FWA510 firmware fault - incorrect upload speed reporting

bejb

The speed reported reported by the upload speed detector is always far too low - quite often the same figure of 2.69M. This is supposed to be the speed between the router and the internet and it is wrong.

This speed is reported in both the admin web interface and the Zyxel Air app

It is obvious it is too low as the upload speed from the connected device to the internet is far higher - say 20 - 30M.

I did hope that a firmware upgrade would fix it. However it has been in all the firmware versions including the including the latest v1.2

Zyxel_Tina

Hi @bejb,

Please note that the upload speed shown in the FWA510’s web interface and Zyxel Air app is based on the device’s own measurement method and the speed test server it connects to. Because of this, it may differ from the results you see when running a speed test from a client device. Other factors, like whether any connected devices are consuming bandwidth during the test, can also influence the reported result.

Could you please confirm that no other devices were connected and consuming bandwidth during the test? This will help us accurately assess the performance and investigate further.

bejb

Many thanks for responding - I'm very grateful. If I can be of any help in your investigations, please let me know.

I can confirm that I tested this when no other applications or connections were using lots of bandwidth.

In case it helps, I've attached the screen showing the tests I have done recently. The fact that so many of the upload speeds seem to be capped at 2.69M suggests to me that these are not actually reporting the correct upload speed.

I've also attached the tests done using the Speedtest service, which shows upload speeds approximately ten times as fast.

Zyxel_Tina

Hi @bejb,

To assist you further, could you please confirm whether your device is registered and managed on Nebula?

• If it is, kindly enable Zyxel Support Access and send us a private message with your org. and site name.
• If it is not on Nebula, please provide the following information via PM:
  1. The system log from the FWA-510.
  2. A screenshot of the FWA-510’s System Info page.
  3. A screenshot of the FWA-510’s Cellular Info page.
  4. Screenshots of the speed test results on web GUI.

Thank you for your cooperation.

bejb

I'm afraid my device is not on Nebula, so I've sent the information over that you requested. I hope it helps. If I've sent the wrong stuff or there is anything else I can do to help, please let me know.

Eric

Zyxel_Tina

Hi @bejb,

Thank you for the information!

Based on the Cellular Info and the speedtest result you shared, we can see that the FWA510 is currently connected only to LTE Band 8, with both upload and download bandwidth to 10M. This explains why the speed is capped around that level.

In our tests, the device was able to aggregate multiple LTE bands(B3, B7, and B8), resulting in significantly higher throughput. Since your device is on B8 only, the performance is limited by the network conditions in your area. Therefore, we can confirm that this behavior is not related to a firmware fault.

To improve your device performance, we’d suggest:

• Relocating the device to get stronger signal coverage and possibly other LTE bands.
• Check with your operator (O2) to confirm whether higher-bandwidth LTE or 5G NR coverage is available at your location. Using 5G NR, where supported, can also significantly improve both download and upload speeds.

These steps may help the device connect to a wider bandwidth or multiple carriers, which can significantly boost upload and download performance.

bejb

Many thanks for looking into this for me.

O2 have implemented 5g SA at our nearest transmitter very recently. In general, it is marginally quicker than 4g. However, several times a day the service just stops. Connecting devices need to be disconnected and reconnected or need to wait for service to be re-established. I put this down to the newness of the service on the transmitter, and so I have set the router to only use 4g. I intend to wait a while to allow the service to settle down and then I'll try 5g again. Of course, I could be wrong and it could be a problem with the router.

However, I tend to think this is a side issue. The problem I saw is that the router says that the upload speed from the router to the internet is very low. However, it also says that the upload speed from connected devices to the internet is much higher. I can't see how this can be correct. It really seems like there must a problem with the router for it to report these two significantly different upload speeds. If you think that is ok, I guess I'll have to go with that. But it doesn't seem right to me.

Zyxel_Tina

Hi @bejb,

Sorry for the late reply and thank you for the details!

After confirming, the Speedtest® in the FWA510 first resolves the wireless client’s IP to geographic coordinates, then selects a nearby Ookla speed-test server from the server list to run the speed test. Although this is conceptually similar to the web Ookla test, the FWA510’s diagnostics implementation is different from the Ookla’s original source code. As a result, the actual behavior, such as the server chosen, timing, or parallel streams, and the testing method may vary the results .

To investigate further, could you please help us run the speed test again? We recommend placing the FWA510 where the signal is stronger (aim for an RSSI around –70 dBm or better), since the test can be affected by the current signal strength. This will show whether the low 2~3 Mbps is due to radio/bandwidth conditions or something else. If, after improving the signal, the Diagnostics test still reports around 2 Mbps, we will need to further analyze the issue to identify the root cause.

Please let us know your test results. We appreciate your cooperation!