Issues with MLO enabled Wifi 7 Download Speed

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davidfi01
davidfi01 Posts: 25  Freshman Member
First Comment First Answer First Anniversary
in Wireless

Attached find an image (speedtest at router.png) of a speedtest run taken at the router. At the router, I am consistently seeing upload and download speeds of >1Gb/sec.

The router is hardwired to a NWA130BE via a switch with a 2.5GB port.

Attached (mlo setup.png) is the Nebula config for the access point. NOTE that I have configured a separate VLAN for WIFI7 and only connect Wifi7 devices to it.

When I run speedtest at the PC, I am regularly getting only 0.5 GB download speeds while I get 1 GB upload speeds.

Why can't I achieve 1 GB download speeds?

NOTE: I also connected the PC to the ap via cable at 2.5 GB (see Hardwire config.png). Using a cable to the ap regularly shows up and down speeds >1GB/sec (see Hardwire to ap results.png).

What changes to my config do I need to make?

The wifi adapter is an Intel Wifi 7 BE200

Thanks,

D

Speedtest at Router.png
Speedtest at PC.png
MLO Setup.png
Hardwire Config.png
Hardwire to AP results.png

All Replies

  • PeterUK
    PeterUK Posts: 3,892  Guru Member
    100 Answers 2500 Comments Friend Collector Seventh Anniversary

    bad Antenna ?

    have you checked for derive updates?

  • Chris888
    Chris888 Posts: 46  Freshman Member
    First Comment Friend Collector First Anniversary Community MVP
    edited February 24

    Windows on 24H2? Intel driver update? NWA on 7.10? Check connection is really on MLO (live view clients in Nebula cloud).

  • George993
    George993 Posts: 21  Freshman Member
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    edited February 25

    I think there is something messed up with Intel BE200 chip. I have one, as well as a Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 and a Realtek (don't remember the version). The Intel and Realtek perform about the same. The Qualcomm is pretty fast. Like Chris888 said, check to see if its using MLO, the Realtek is supposed to support it but does not (the Unspecified manufacturer), The Intel and Qualcomm do:

    8a01aed8b1c04a3894cdbd543a05ca60.png

    Here is my Intel speed test:

    cd2e1fc408254e72ae804709ef1295d7.png

    And here is my Qualcomm speed test:

    c11136e050334517af67922f97deb2e6.png

    George

  • Aditi
    Aditi Posts: 5  Freshman Member
    First Comment Friend Collector

    I am using iPerf3 for testing Wi-Fi 5, 6, and 7 across single bands, dual-band combinations, and Multi-Link Operation (MLO). However, during dual-band tests for Wi-Fi 7, the upload speed is consistently higher than the download speed for both TCP and UDP across all test scenarios, including download, upload, and bidirectional tests. My test setup includes a Dell XPS 13 with an Intel BE201 chipset and a Samsung S24 as the second client, and the issue persists on both devices.

  • davidfi01
    davidfi01 Posts: 25  Freshman Member
    First Comment First Answer First Anniversary

    This confirms what I am seeing.

    D

  • Chris888
    Chris888 Posts: 46  Freshman Member
    First Comment Friend Collector First Anniversary Community MVP

    I could confirm this, too. That was the reason why i switch to a WBE660S. Now up&download is nearly the same. I think the problem is based on the design of the antenna´s. But is it realy a "problem"? ;-)

  • davidfi01
    davidfi01 Posts: 25  Freshman Member
    First Comment First Answer First Anniversary

    Not sure about the antennas being the problem. The NWA130BE is a 2x2, yours is a 4x4. They are both 3 radio devices. The antenna configuration, under light load, should not be the reason for the assymetric upload/download speed difference.

  • Chris888
    Chris888 Posts: 46  Freshman Member
    First Comment Friend Collector First Anniversary Community MVP

    It depense…if upload is only using 1 stream/antenna….how knows. Firmware is the same. The answer only knows Zyxel.

  • Zyxel_Melen
    Zyxel_Melen Posts: 3,529  Zyxel Employee
    Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 1 - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Administrator - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Administrator - Nebula Zyxel Certified Sales Associate

    Update:

    Our WiFi 7 AP are all STR MLMR. However, the end devices that support Wi-Fi 7 mostly not support more than 1 radio when connects to MLO SSID. Therefore, the throughput will like the same as you disable MLO.

    In addition, if you found the speedtest result isn't good as expected, this could be due to the routing path to the test server. Please try to use OpenSpeedTest to test the device's performance.

    How to check the performance of the device? — Zyxel Community

    Zyxel Melen


  • davidfi01
    davidfi01 Posts: 25  Freshman Member
    First Comment First Answer First Anniversary

    I understand that the intel wifi7 be200 is a single radio and can only connect using one frequency at a time, however, if you turn MLO off on the AP, Windows reports the connection as vanilla 80211.be. If MLO is on, Windows reports the connection as a "true" WIFI 7 connection, using the driver to determine which radio to connect to.

    The biggest issue I have is the assymetric download versus upload speed differential. When I connect using the exact same remote test server via a hardwire connection, I get symetrical 1gb/s speed tests. When I connect via WIFI using the AP, the download speed is mostly 30% to 50% LESS than the upload speed.

    I have also noted that when I rely on DHCP, I get connection drops with WIFI 7 enabled. If I manually set ipconfig, then I don't.

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