MikroTik hAP ax3 poor WiFi performance

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

I just set up hAP ax3 and noticed significantly worse WiFi performance compared to hAP ac3.

I did some tests using iperf3 and hAP ax3 had 30% worse performance. Indicated signal strength (on Android phone) was on average 20% worse on ax3. Test details are in attached file.

Does anyone have the same experience?

ac3 (ROS 7.7):

/interface wireless
set [ find default-name=wlan1 ] band=2ghz-onlyn channel-width=20/40mhz-XX \
    country="czech republic" disable-running-check=yes disabled=no distance=\
    indoors frequency=auto installation=indoor mode=ap-bridge ssid=2G \
    wireless-protocol=802.11 wps-mode=disabled
set [ find default-name=wlan2 ] band=5ghz-onlyac channel-width=\
    20/40/80mhz-XXXX country="czech republic" disable-running-check=yes \
    disabled=no distance=indoors frequency=auto installation=indoor mode=\
    ap-bridge skip-dfs-channels=all ssid=5G wireless-protocol=802.11 \
    wps-mode=disabled

ax3:

interface/wifiwave2/export 
# jan/18/2023 17:22:52 by RouterOS 7.7
# software id = HGT8-C7QW
#
# model = C53UiG+5HPaxD2HPaxD
/interface wifiwave2 security
add authentication-types=wpa2-psk,wpa3-psk encryption=ccmp,gcmp,ccmp-256,gcmp-256 name=default wps=disable
/interface wifiwave2 configuration
add country=Czech mode=ap name=default security=default ssid=W
/interface wifiwave2
set [ find default-name=wifi1 ] channel.band=5ghz-ac .skip-dfs-channels=all .width=20/40/80mhz comment="WiFi 5 GHz" configuration=default configuration.mode=ap disabled=no
set [ find default-name=wifi2 ] channel.band=2ghz-n .skip-dfs-channels=all .width=20/40mhz comment="WiFi 2.4 GHz" configuration=default configuration.mode=ap disabled=no

wireless.xlsx (26.5 KB)

2

I have ac3 and ax3, both on ROS7.7 and wifiwave2( ac3 in diffrent location),

Ax3 performance on 5GHz:
Client : Xiaomi Mi10T Pro : ~600-700Mb/s,
Client : HP Probook 450 G9 with Realtek 8852BE, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS : 800-900Mb/s

But I will swap this Realtek card to Intel AX211 because of driver issues on Linux.

Ac3 performance :

Client : Xiaomi Mi10T Pro : ~350-400Mb/s
Client : HP Probook 450 G9 with Realtek 8852BE, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS : ~500-560 Mb/s

3

Hi kowal,

thank you for your response.

Are we talking about link speed or real speed?

4

Talking about range and not speed..

I’m comparing the new AX3 and an old Asus 86U(wifi5) and the mikrotik has lower range..

when there’s only 2.4ghz network (because i’m too far from AP) the Asus still gives me a little signal, while the AX3 has zero signal.

Is there any way i can raise the power? I’m using Italy as country and all the other settings stock.
Thank you

5

Hi,

probably the old ASUS do not care about new wifi regulation and use maximum power of radio. I have very good experience with ASUS and with they MESH system I do recomend asus rt-ax56u.

You can change the country for better signal, but do not expect miracles. And be careful router can use specific 5 ghz frequency and some clinets/device can have problem when they are set to czešch country.

6

I see.
I will try Czešch country and then i will decide what to do.
I love routerboard inside, so maybe i will disable wifi6 and leave wifi to be managed by the old one as a dumb AP only.

7

Be careful when changing country settings to something which may be considered illegal for your country.
Just saying …

8

Adding my AC3-performance using iperf3 on internal server:
Client: Samsung S20 → 450 - 480Mb/s
Client: Custom Laptop using Realtek PCI GbE Family Controller Win11 → 970Mb/s

9

Hi holvoetn,
which app are you using for iperf3 client on Android?

10

HE.NET
Works pretty well. Has quite some other tools embedded as well.

11

Great app indeed. :wink: Thank you!

12

Does S20 support more than 1 chain (MIMO)? Did you ever observe it using 2S (in wireless registration table) while performing throughput test? I have a few android devices (phones and tablets) and none actually support 2 chains (2S) … which logically reduces throughput quite severely.

13

I did some other test.. but it’s clearly less powerfull, talking about RF emitted

GREEN MARKED 0_MAIN is the SSID of ASUS 86U (wifi5)
BLUE MARKED 1_MAIN and 1_MAIN5 are SSID of HAP AX3

i tried moving around and Asus signal is always better.
I hope i’m doing something wrong..
wifi.jpg

14

Don’t know for sure. I will have to test again somewhere this weekend.
But from the spec-pages I get this:

Wi-Fi
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4G+5GHz, HE80, > MIMO> , 1024-QAM

On some places I also saw the Wifi6 symbol already :sunglasses:

15

You are using 40MHz bandwidth on the 2.4GHz radio of the MikroTik while the Asus is 20MHz. That will make a huge difference, especially looking at the saturation of the 2.4GHz band. Next, if you want to compare you should use the same settings (bands) on both devices (ofcourse not at the same time).

16

As I wrote you asus probably do not care about new regulation. I fully agree with erlinden if you are comparing 20Mhz with 40Mhz you probably do not know what are you doing :slight_smile: You must compare router on the axact place, with the axact same Mhz and on exact same band and of course one by one…not both at the same time…

Signal -37 is better/stronger than -47 on the 2,4Ghz and the signal -59 is bit worse than -58 on 5,4Hgz. You yould also try the throughput if you have something like ipref or openspeedtest server on your local network…Worse signal on wifi 5,6Ghz AX will have better throughput than better signal on 5,4Ghz AC

17

Yeah .. but ax can work with single chain as well … and will perform slightly better than ac with same single chain due to better modulation scheme available (1024QAM vs. 256QAM). Device manufacturers tend to pick lowest possible denominator when displaying indicators of “advanced” functionality.

18

yes i know that -37 is higher.. :astonished:
just look at the graph, not at a specific moment.

I don’t care about throughput. When i need throught i use Ethernet, not wifi.
What i need is coverage for all the devices. ( an simple IOT device need just to connect)
I simply cannot unplug the Asus and plug the HAP, because some device will be completely offline.

However, maybe it’s because of new EU laws about emissions..
My posts are not intended to just say the HAP is not good. I’m just saying it gives less coverage or maybe i’m doing a mistake, so i appreciate any comment toward the solution.

I will try to put them in same conditions..
Thank you

19

Yes…it’s a mistake on your site. Please read my previous post and change config accordingly.

20

Let's talk about 2.4ghz..

I try to put channel width to 20Mhz.. ok?
Thank you for your help