R710 / R510 5Ghz speed not as fast as I hoped for

mikegleasonjr — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 19:12:16 GMT

Hi,

With my previous gear (Mikrotik CAP ACs flashed with OpenWRT), I was able to get 500-550 Mbps on an ideal case on the 5 GHz band (80 MHz) on my Macbook, and 300 Mbps on my phone running iperf3 connected to a wired server on the same switch as the access point in download mode (-R).

Now with a Ruckus R710 on Unleashed, I get a little slower speed. The connection seems great and range is miles better but it seems odd I can't reach faster raw speed!

Clients specs and iperf3 results

Wired client:

Plugged to the same switch as the R710, on gigabit connection

MacBook #1 wifi reported connection:

Tx rate: 1,300 Mbps (3x3)
Channel: 157 (5 GHz, 80 MHz)
RSSI: -33 dBm
Noise: -90 dBm
MCS Index: 9
NSS: 3
Distance: 1m
iperf3 (download) average: 402 Mbps (was able to reach 550 on Cap AC 2x2 running OpenWRT)

MacBook #2 wifi reported connection:

Tx rate: 867 Mbps (2x2)
Channel: 157 (5 GHz, 80 MHz)
RSSI: -50 dBm
Noise: -92 dBm
MCS Index: 9
NSS: 2
Distance: 3m
iperf3 (download) average: 315 Mbps (was able to reach 550 on Cap AC 2x2 running OpenWRT)

Samsung Phone:

Tx/Rx rate: 433 Mbps
Channel: 157 (5 GHz, 80 MHz)
Distance: 2m
iperf3 (download) average: 256 Mbps (was able to reach 300 on Cap AC 2x2)

AP specs

Ruckus R710 running Unleashed 200.13.6.1.319
Country Code: CA
5GHz Channel: 157 (80 MHz)
Forced 802.3at mode (Using a genuine Ruckus PoE injector)
Enabled 802.11r/802.11k
Background scanning: 300 seconds
Smart Roam: Enabled and set to 1
5GHz Reported Noise Floor: -108
5GHz Reported % Retries/% Drops: 0.000127/0.00
5GHz connected devices: 3
5GHz Reported TX Power: Full
Everything else default

House spec

Rural area, no other 5 GHz access points detected
Wood walls
Access point is on the floor facing up to simulate its final placement on the ceiling (mirroring the actual position, but on the floor)
Computers and phones are elevated 1-2 meters from the floor in the same room, distance are given above for each client

Experiments / Overall impressions

The speed is consistent and great. I tried various other channels and country codes, sometimes the speed was lower, but never higher. I tried lowering the power too. I tried to swap the R710 with a R510 and I kind of got the same speeds.

Oddity

The phone roams great when going from the 5 GHz to the 2 GHz band, the iperf3 connection doesn't skip a beat, but when roaming back to the 5 GHz channel, the iperf3 test has 2-3 seconds of 0 mbps before going back full speed. At least the connection doesn't drop, but I find it odd. My old access point (Mikrotik running OpenWRT) wasn't doing that with the same phone.

Conclusion

As I said, my Mikrotik 2x2 access point was giving me higher raw speed and I read in numerous places that I should be able to get around 550 mbps running iperf3 with a 5 GHz (80 MHz) wifi5 access point in ideal scenarios...

Thanks for the help/pointers!

Re: R710 / R510 5Ghz speed not as fast as I hoped for

mikegleasonjr — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 00:02:57 GMT

Turns out I tried to have a R710 as master, a R510 as slave, then connect each MacBook to each, then do an iperf3 between the MacBooks.

I get 600 Mbps in one direction and 500 in the other so I guess everything is right.

What's weird is the APs are connected to the same switch. I guess the problem was the wired computer...

Re: R710 / R510 5Ghz speed not as fast as I hoped for

rosewood72 — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 21:33:13 GMT

question: I'm having issues with speed. I have a combination 05 510 and 710 with the 710 as the master. Are you saying that both can coexist in the same unleashed network with no issues? Thanks

topic R710 / R510 5Ghz speed not as fast as I hoped for in Access Points - Indoor and Outdoor

R710 / R510 5Ghz speed not as fast as I hoped for

Re: R710 / R510 5Ghz speed not as fast as I hoped for

Re: R710 / R510 5Ghz speed not as fast as I hoped for