I installed Zorin OS 17 yesterday and all is working excellent so far except for the usb tethering. I can connect my phone (Galaxy A04) and activate the usb tethering without any troubles, but the internet speed is very slow. I've done a couple of benchmarks using speedtest.net and fast.com in both Linux and Windows 11 (I have dual boot in my pc). With the same phone, connection and usb cable, the internet speed was approximately 90% slower in Zorin OS compared to Windows 11.
Things I tried without any improvements:
Use antoher usb cable.
Use another phone (Galaxy A8).
Change the port where I plug the usb cable.
Install libusb-dev and reboot the computer.
Disable Secure Boot in the BIOS.
Use another distribution (Mint, Pop_OS)
I found the exact same issue reported in several communities among many other Linux distros, included non Debain based distros such as Manjaro, Garuda or Fedora. This is a topic describing the issue in Zorin OS 16: Usb tethering connection very slow - #9 by Own4906
Finally, I couldn't test if the connection with Wifi have the same issue because my motherboard doesn't have Wifi and I don't have a wifi adapter. However, other users with same issues said that Wifi connection works fine, so it seems the issue only affects the usb tethering.
Hi and welcome. I can't help but feel mobile devices, like computers, are geared to other OS's and are more concerned about working with those other OS's than GNU/Linux.
Using Brave A.I. search engine via mojeek returns:
"#
USB Tethering Slow in Linux
USB tethering can be significantly slower on Linux compared to other operating systems. Users have reported download speeds as low as 0.2 to 0.3 Mbps on Linux while tethering via USB, even though the upload speeds are fast and the phone itself can achieve around 10 Mbps speeds when connected to the internet directly.
Several factors can contribute to this issue:
Carrier Throttling : Some carriers may throttle speeds when detecting USB tethering, as opposed to Wi-Fi tethering.
Device-Specific Issues : Certain devices, like the OnePlus 5 and Infinix Hot 20 5G, have experienced slow tethering speeds on Linux, but work fine on Windows.
Network Configuration : Problems with network configuration on Linux can also cause slow tethering speeds. Users have noted framing errors and RX errors in ifconfig outputs, indicating potential issues with packet transmission.
Firmware and Software : OnePlus has acknowledged similar issues and suggested downgrading to a previous version of the software to resolve the problem.
To troubleshoot, users can try:
Using different USB cables and ports.
Checking the device's settings for any speed limitations.
Testing with different Linux distributions to rule out distribution-specific issues.
Using third-party tools like EasyTether, which has been reported to improve tethering speeds.
If the issue persists, contacting the device manufacturer or carrier for further assistance may be necessary."
On a personal historical note I was having major issues at start of lockdown with my then ISP. I upgraded my package with unlimited mobile data and speed was faster than my ISP. I was using FerenOS at the time whilst working from home.
I disabled both Fast Boot in the BIOS and Fast Start-up in Windows but the issue keeps happening. I also remove the drive with Windows installed and test again without it but nothing changes. Zorin is running in Wayland.
However, I noticed some old Windows traces in the disk that has Zorin installed in one partition of the disk, specifically the Windows boot manager. I'll format the disk to remove all Windows traces, do a clean installation of Zorin and test the usb tethering again.
