WAP121 extremely slow

[zacmutrux]

A client contacted me for assistance with their wireless network. They had just purchased three WAP121 wireless access points and upon setting them up discovered the devices provided extremely slow access to the Internet. They have cable Internet service from Comcast and when attached to Ethernet or an older wireless router, speedtest.net shows download speed of 30Mbps. But when connected to any one of the three WAP121 devices they get less than 1 Mbps down.

Upon reviewing the settings with Cisco tier 1 support nothing seems amiss. The issue persists even when the AP is transported to another site. I am awaiting contact from tier 2.

Anyone else seeing this kind of behavior?

[maranellotech]

I stumbled accross this thread while looking for something else and just wanted to share my experience with the WAP121 because so far it has been great.  I am running one in my own office, testing it out before I start using them at client locations.

Mine is hardware version WAP121-A-K9 V01 running firmware version 1.0.1.10.  I have the wireless set to the default 802.11 b/g/n.  I am using the included power adapter (not PoE).

I have AT&T DSL 6.0 service.  On my speedtests, I get a steady 6.30Mbps downstream on my laptop sitting about 15' away from the access point.

My setup:

AT&T modem-->Meraki MX60 Router-->Cisco SG200-26 Switch-->WAP121

[joergbachmayr]

I have another few infos:

I can except the cisco pix and the cisco switch, because when I connect the AP directly to my modem (Thomson TG789vn Business) the same issues are present.

If I use another modem, I get full speed.

So it is the combination of the Cisco WAP121 and the Thomson Modem, and only the http transfer.

FTP is ok, FTP can also be UDP, http is TCP, I assume that the problem is at the TCP protocol.

Perhaps the MTU or the TCP packaging between the two units is the problem ...

[Eric Moyers]

That is very interesting. Thank you for this info. When you say you used another modem you got full speed, what was that modem?

Eric

[joergbachmayr]

An old Thomson SpeedTouch 546

[maranellotech]

To follow up on my previous comment, I now have 4 of these in use at a couple different locations and they are all working great, getting the full downstream speeds that the customer is supposed to be getting. One location at 6 Mbps and the other at 15 Mbps.

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

[drmciscoccna]

I was doing a little more testing and was able to get my speed to up to wired connection speed!!

through  testing different setting i found the speed problem seems to lie with  the 802.11n implementation. setting the wireless Radio tab Mode to  802.11b/g, my speed went from 1530 kbs down to 19868 kbs down. i also  gained about 100kbs by unchecking the Legacy Rate Set for 1 & 2.  

So Cisco i beleive you need to look into the 802.11n settings on the AP!!

[robrothberg]

If you scroll up, you'll find the issue was identified as 802.11n back in June.  Since that time, Cisco has released an update but it sounds like it did not address the issue.  I've switched to a different vendor.  802.11ac gear is already coming out, I'm not going to touch gear where they haven't even figured out 802.11n yet.

[drmciscoccna]

I see a new firmware version is out!!

I have loaded it, did a factory rest,tested my connection and guess what! 

Nothing has changed, still slower than ever on 802.11N. So what now are we ever going to get any better speed or is the WAP121 going to be down graded to a consumer grade AP. Wait a minute consumer grade products work with N so this thing is What then!!

Just saying!!

[joergbachmayr]

I will check the new firmware, but to 90% the problem is the MTU, or better that the MTU of the WAP differs to the MTU of the modem in such a case that the speed problem is occuring.

But in my modem I have no possibility to change the MTU ... perhaps this setting is hiding somwhere deep in the guts of my modem.

Question to Eric: what MTU is set at the WAP121 ?

And is there a possibility to change it in another firmware release ?

[joergbachmayr]

There is still no change, also if I reboot to factory defaults.

The left question is: can Eric find out which MTU the WAP 121 has and - can we change it ?

[Michael Hendricks]

Just updated to the new firmware, and my download and upload speeds with Wireless N are back to normal.

I have the WAP121 hooked up to a RV042G with Dual WAN. WAN1 is through Comcast with a SB6120 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem, and WAN2 is through ATT DSL with a Motorola Netopia ADSL Modem. The previous release of firmware allowed the DSL connection to function at maximum speed, but the Comcast connection would cap out on the DL/UL speeds.

With the most recent firmware update both connections are running at peak performance.

Seems like they are slowly making progress.

[Matthew Ritchie]

Glad to hear, I am deploying 5 of these units at a medical centre in a few days.

I have deployed many Cisco wireless products, included 541N, 1041N and the WAP321 and have had nothing but great results from them. This post made me worry a bit until this last one, but I will be ensuring firmware is latest before proceeding.

Will update if we have any issues:)

[erawikd12]

I have two WAP121 upgraded to the latest FW 1.0,2,3. I am using a Cisco RV4000 Gateway/Router with Comcast internet service. This has worked great for the last 5 years. That is until I decided to upgrade to 802.11 N with Cisco WAP121. Using WAP121 I get an internet download speed  around 0,2 - 0.2 Mbit/s and upload speed around 6 Mbit/s. If I connect directly with Ethernet I get 25 Mbit/s down and 6 Mbit/s up. If I download my files from my local server using WAP121 I get 50 - 60 Mbit/s download speed without any problem. After reading this thread I followed the advice to turn off 802.11 N.  With that I get 15 Mbit/S down and 6 Mbit/s up. My setup works fine with my old  b/g AP's. It works fine 5Ghz  802.11N AP’s. So why is WAP121 not working?

Other than this WAP121 works great. The Single Point Setup – Multiple SSID’s that can have different VLAN’s and different security etc. It is all very useful if you don’t need a 802.11N  AP that is.

I can’t help but feeling disappointed that Cisco is releasing a product where the main feature simply don’t work. For me the conclusion is that if you are interested in an 802.11N AP you should look elsewhere until Cisco have fixed this problem.

[arnas.kavaliauskas]

for me its the same problem. No more then 1Mbps download speed. Firmware - 1.0.2.3.

Hooked on RV220W router. Is there any news about this issue since early 2012?

[joergbachmayr]

No new information - unfortunately, cisco has no interesst in fixing this problem, perhaps too less customers are affected!

Can it be that Aubre Cyriaque's solution, to by a WAP 321 instead a 121, is the only way?

Its too bad, once upon a time, cisco was a good company.

Today, cisco is not willing to solve such problems, although they have every information for readjusting the problem.

Over and out!