for full-duplex
NWAY_OPTION = off for auto-negotiation off (true force)
= on for auto-negotiation on (nway force)
For example:
# ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full autoneg on
will force PHY to operate in 100Mpbs Full-duplex(nway force).
<Jumbo Frame>
RTL8101E, RTL8102E and RTL8103E do not support Jumbo Frame.