USB Tethering Speeds

Miki · 2022-03-04T22:02:19.718Z

I have a weirdly specific question regarding usb tethering on gl.inet devices and was wondering if anyone that is more tech oriented than me could help

I am in a new build and have been living off grid (using solar) for over a year now. I use my iPhone’s unlimited data plan to tether via usb and have been getting respectable speeds but not the full speed that the phone is capable of. The gl.inet device is then connected to a mesh system throughout the house but for the purpose of this question all speeds mentioned have been tested directly off the gl.inet via cable.

I use an iPhone 12 Pro Max and it gets 260-280Mbps (I luckily get full 4G speeds with 5G towers being installed in my area very soon).
When I tether the phone with my laptop (mac) it is able to get the full data (easily 200+Mbps)
However, I have found out that with my Slate it never managed to tether more than 68-72Mbps. After a couple of months I decided to buy a Brume thinking it would be able to tether a greater speed yet I never see anything above 80Mbps.

I bought these just for the usb tethering capability. I do not have any VPN or anything. Does anyone know which device would be able to tether the full speed off my iPhone? If not full speed which device is capable of the greatest usb tethering speed. Thanks

wcs2228 · 2022-03-05T00:35:30.309Z

As other users have found, your wireless carrier may be throttling the speed when it detects that you are using a router. One of the common detection methods they use is to check the TTL in the data packets.

You can try changing the TTL from your router, so that the data looks like a non-router connection:

Jakes Site of Random Musings – 10 May 20

GL.Inet TTL Change

I use a GL-X750 for internet access while I travel, and while I have an unlimited dataplan is seems some carriers in the us play funny buggers and “de priortise” data from secondary devices. I have found this work around to function for me…. we are...

r/Rural_Internet - GL-X750V2 TTL Setting

5 votes and 10 comments so far on Reddit

I do not work for and I do not have formal association with GL.iNet

Kermee · 2022-03-05T02:00:56.915Z

Miki:

However, I have found out that with my Slate it never managed to tether more than 68-72Mbps. After a couple of months I decided to buy a Brume thinking it would be able to tether a greater speed yet I never see anything above 80Mbps.

I have similar results with the GL.iNet GL-X750 Spitz. My assumption is it’s because it’s a combination of USB 2.0 and the rndis_host driver that is used to provide USB tether on these routers have a high overhead. If the ports are USB 3.0 and slightly better CPUs, they may achieve higher speeds. But unfortunately, don’t have a fix for you.

alzhao · 2022-03-05T05:22:49.241Z

Miki:

I use an iPhone 12 Pro Max and it gets 260-280Mbps (I luckily get full 4G speeds with 5G towers being installed in my area very soon).
When I tether the phone with my laptop (mac) it is able to get the full data (easily 200+Mbps)
However, I have found out that with my Slate it never managed to tether more than 68-72Mbps

70-80Mbps is a normal speed for tethering iPhone via USB. This maybe because of the chipset IO or USB or software driver.

wcs2228 · 2022-03-05T14:39:05.585Z

Instead of USB tethering, you can try using Repeater with your GL-AR750S Slate:

Set up a hotspot on iPhone over 5GHz wifi
Connect Slate to hotspot as a Repeater over 5GHz wifi
Connect Mac to Slate via Ethernet cable on LAN port

I can get >150Mbps on my Slate as a Repeater to PC on Ethernet.

I do not work for and I do not have formal association with GL.iNet

Miki · 2022-03-05T15:13:37.596Z

Thanks I’ll give this a try

Miki · 2022-03-05T15:16:36.558Z

I don’t want to tether via wifi to safeguard battery health. My phone used to get really hot before especially during 40C summers.