257Mbps Wifi throughput hard limit?!

drwoodcomb

I realize this post might be too vague but I just don't know where else to turn at this point.

I have been using pfSense as my router along with a Ubiquiti WAP for about a year now and every time I run a throughput test to check my speeds I get 257Mbps (Wifi5 5Ghz). Like clockwork.

Last week I upgraded to a Wifi6 WAP from Ubiquiti and to my surprise I am still getting 257Mbps (Wifi6 5Ghz 80Mhz). I tried running the WAP in stand alone mode to remove the Ubiquiti controller from the equation and also removed my switch so that pfSense would be directly connected to the WAP and still I am getting 257Mbps.

The only thing left that could be influencing my throughput is pfSense itself but after looking through all the settings I cant seem to find anything that might be causing this.

I should mention that when I run throughput tests over a hardwired connection I am not running into any issues.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

JKnott

@drwoodcomb

I just got 309 Mb on my smart phone with WiFi 5, so 257 is not a hard limit. Of course, there are a lot of variables that can affect this, such as distance, walls, interference and more. What device are you measuring that on? Maybe it isn't capable of more that 257 Mb.

drwoodcomb

@jknott

Hi, thank you for your response. I should have specified that I am getting the exact same 257Mbps limit on my iPhone 11 and my iPad Pro. Both of which have WiFi 6. Also I am testing while standing right in front of the access point. The fact that both devices are unable to break 257Mbps makes me thing that somewhere there is a block or limit on the bandwidth. I just cant figure out what could be causing it.

amarcino

I guess you checked to see if you have a rate limit profile established in the Unifi Controller?

Do you have another device to check? My Macbook Pro(2013 model) is getting 878 Mbps near my Unifi WAP.

JKnott

@drwoodcomb

Phones and tablets might not be the best to test with. Do you have a computer you can test with?

johnpoz

@amarcino said in 257Mbps Wifi throughput hard limit?!:

My Macbook Pro(2013 model) is getting 878 Mbps near my Unifi WAP.

No it isn't.. Just not possible - not talking PHY (connection rate) talking real world transfer rate..

What do you get for normal wire speed when you connect a wired computer?

But even wifi 5, can do way better than 257. Here is my iphoneXR, through my unifi AP

Here you can see tx and rx PHY (connection rate of the phone)... 424/780 is 54% of phy which is quite normal.. Upload - I have a 500/50 mpbs connection so 47.8 is isp limit not wifi limit..

amarcino

@johnpoz I am talking connection rate as reported by the Mac OS.

I have 300 Mbps service and I pull 300+ (320-340) on a speed test on my Macbook Pro wireless) I pull the same on my wired ubuntu box.

I have rate control set on my guest network at 100 Mbps and I get the same connection rate but my real world speed is capped at the rate control I set for my guest network.

I guess my point in this is the OP needs to check with some other device than a phone or ipad.

NogBadTheBad

You need to look at your tx & rx rate on the AP, not a speed test via the internet.

Also note the rx rate of my iPad Pro.

Screenshot 2021-03-08 at 12.43.58.png

johnpoz

Is the OP talking connection rate? There is no 257 connection rate.. There is a 260, but that would require 4 streams... Off the top there is no PHY rate that would be 257... So take it the user is talking real world speeds..

The OP should show what his controller is showing for the device in questions connection rates..

Maybe he has a 250-300 mbps plan from his isp.. And 257 is what it maxes out at? Without seeing speeds connected wired through pfsense, and understanding what the OP is paying for connection rates, etc.

Its hard to determine where he is seeing a problem.. Take internet and pfsense out of the equation and do say iperf test from your phone or device to something on your network.. What speed do you see then?

Here seeing a better RX rate..

Doing a simple iperf3 test from my phone to my nas.. With wire I see 950mbps roughly..

For a phone and over wifi, that is freaking screaming... Here is wired test from pc to same nas running iperf in wifi test.

$ iperf3.exe -c 192.168.9.10
Connecting to host 192.168.9.10, port 5201
[  5] local 192.168.9.100 port 34436 connected to 192.168.9.10 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  5]   0.00-1.00   sec   109 MBytes   917 Mbits/sec
[  5]   1.00-2.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
[  5]   2.00-3.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
[  5]   3.00-4.00   sec   113 MBytes   948 Mbits/sec
[  5]   4.00-5.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
[  5]   5.00-6.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
[  5]   6.00-7.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
[  5]   7.00-8.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
[  5]   8.00-9.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
[  5]   9.00-10.00  sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  1.10 GBytes   946 Mbits/sec                  sender
[  5]   0.00-10.01  sec  1.10 GBytes   944 Mbits/sec                  receiver

iperf Done.

NogBadTheBad

@johnpoz said in 257Mbps Wifi throughput hard limit?!:

aybe he has a 250-300 mbps plan from his isp.. And 257 is what it maxes out at? Without seeing speeds connected wired through pfsense, and understanding what the OP is paying for connection rates, etc.
Its hard to determine where he is seeing a problem.. Take internet and pfsense out of the equation and do say iperf test from your phone or device to something on your network.. What speed do you see then?
Here seeing a better RX rate..

Indeed.

amarcino

@nogbadthebad

johnpoz

1.3 PHY.. nice.. Real world 650ish I would think should be possible with all else equal..

amarcino

@johnpoz

Yeah, I am just happy to get my full cable modem plan download speed on wireless. Can't think of the trouble I would get into if I went with a faster plan.

johnpoz

Funny how the rest of your PHYs are in the dirt.. But yeah IOT devices don't need much..

here some of mine.. all really low connection rates.. Such devices sure don't help for speed of other wifi devices sharing the same bandwidth.. Since their connection rates are so low.. But in the big picture.. My phone doesn't need 400mbps to stream a movie, or music, or make a phone call..

But users love to see high numbers when they do speed tests on wifi ;) Even when it almost never is a requirement for what they are doing on some mobile device.. Ok your media stick might need some bandwidth trying to stream some high bitrate 4k movie.. But 257 should really be plenty even for that..

amarcino

@johnpoz

A lot of them are on the 2.4 network and are light switches, robot vacuum cleaner, and Alexa dots. They don't need much, and I don't want them to have too much.

My wifes Iphone (trogg) is getting good connection, which she needs as she is on it 24-7 playing candy crush.

LOL

johnpoz

@amarcino said in 257Mbps Wifi throughput hard limit?!:

which she needs as she is on it 24-7 playing candy crush.

Yeah LOL!! My wife is the same way.. That candy crush needs wifi 6, with 3 streams at 160mbps channels..

Yeah most iot is on 2.4 sure.. And yeah on a one off - you want to see that your wifi is capable of performing at its rated specs.. So look at your PHY... Then sure do a speed test do you see approx 50% of of that phy, maybe if the stars aligned 60% - and no other devices sucking some of that bandwidth while your testing..

The overall bandwidth of wifi to be honest is more geared toward multiple clients sharing it vs any specific 1 client using it all ;) So while its great to see the higher numbers with AX (wifi6) etc.. When it comes to individual devices like your phone or even your streaming stick.. They sure do not "need" this bandwidth to do what you want them to do ;)

drwoodcomb

@amarcino There are no limits profiles set in either the controller or pfsense. I wish it were that simple.

The Rx and Tx Rate are showing 1201Mbps but for some reason when I test the speed it hits 257Mbps and wont go any higher.

I dont have any other devices to test with other than my iphone and my iPad since my PC doesnt have wifi and only hardwired.

Frankly I am at a loss here. I dont know where else I should be looking to fix this. Im pretty bummed out I spend $180 on a wifi6 WAP that is giving me no improved speeds at all.

drwoodcomb

@johnpoz My connection rate seems fine. It’s usually showing as 1201Mbps Tx and Rx. The problem is when I try to run any speed test. I keep hitting this 257Mbps wall. I removed everything between the WAP and my pfSense box and then set the WAP to stand alone mode which basically removes anything configured with the UniFi Controller and still I hit the same wall which makes me think something with my pfSense config is the problem.

I dont have any profiles that limit speed so I dont know where else to look.

johnpoz

And what is your internet you pay for? Is it significant higher than 257.. like 500 or gig? What does your hard wired pc get? I assume its wired gig.

So take your internet and pfsense out of the equation - do a simple iperf test like I showed from my phone to my nas.. You can run iperf on your pc.. And then HE has an app for both iphone and android that can do iperf2 or 3..

How exactly do you have your AP wired - is it connected to some switch, that is then connected to pfsense, and your PC is connected to same switch?

drwoodcomb

@johnpoz I am paying for and able to get 400mpbs when testing from my PC which is hard wired. But I should have mentioned that the 257Mbps wall is not a test of my ISP speeds. I am running an iperf test