Flint 2 WiFi internet throughput issue

[joffler]

It's been like this for a while now and I'm not technical enough to figure this out on my own so decided to make a forum post

1gig symmetrical connection having strange speed differences to the internet over wifi, an issue I didn't have with previous router

wifi 6, channel 36, 160mhz, connected link on my phone at 2401Mbps

speedtest on phone

speedtest on computer seconds later (same test server)

this is reproducible, always this way to this and most other speedtest servers
meanwhile one specific speedtest server in particular almost always gives me ~800-900down / 600-900up on phone

I've also noticed lower download speeds from certain sites/services on phone compared to on old router, but at the same time having seen 90-120 MB/s as well from other sites/services

It's like if I was having peering problems that ONLY happens over wifi on my phone and not on my computer on the same connection

same issues regardless of hardware/software acceleration or network acceleration disabled
and it happened on both 4.5.8 and 4.6.2 firmwares

local speedtest between phone and computer

I don't have any other wifi devices to test with but I don't know if that matters since this did NOT happen on my old router to my knowledge

tried multiple things like
upgrading firmware
changing network accel settings
changing channels
changing to 80MHz
using AC instead of AX
fiddling around with signal strength
changing MAC to get assigned another IP from ISP
changing to correct country code for wifi in luci (this seemingly made upstream worse to the one speedtest server that seems to work overwifi instead, which indeed got back up again after resetting firmware)

issue is still there regardless of what I do, never seen anything like this before so I don't know what is up
and again this did not happen with the other router, also on same wifi settings (channel 36 160mhz ax)

[joffler]

plugged my old router back in and did a speedtest against the same server just to make absolutely sure

and a few minutes later plugged Flint 2 back in and did it again, same server

[bruce]

Hi,

Please try the OpenWRT 24 firmware for MT6000: GL.iNet download center

BTW, let me know what model of the test phone, to see if I can reproduce it.

[joffler]

Phone: Xiaomi 11T Pro (2107113SG)

flashed op24 without keeping settings

first against one of the speedtest servers that always seems to work over wifi using Flint 2:
(the one that was mentioned working in my first post)

then against the one in my other posts:

moments later on computer to same server as other posts:

and again against the first test one

op24 seems to go higher over wifi than 4.5.8 and 4.6.2 to the servers I'm experiencing issues with but still weird speed differences compared to the other router for some reason

edit: plugged my old router back in for now and done more extensive tests

for more information, distance isn't at issue as both tests in screenshots above are against servers close to eachother, 1kilometer apart both in Stockholm Sweden which is ~170km from me (closest speedtest servers to my location)

on Flint 2 there are servers that give me 800-900 that are much farther away but again most test servers have these low speed issues where my old ASUS router does not

for example against a server in Germany I get ~200-300mbps with Flint 2, and now on my ASUS router 900/900 against the same german one

and again, issues are WiFi only, with the same connection, small apartment with no interference on the band standing close when doing tests

this makes no sense at all to me

one time while troubleshooting I did a test on my phone in the android google chrome browser (put into desktop mode) to the main speedtest server I was having issues with
and this happened:

this isn't reproducible though, when I've tried several times after getting a result like this it's back down to the same issue as the speedtest app, this is just random in chrome on android

but made me think there was an issue in the app, like different ports or TCP instead of UDP or something like that and that is what's wrong

so I tried installing another app specific to Sweden

all tests below top are on Flint 2 which I've had since 3rd of July, did the top one just now on my old ASUS router

[joffler]

I have now had a friend come by with a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and test

it's performing exactly the same as my phone

is my router defective or something?

[bruce]

Hi,

Could you please try to test in others more model? Like laptops, iPhone, etc.
I have tried to reproduce in my side, otherwise I cannot to learn about this issue.

Poor Wifi Performance - GL-MT6000

I have tested in these wireless devices (or network cards) with the MT6000: AX200, AX201, iPhone11 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro, Huawei Mate40, iPad Pro 2022. My test topology: Private Liber Speedtest: Libre Speed Server in the PC -> (2.5G WAN) -> MT6000 -> (WLAN) -> Libre speed webpage in the devices iperf3 test: 'iperf3 -s' in the MT6000 -> (WLAN) -> 'iperf3 -c' in the devices The results of above tests: All devices work well with the MT6000, CH48, 160MHz, WPA2, others are default. the Liber s…

[joffler]

I don't have access to any AX devices apart from my phone
and I don't know anyone personally with an iPhone or afaik any Apple devices at all

no WiFi NIC on my computer (desktop)

the guy who brought the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra also brought a laptop as well but I think it's from 2018 or something

didn't look too much into it because first it failed to connect with WPA3 so I had to change to WPA2 and it was only getting 300/300 Mbit/s in tests

while the phones to the same servers are getting:
800-900 / 600-900 Mbit/s to test servers that work
400-580 / 600-700 Mbit/s to the test servers with issues
(400-500 down on 4.5.8 and 4.6.2, op24 4.6.0 ~570 down)

also to clarify, WPA3/WPA2 performs pretty much identically on the phone so I doubt that's relevant to the problem

I can try to ask my family if they know anyone with Apple devices but then having them come to my place just to "test my WiFi" isn't something I can guarantee will happen

what I can say that may be relevant is that on my other router the speedtest sometimes ramps up to max(800-900) a little slower to the servers where Flint 2 just quickly goes up and holds steady at ~500 (~570 at op24) like it's hitting a cap

and if I remember correctly, the few servers where Flint 2 and my ASUS router perform pretty much the same, it's ramping up quickly on both routers
and by quickly I mean it's behaving more like on my computer over ethernet, starting at ~820 and usually gains around 50-90 more up until the end

edit: and again just so there's no confusion, ONLY on WiFi, same test servers over ethernet no issues at all, I get 800-900+ on my Desktop PC if I test the exact same test server seconds before/after test on phone on Flint 2

[joffler]

friend of a friend happened to be in the area with an iPhone and let me try out a speed test
not enough time to do anything extensive just quick checks

iPhone 12,
to save time and not keep the guy here too long it's all the same test server as all my other screenshots where it's locked to ~500 or ~570 on my phone
and it's breaking 800 downstream consistently (did like 4-5 in a row)
ramp up is deadslow with the iPhone, quickly gets to around 400 then slowly ramps up to 600-700 and then absolutely crawling up to 800 where it lands with the last 1-2 seconds of the tests
just to emphasize how slow the ramp up is on the iPhone, I mentioned in my last post that the ramp up is a little slower sometimes to this speedtest server on my phone with my ASUS router, but that would be lightning fast ramp up compared to this on the iPhone with the Flint 2

here's the kicker... which just raises even more questions for me
before plugging in my Flint 2 I had my ASUS router plugged in and decided it would be a good idea to quickly do a control test before swapping routers

on my ASUS router where everything just works on my phone and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
the iPhone couldn't get past like 650 did 3 in a row same result
and did a control on my phone getting like 880/800 at least 4 in a row and then swapped routers over to Flint 2

problem is reversed for iPhone...? I'm gonna lose my mind

any idea what's causing this?

[j2zero]

It's hard to judge based of speedtest results, as you say in your posts you are using a server that sometimes or constantly gives you slower speeds results, that just tells me the server your testing isn't great, not a true test.

iperf will do a local speed test and give true test results over WiFi as there will be no ISP speed bottleneck, just pure local speed results. Also remember mobiles have weak antennas, some are 1x1 and 2x2 clients too which can mean the negotiated speeds are effected.

You can also try nperf.com which will do a speedtest and might return different results compared to speedtest.net

You could be having trouble with bufferbloat, which you can check over at: https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat

You can install luci-app-sqm from Luci advanced page and configure that to see if that helps too.

[joffler]

@j2zero thank you for your reply but I've probably bloated the thread with too much to read so I'll try to make a more concise summary

many if not most speedtest servers have this issue
and the one I am refrencing over and over with the issue just happens to be the closest one which app defaults to most often automatically based on location

I'm basically always using it as a reference when trying different settings because it's easy to find and I know it fails

this is also not something specific to speedtest.net test servers, I've seen traffic being lower on sites/services frequently visited/used on phone when switching to Flint 2

issue also happening on all servers on a test platform specific to Sweden (bredbandskollen.se)
and all of them work with the other router

everything works as it should over ethernet on both routers

I have done a local speedtest using openspeedtest with a screenshot getting 900/900
only 900/900 because I don't have 2.5G ethernet on any of my devices but linkspeed according to phone is 2401Mbps

I am not gonna pretend I know enough about mobile phone antennas to say dispute what you're saying about negotiated speeds being affected

but I can say that there are speedtest servers that always work and ones that always "fail"
I can switch between them back and forth over and over and see locked 500-570 downstream on failing one
and 800-900 downstream on working one
if that is relevant to negotiated speeds

pings are fine not a bufferbloat issue, however on the iPhone latency was spiking way more than my own devices

all test screenshots performed with Flint 2 have been completely unloaded with me only plugging in my computer, nothing else connected except devices running speedtests

maybe not concise enough of a summary but it'll have to do

[j2zero]

@joffler

but I can say that there are speedtest servers that always work and ones that always "fail"
I can switch between them back and forth over and over and see locked 500-570 downstream on failing one
and 800-900 downstream on working one
if that is relevant to negotiated speeds

If iperf tests or even the OpenSpeedTest (which I don't use anymore as it has a bug) report full 900/900 then there isn't likely an issue with the flint 2, it would be odd to see a different region getting slower speeds, if speeds are slower and repeatedly slower on certain servers then that would suggest that the servers dont have the bandwidth to saturate your line.

You could check your MTU settings and compare settings from your old router. Also try with hardware acceleration off to see if anything changes.

Regarding the bug on the OpeSpeedTest local docker (maybe the windows client too), if you test via Firefox you will notice that the upload speeds are not true, iperf is the best way to test.

You can run the iperf server from the glinet plugins and connect your laptop to it as a client to test.

iPerf3 for beginners

Hi GLiNet folks. I recently set up my first WireGuard server/client system on a Brume/SlateAX and have had fun testing it out. However I’ve noticed some speed issues that I want to investigate. In forums I’ve read that the iPerf3 function is great to test this, however I don’t know how it works. Are there any beginning guides on how to use iPerf3 to test network speeds on GLiNet server/client WG system? The furthest I’ve gotten is to install it via the plugins menu on the SlateAX. Thanks for an…

[joffler]

they do have the bandwidth to saturate it when, same server that always fails over WiFi on Flint 2 always works over ethernet
and other router always works over both wifi and ethernet
edit: except for the iPhone where it was just behaving weird in general on both routers but somehow performed better on Flint 2
and forgot to mention in summary that changing networkaccel settings to hardware/software or disabled didn't seem to have any affect at all on Flint 2
on ASUS it is on

MTU 1500 on both but as I said, on Flint it's working over ethernet, so MTU shouldn't play a part?

even if openspeedtest has a bug (I wasn't using Firefox IIRC) I am still getting 800-900 / 800-900 over the internet to the speed tests that do work on Flint 2

I don't own a laptop and I'm not dismissing your advise about iperf3, I welcome any help
but I don't see how this would be necessary to determine local speeds when internet speeds against test servers that work on Flint 2 consistently give me 800-900 Mbit/s over WiFi

the problem with Flint 2 over WiFi is that it's like I am experiencing peering issues with weird speed differences over the internet that is not related to the local network

and again, on Flint 2 where WiFi speeds are b0rked and lower than they should be.. when I switch to the ASUS router the speeds are normal and working like they should

[j2zero]

@joffler

MTU 1500 on both but as I said, on Flint it's working over ethernet, so MTU shouldn't play a part?

The MTU applies for either.

@joffler

don't see how this would be necessary to determine local speeds when internet speeds against test servers that work on Flint 2 consistently give me 800-900 Mbit/s over WiFi

So if that's the case then it's working correctly?

I don't own a laptop and I'm not dismissing your advise about iperf3, I welcome any help
but I don't see how this would be necessary to determine local speeds when internet speeds against test servers that work on Flint 2 consistently give me 800-900 Mbit/s over WiFi

You can get android/iPhone iperf3 apps. Using iperf rules out flakey ISP connections / speedtest servers. It's a true reflection of your WiFi speeds to clients. If using iperf and you get 500 but the client negotiated at a higher rate then it would suggest a problem, you can't determine it via an ISP speedtest as there's too many other factors to account for.

I couldn't say why certain servers are showing different results other than the fact that they could be throttling.

What happens when you run a ping test. Are you dropping any packets?

Ensure you are not running a VPN client in global proxy mode, turn VPN client off if it's enabled with a 3rd party VPN provider to rule out VPN bottlenecking your speed.

Try to set your channel width to 80mhz on the 5ghz and also set to WPA2, again just to test.

It could well be something firmware / driver related so failing any of the above then I'll let the Devs pick up this post.

[joffler]

@j2zero

The MTU applies for either.

for either, meaning there's different MTU values for ethernet and wifi?
haven't touched MTU on anything so I geniunely didn't know if that's the case

it's all defaults, will have to check further

@j2zero

So if that's the case then it's working correctly?

I couldn't say why certain servers are showing different results other than the fact that they could be throttling.

No? how is it working correctly if it's underperforming against many if not most speedtest.net servers and all bredbandskollen.se servers
and multiple sites and services I'm used to using where I get 80-120MB/s downloadspeeds with ASUS router and on Flint 2 it's like half

I've had the router for over a month, many servers across the internet in different countries throttling me only when using WiFi on Flint 2?
literally seconds later same servers speeds are fine over ethernet
multiple tests computer to phone back and forth same consistent results over and over

@j2zero

What happens when you run a ping test. Are you dropping any packets?

Try to set your channel width to 80mhz on the 5ghz and also set to WPA2, again just to test.

No packetloss of any kind from multiple tests I've done

another thing I forgot to mention in the summary as well, my apologies
tested switching bands channels etc etc, no dice issues remain
tested both WPA2 and WPA3 etc, performs pretty much identically

also there's little to no interference on the 5Ghz band

@j2zero

You can get android/iPhone iperf3 apps. Using iperf rules out flakey ISP connections / speedtest servers. It's a true reflection of your WiFi speeds to clients. If using iperf and you get 500 but the client negotiated at a higher rate then it would suggest a problem, you can't determine it via an ISP speedtest as there's too many other factors to account for.

I'll check out iperf3 when I get the chance

@j2zero

Ensure you are not running a VPN client in global proxy mode, turn VPN client off if it's enabled with a 3rd party VPN provider to rule out VPN bottlenecking your speed.

majority of tests have been with a clean firmware install or resets after I realized something wasn't working right, no VPNs or anything that could compromise results

[j2zero]

@joffler

for either, meaning there's different MTU values for ethernet and wifi?

I mean the MTU value applies for both connection types.

@joffler

No? how is it working correctly if it's underperforming against many if not most speedtest.net servers and all bredbandskollen.se servers
and multiple sites and services I'm used to using where I get 80-120MB/s downloadspeeds with ASUS router and on Flint 2 it's like half

I've had the router for over a month, many servers across the internet in different countries throttling me only when using WiFi on Flint 2?
literally seconds later same servers speeds are fine over ethernet
multiple tests computer to phone back and forth same consistent results over and over

I agree it's odd. The only changes I've seen regarding the firmware is the driver related to the WiFi. So I would flash the latest stable and see if you can replicate.

I know you have tried the newer one as suggest in an earlier post but theres no harm trying different versions to see if anything improves.

I mentioned / edited my previous post about ensuring your not running a VPN client when testing. Keep every simple and trying, not sure if you have a 3rd party VPN running or not.

As I said earlier, I've exhausted what I think could help so hopefully the Devs can be of assistance going forward.

[joffler]

@j2zero

I agree it's odd. The only changes I've seen regarding the firmware is the driver related to the WiFi. So I would flash the latest stable and see if you can replicate.

4.5.8 first firmware I had when booting up if I recall correctly, started realizing something was wrong just a day or so after setting it everything up, tried all the "regular troubleshooting stuff" like channels bands DFS signal strength network accel etc etc, issue persisting whatever I did

so flashed 4.6.2 when it was in beta
tried all of it again, no changes

was told by dev to try op24
only thing that gave different results, instead of locking to ~500 op24 locks to ~570 to the regular fail server and different slightly higher results towards other servers where I had problems
flashed back to 4.6.2 stable but that's exactly the same as the beta 4.6.2, flashed back to op24 after doing tests on stable 4.6.2

not daily driving Flint 2 for the time being, last few weeks only been swapping when people come by to let me test other devices

will try another firmware when I have more free time

@j2zero

Keep every simple and trying, not sure if you have a 3rd party VPN running or not.

I did have a VPN running at first but my phone and computer were excluded of course, performed exactly the same as clean firmware installs (same issues)
but just to be safe I switched back to my ASUS router and did all future Flint 2 tests on clean installs

@j2zero

As I said earlier, I've exhausted what I think could help so hopefully the Devs can be of assistance going forward.

appreciate the replies mate

[samuryno]

Hi, joffler

I just got a Flint 2 on Sunday and I'm having the very same problem. Max 302.65/119.93 on router from a 2.5g NIC and 903/120 on my Galaxy S22 Ultra. I have the latest Firmware installed, but not the beta.

So you're not alone.

[bruce]

Have tried to test in the WiFi6 laptop like the AX200/AX201/AX211?

[Renato]

@samuryno

Max 302.65/119.93 on router from a 2.5g NIC and 903/120 on my Galaxy S22 Ultra

What speed are you expecting to see?
What do you mean by 2.5g? Is it 2.5GHz, or 2.5Gbps?

You said you received it on Sunday. What was the speeds on the previous router?

[smallwifienergy]

Having the same issue as others have mentioned. Upload speed over Wi-Fi cuts my throughput in half on my Verizon Fios 300/300 Mbps symetrical plan. I live in a studio so the signal is not going through any walls and all devices are within 8 feet with line of sight.

Connecting directly through to the Verizon ONT I get advertised speeds, plugging in via ethernet only I get wifi speeds. All speed tests over Wifi on Wifi 6 capable devices results in advertised download speeds, but half upload speeds at 150 Mbps.

I've already rolled back to the previous firmware with the same results coming out to 300/150 on all devices such as an M3 Macbook Air, iPhone 15 Pro and a Linux Mint desktop machine with a TP-LINK PCIE wifi 6 adapter.

Going to have to downgrade back to the original Flint that provided the symmetrical speeds I paid for.