Expected 802.11ac Wireless Throughput

[Dennis]

Hi Team, new customer here .. go easy! 🙂

I'm after tips for troubleshooting Wi-Fi performance. I believe I should be seeing better performance from our deployment: V2110 Small and AP3935i-ROW.

The iperf output below is from a Surface Pro 4 (Windows 10), however, I observed the same performance from an HP Folio 9480m (Windows 10) and a MacBook Pro (Mid 2014 model, macOS Sierra). At time of testing there were < 10 clients connected to the AP.
PS C:\Users\user1> iperf3.exe -c melrad01 -n 200m
Connecting to host melrad01, port 5201
[ 4] local 192.168.220.33 port 49899 connected to 192.168.1.77 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth [ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 9.25 MBytes 77.5 Mbits/sec [ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 9.50 MBytes 79.8 Mbits/sec [ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 9.50 MBytes 79.5 Mbits/sec [ 4] 3.00-4.01 sec 8.88 MBytes 74.2 Mbits/sec [ 4] 4.01-5.00 sec 8.38 MBytes 70.5 Mbits/sec [ 4] 5.00-6.01 sec 8.50 MBytes 70.7 Mbits/sec [ 4] 6.01-7.00 sec 8.62 MBytes 72.8 Mbits/sec [ 4] 7.00-8.01 sec 9.38 MBytes 78.1 Mbits/sec [ 4] 8.01-9.00 sec 9.75 MBytes 82.5 Mbits/sec [ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 9.25 MBytes 77.5 Mbits/sec [ 4] 10.00-11.01 sec 10.1 MBytes 84.2 Mbits/sec [ 4] 11.01-12.00 sec 8.88 MBytes 75.3 Mbits/sec [ 4] 12.00-13.00 sec 9.25 MBytes 77.7 Mbits/sec [ 4] 13.00-14.00 sec 8.25 MBytes 69.1 Mbits/sec [ 4] 14.00-15.01 sec 9.25 MBytes 77.3 Mbits/sec [ 4] 15.01-16.01 sec 9.25 MBytes 77.4 Mbits/sec [ 4] 16.01-17.01 sec 8.88 MBytes 74.4 Mbits/sec [ 4] 17.01-18.01 sec 9.25 MBytes 77.4 Mbits/sec [ 4] 18.01-19.00 sec 9.50 MBytes 80.2 Mbits/sec [ 4] 19.00-20.00 sec 9.00 MBytes 75.6 Mbits/sec [ 4] 20.00-21.00 sec 8.88 MBytes 74.6 Mbits/sec [ 4] 21.00-21.95 sec 8.50 MBytes 75.0 Mbits/sec - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth [ 4] 0.00-21.95 sec 200 MBytes 76.4 Mbits/sec sender [ 4] 0.00-21.95 sec 200 MBytes 76.4 Mbits/sec receiverFor reference, and to prove no load on the iperf server side, here is the same test from the Surface Pro 4 via Ethernet. Noting Ethernet and AP are connected to the same switch via Cat6 1Gbps cable.
PS C:\Users\user1> iperf3.exe -c melrad01 -n 1g Connecting to host melrad01, port 5201 [ 4] local 192.168.1.89 port 49968 connected to 192.168.1.77 port 5201 [ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth [ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 113 MBytes 948 Mbits/sec [ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 113 MBytes 947 Mbits/sec [ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 113 MBytes 945 Mbits/sec [ 4] 3.00-4.00 sec 112 MBytes 941 Mbits/sec [ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 110 MBytes 919 Mbits/sec [ 4] 5.00-6.00 sec 104 MBytes 869 Mbits/sec [ 4] 6.00-7.00 sec 112 MBytes 939 Mbits/sec [ 4] 7.00-8.00 sec 113 MBytes 945 Mbits/sec [ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 111 MBytes 933 Mbits/sec [ 4] 9.00-9.21 sec 24.2 MBytes 948 Mbits/sec - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth [ 4] 0.00-9.21 sec 1.00 GBytes 932 Mbits/sec sender [ 4] 0.00-9.21 sec 1024 MBytes 932 Mbits/sec receiverBelow are my Wi-Fi settings during testing.
PS C:\Users\user1> netsh wlan sh in
There is 1 interface on the system:
Name : Wi-Fi
Description : Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-AC Network Controller
GUID : 0648234d-869f-40aa-a19c-17f05462fe12
Physical address : bc:83:85:0e:d5:b6
State : connected
SSID : [removed]
BSSID : [removed]
Network type : Infrastructure
Radio type : 802.11ac
Authentication : WPA2-Enterprise
Cipher : CCMP
Connection mode : Profile
Channel : 157
Receive rate (Mbps) : 360
Transmit rate (Mbps) : 360
Signal : 90%
Profile : [removed]I have read this article which indicates "If a WiFi client gets between 50-60% of the data rate shown that's pretty universally considered a good solid connection and transfer speed". The lowest 802.11ac data rate quoted in the article is "450 Megabits per second = 56.25 Megabytes per second".

I'm achieving nowhere near that.

One thing I have noticed is that the APs are operating in 802.11af mode and not 802.11at. I have Low Power Override enabled. My understanding (from various articles) is that the AP is operating at a reduced capacity. The PoE+ switch port the AP is connected to indicates it has allocated 17W of power and actual power is 6.6W. Not sure if this effects anything but thought I'd call it out.

The 3935i is capable of 1.7Gbps throughput and the Surface Pro 4 is capable of 800Mpbs (approx). Yes, I realise these are theoretical, but average transfer over 802.11ac in the above test was 75Mbps.

Any assistance would be great. Thanks!

[Dennis]

Hi Team, just an update to this. One of those cases where I forgot to check the obvious 😐 I connected an Ethernet client to the same swtich port as the AP and experienced the same throughput results. It turns out the issue is completely wireless unrelated. It's an issue with inter-VLAN routing which I am investigating with the router vendor.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[Sam]

Hi Dennis,

The AP will draw power based on client throughput and load. So now you know it has access to the required power from the switch i'd try loading that AP up with clients and see what the results are on the power draw.

- Sam

[Dennis]

HP ProCurve 2910al running firmware W.14.49, which I suspect is well behind current release. Wireless firmware is 10.31.01.0048.

I emailed our Exteme Networks rep today who will kindly lend me a PoE injector to test with.

[Sam]

What switch is it that you are using? Also what FW versions are you running on the wireless and switch?

Is LLDP enabled on the AP? (AP > [Select AP] > Configure > Advanced).

If you get no joy tomorrow when the AP is loaded with clients, i think it'll be time to get a GTAC case open.

Best regards,
Sam