Older 802.11ac client has low throughput (NWA130BE)

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PapaNappa
PapaNappa Posts: 4 image  Freshman Member
First Comment Friend Collector
in Wireless

I have the following rather simple setup:

  • Home router with integrated Gigabit switch (FritzBox 6590 Cable)
  • Ceiling mounted NWA130BE connected via Cat.7 to the router/switch
  • 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz radios all enabled
  • There are only one or two neighbouring APs on the same 5GHz channel

I have an older wireless client (Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact) that only supports 802.11ac, i.e. 5GHz.

This client only has very little throughput (10-30MBit/s, on average around 20MBit/s) when connected to the NWA130BE AP, even when standing directly under the AP. This was measured using iPerf3 to a home server connected to the switch, and using internet speed tests.

Both the NWA130BE station list, as well as my clients wireless info on Android, show that the wireless transmit/receive link speed is usually well over 500MBit/s. It just cannot execute on that link speed it seems.

When using an 802.11ax client, it has good throughput (>600MBit/s).
Also, when I connect a desktop computer to the second LAN port on the AP, I get nearly the full 1Gb/s.
So the cabling from the AP to the router is good.

When I connect the AC client directly to the home router AP (FritzBox) 5GHz band, the client gets also much better throughput (>500MBit/s).
So it is not the old client per se that is causing trouble. Using another AP gets good throughput.

The same problem persists when I limit the AP to 802.11ac mode instead of 802.11be. I also get very similar results when using the 2.4GHz band.

There was a similar thread here before:

https://community.zyxel.com/en/discussion/31520/nwa55axe-ac-clients-have-very-low-throughput

However, there the link speed was already at 10Mb/s (mine shows as >500Mb/s), and the post reports about only a few hundred kb/s. So it is similar, but not quite the same.

In summary:

  • the cabling from the AP to the router/switch is good, so not a cable issue
  • little interference from neighbouring APs, negotiated link speed >500Mb/s, so not a signal issue
  • connecting to the router AP is getting good throughput, so not a client issue

So does this indicate a potential firmware bug?

Is there any configuration that should be changed? I pretty much used the wizard settings.

Is there anyone else that can replicate the setup with an 802.11ac client and measure throughput, ideally with the NWA130BE? However the other post indicates this might not be specific to this model.

All Replies

  • Zyxel_Melen
    Zyxel_Melen Posts: 4,321 image  Zyxel Employee
    Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 1 - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Administrator - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Administrator - Nebula Zyxel Certified Sales Associate

    Hi @PapaNappa

    It is not a firmware bug. May I know if your NWA130BE 5 GHz channel width is set to 40 MHz? If not, the issue may be due to the wide channel width. A wide channel width could increase the likelihood of signal interference.

    I used One Plus 7T(802.11ac client) to connect with the NWA130BE 5 GHz with 40 MHz channel width, and here is my iperf result: MAX 320M and avg around 20X M (400M link rate). Additionally, I add the iperf parameter "-P 4" when testing.

    Please help to check the channel width first. If this doesn't improve, please help to collect the diagnostic file and the iperf test parameter for us to check.

    https://community.zyxel.com/en/discussion/18869/how-to-collect-the-standalone-ap-diagnostic-info-by-gui
    Zyxel Melen


  • PapaNappa
    PapaNappa Posts: 4 image  Freshman Member
    First Comment Friend Collector
    edited December 2025

    The channel width was set to 80MHz, but I get the same results with 20MHz, 40MHz, and 160MHz. As stated above, there are maybe 2 other APs on the same channel, so interference should not be an issue.

    I did not set any special iperf parameter, just iperf -c <ip>. Adding -P 4 does not change the results either.

    Here is the diaginfo for your reference:

    —file removed by Zyxel Melen—

    Thanks a lot for your support so far!

  • Zyxel_Melen
    Zyxel_Melen Posts: 4,321 image  Zyxel Employee
    Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 1 - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Administrator - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Administrator - Nebula Zyxel Certified Sales Associate

    In addition, if you found the throughput get better after change the channel width to 40 MHz, but the throughput is not what you expect, please try to change the 5 GHz band's channel or use DCS. Since the issue is because of the signal interference, you need to find a channel without signal interference for proper performance.

    Zyxel Melen


  • PapaNappa
    PapaNappa Posts: 4 image  Freshman Member
    First Comment Friend Collector

    As said in my reply (not sure if you saw this already, seems we have posted nearly at the same time), I get the same results with any channel width. I also tried different channels (incl. the upper DFS channels) and using DCS, all with the same results.

    So I do not think it is interference. An 802.11ax client (iPhone 11) also gets much better throughput.

  • Zyxel_Melen
    Zyxel_Melen Posts: 4,321 image  Zyxel Employee
    Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 1 - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Administrator - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Administrator - Nebula Zyxel Certified Sales Associate

    Hi @PapaNappa

    I just saw it after your new reply. Thanks for collecting the diagnostic file. Let me check it first.

    Zyxel Melen


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