Are the online speed testers an appropriate way of measure the link bandwidth over wifi?

Muhammed Adnan · ‎07-11-2015

Dear Experts,

I have a small network comprising of 2500 WLC and over 20 Access points of 2700 series and a 100 Mbps internet connection. When I am measuring the link speeds by connecting over the LAN port, then the speed via online link testers(speedtest.net,.....) shows the speed as over 100 Mbps, however when I test the speed when connected wirelessly by an laptop or mobile then the upload & download speeds are just shown as around 25 Mbps & 30 Mbps respectively.

My concern is why does it not shows it as something close to 100 Mbps considering the fact that I have nothing over LAN or wireless being sharing the bandwidth during the instances of checking the speed via online testers.

Please let me know if I have been missing something here. As usual appreciate the valuable responses here

Leo Laohoo · ‎07-11-2015

however when I test the speed when connected wirelessly by an laptop or mobile then the upload & download speeds are just shown as around 25 Mbps & 30 Mbps respectively.

1. What is the make and model of the wireless NIC on the being used to test the bandwidth? What is the version of the driver?

2. What radio/band was used to do the test?

3. What data rates is enabled, disabled and set as Mandatory?

4. What data rates was the wireless client connected to before the wireless bandwidth test was conducted?

5. When the wireless bandwidth test was being conducted, how many other wireless users were on the same radio?

6. During the time of the wireless bandwidth test how far away from the AP was the wireless client used to conduct the wireless bandwidth test. ?

Muhammed Adnan · ‎07-12-2015

Hello Mr Leo,

Please find my responses inline.

1. What is the make and model of the wireless NIC on the being used to test the bandwidth? What is the version of the driver?

Have tested it from both Note 4 and my laptop, both has listed out the similar results. Laptop's driver details are as below:Realtek RTL8723BE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter
Driver date: 4/11/2014
Driver Version: 2012.13.402.2014

2. What radio/band was used to do the test?

2.4 ghz radio

3. What data rates is enabled, disabled and set as Mandatory?

Disabled data rates are 1, 2, 6. Mandatory is 9. Rest all are enabled.

4. What data rates was the wireless client connected to before the wireless bandwidth test was conducted?

Around 78/104/117 Mbps

5. When the wireless bandwidth test was being conducted, how many other wireless users were on the same radio?

It is in fact a new setup with no users. Effectively it was me alone using to be using the same radio.

6. During the time of the wireless bandwidth test how far away from the AP was the wireless client used to conduct the wireless bandwidth test. ?

Yes, wireless client has been used to conduct the wireless bandwidth test. Was hardly 5-10 meters away.

Leo Laohoo · ‎07-12-2015

RTL8723BE specification is only low-end 1:1x1 wireless NIC card. So this means, theoretically, you'll get up to about 75 Mbps receive AND transmit speed. Further "water" this down, if you are doing both sending and receiving, you won't go beyond 36 Mbps send AND receive speed. And this rate, is severely dependent on the CPU of your laptop.

In my humble opinion, what you're reportedly seeing is "normal".

Muhammed Adnan · ‎07-13-2015

Thanks Leo for your valuable inputs.

Today had changed the data rates and test the same. Have found little improvement in results:

Laptop with TPlink 802.11 b g Wi-Fi Adaptor : Download speed of upto 15 Mbps and upload speed of over 30 Mbps.

Laptop with Realtek RTL8723BE 802.11 b g n Wi-Fi Adapter : Download speed of upto 40 Mbps and upload of 30 Mbps

Iphone 6: Download speed of upto 49.4 Mbps and upload of over 30 Mbps

Note 4: Download speed of upto 83.38 Mbps and upload of over 33 Mbps.

Appears note 4 has outperformed even the iphone 6 on b/g/n radio.

However had one more concern like, I was standing right under an Access Point, while the client instead of associating the nearest AP, has been associating with a nearby AP instead.

Is there a way out to have the client force associate with the nearest AP possible? Actually this is the AP to whom I have rarely seen turning it's LED from green to blue :)

Leo Laohoo · ‎07-13-2015

Is there a way out to have the client force associate with the nearest AP possible?

This is a very common question asked in the forum and the answer is "NO". The final "say" on which AP to join falls on the wireless client. This is why we will always ask what is the make and model of the wireless NIC card and what firmware is/are the NIC card(s) running on. The older the firmware the more "stubborn" they are.

The fastest reason to this is because "enterprise roaming" is a new thing. The codes were written 5 to 10 years ago and if one doesn't upgrade the NIC drivers then you won't see the benefits.

Leo Laohoo · ‎07-13-2015

Laptop with TPlink 802.11 b g Wi-Fi Adaptor : Download speed of upto 15 Mbps and upload speed of over 30 Mbps.

Laptop with Realtek RTL8723BE 802.11 b g n Wi-Fi Adapter : Download speed of upto 40 Mbps and upload of 30 Mbps

Iphone 6: Download speed of upto 49.4 Mbps and upload of over 30 Mbps

Note 4: Download speed of upto 83.38 Mbps and upload of over 33 Mbps.

Appears note 4 has outperformed even the iphone 6 on b/g/n radio.

Different wireless client means different brand of wireless NIC.

For smartphones and tablets it doesn't mean they can transmit/receive at full rate because their CPU and memory can only handle that much. So it doesn't matter if its an iPhone 6 or Note 4, they won't go 300 Mbps on 802.11n.

gohussai · ‎07-28-2015

Yes theoretically, you'll <=75 Mbps receive/transmit speed and if you are doing both sending and receiving, you won't go beyond 36 Mbps send/receive speed. And this rate, is severely dependent on the CPU of your laptop.