Question

Hi there.

The local (WAN) Speed Test on RUTX11 seems to be much lower than reality when measuring the download rate, yet pretty consistent on the upload rate - specifically on SIM1 which contains a UK EE SIM card (Dual Carrier Aggregation, -51dBi signal strength - network details screenshot attached). Interestingly, the SIM2 Vodafone (Single, -67dBi) connection matches the Wifi/LAN speedtest.net test Down and Up - so seems to be specific to EE/SIM1. What could be causing this?

RUTX11 is reporting 3-7Mbps Download rate, whereas speedtest is suggesting 23-32Mbps. Upload rates match at about ~40Mbps. Both tests are leveraging the same test server. Using a Macbook Pro 2022.

It's almost as if the RUTX11 DL test is not leveraging Carrier Aggregation, or is somehow getting confused with EE traffic.

Thanks for helping!

Answer 1

Hello,

The reason for low download could be simply high load or limited bandwidth of the cell tower your router is connected to.

Carrier aggregation is performed by the software within router's modem. I would suggest to test, what speeds are received, when the same SIM is used inside a smartphone.

A couple of things to tinker around with, could be setting different frequency bands. These can be set manually in Network -> Mobile -> General section.

You could also enable Software flow offloading in Network -> Firewall -> General settings section. 

Is your SIM configured to receive APN automatically, or have you preconfigured custom value? Could you check both settings?

Lastly, modem firmware update could be done.

Best regards,

Comments

Hi there.

Mobile phone speeds with this and a another EE SIM is much better on the download speeds - and that's performed inside where signal strength is 2 bars of 4G on iPhone 13 Pro Max. 4-8Mbps on RUTX11 (local test), 21Mbps on iPhone 2-bars, and 20Mbps with Macbook Pro over Wifi to the RUTX11. I am using Speedtest.net and the same server. (p.s. speeds at peak time, usually double in offpeak)

There is definitely something up with the download speed reading from the router itself - 2-6x slower than a Wifi test. You'd expect the Router to have the most performant results, due to least latency and no degradation through WiFi.

Other:

• The SIM(s) are set with Auto APN (one EE, one Vodafone). 
• Firmware is up to date
• Restarted (consistently slower reading)
• On request, enabled "software flow offboarding" 

Would appreciate any further guidance to understand if this is a local setup issue or a bug in the Speed Test package running on the RUTX11.

Thanks

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Just managed to have a Speed Test match speedtest.net over wifi (21Mpbs down / 6Mbps up). I wonder if it is to do with having no CA (Carrier Aggregation) from the mast the router is currently connected to? Usually I am connected to a Mast with CA Dual. Could this be relevant - i.e. RUTX11 not correctly measuring DL rates when CA is established with the mast?

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I've forwarded the issue to look into deeper.

Could you tell, which firmware version your RUTX11 is currently using?

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Firmware is RUTX_R_00.07.02.7

Thank you for looking into this.

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Hi ZygimantasBliu -

Any progress in looking into the Speed Test bug in RUTX_R_00.07.03 where D/L speeds when there is Dual(or more) Carrier Aggregation performed by the network provider on that mast? RUTX will report 4mbps, whereas Speedtest.net website direct may report 12-28mbps. For single band connections (same/other network), the Speed Test on RUTX is accurate and can clock 25mpbs+.

Thanks.

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Hi Zygimantas, 

I have to assume you are not establishing a multi connection (carrier aggregation) when the device is performing a speed test. Take a look at the below:

The Results table from Speedtest.net has two tests, a minute apart. The green one is using carrier aggregation. The orange one is not (just single connection). Compare that to the results on the RUTX device - they match the single connection results. The last table is from the Status -> Network -> Mobile page, showing that Multi Carrier Aggregation is available from the mast (in this case dual). All tests are from the same test server, performed within 2 minutes from eachother.

I've attached my troubleshoot files to the original ticket should that be helpful.

(running 07.03.1)

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Thank you for sharing your insight.

RnD is aware about the issue, however, due to higher priority of other tasks, new products development, the solution to this is pushed to 7.5 firmware release.

Best regards,

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Makes sense. Understood, thanks for confirming.

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Hello,

There is an assumption that, since the WebUI application only takes about 10 seconds to measure, the Speedtest application does not have enough time to reach higher speed.

Could you login via SSH and test the result with the command below:

• speedtest -t 15  

Best regards,

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Hi Zygimantas - 

I get this error: Finding Closest server... There was no response from the selected server.

I get this through the UI too, so before running test I need to select a server (unlike speedtest.net that auto selects). Is there a command to see available servers and a command to select one?

FYI - Testing now - I get ~30Mbps Down / 13Mbps Up on Speedtest.net (on Wifi), but on Router UI Speedtest, I get 7Mbps Down and 30Mbps Up(!). It's not a time window thing, as speedtest.net hits high numbers immediately. Looks like a single vs multi connection thing...

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Thank you for testing.

It would be easier to select a server in the WebUI and copy it's IP from WebUI to cli. For example:

• speedtest -u ip_address_from_webui -t 15  

Best regards,

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Hi Zygimantas,

Thanks for the command. See SSH vs Web UI vs SpeedTest via Wifi:

In this test, download rate on this same multi-aggregated connection is better than normal through the Web UI (usually about 4-8Mbps), however both SSH and Web UI is a fair bit slower than Speedtest direct on Wifi (you'd expect the other way round), and materially faster on the upload rate (as you'd expect).

Hope this is helpful with diagnosing the behaviour.

 

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Apologies, if this might start to get annoying, but could you perform another test?

When using https://www.speedtest.net/ for testing, switch from multi connections to single, and check the difference in results between LAN devices and WebUI application.

Best regards,