MikroTik wireless not having consistent response times

I have a Routerboard 333 with an R52 running RouterOS 3.7. When I ping my MikroTik AP, the response times give interesting results. Below is an excerpt from a ping session (the pinging was done from my computer connected wirelessly to the MikroTik and I was pinging another computer on the network):

Ping has started ...

PING 192.168.2.1 (192.168.2.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=127 time=158.795 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=127 time=4.135 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=127 time=2.616 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=127 time=2.589 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=127 time=1154.702 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=127 time=156.345 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=127 time=2.552 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=127 time=2.885 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=127 time=2.577 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=127 time=1154.185 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=127 time=155.324 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=127 time=2.622 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=127 time=2.521 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=127 time=2.764 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=127 time=1152.567 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=127 time=156.330 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=127 time=3.441 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=17 ttl=127 time=3.093 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=18 ttl=127 time=2.071 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=19 ttl=127 time=1152.211 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=20 ttl=127 time=153.860 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=21 ttl=127 time=3.476 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=22 ttl=127 time=3.369 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=23 ttl=127 time=2.933 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=24 ttl=127 time=1151.872 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=25 ttl=127 time=152.297 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=26 ttl=127 time=3.767 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=27 ttl=127 time=5.180 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=28 ttl=127 time=2.663 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=29 ttl=127 time=1145.188 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=30 ttl=127 time=148.555 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=31 ttl=127 time=4.379 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=32 ttl=127 time=2.611 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=33 ttl=127 time=5.624 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=34 ttl=127 time=1148.240 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=35 ttl=127 time=148.963 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=36 ttl=127 time=2.742 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=37 ttl=127 time=3.601 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=38 ttl=127 time=3.294 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=39 ttl=127 time=1143.092 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.1: icmp_seq=40 ttl=127 time=144.730 ms

Every 4th ping response is exceptionally long while the other responses are acceptable. I did all this while my laptop was within 5ft of the MikroTik (which had a 7dbi omni-antenna connected to it). I am at a loss to what the problem could be. Here is the current configuration that I think is relevant:

/ip address 
add address=192.168.2.11/24 broadcast=192.168.2.255 comment="" disabled=no \
    interface=ether1 network=192.168.2.0 
add address=10.5.50.1/24 broadcast=10.5.50.255 comment="hotspot network" \
    disabled=no interface=wlan1 network=10.5.50.0
/ip route
 #      DST-ADDRESS        PREF-SRC        G GATEWAY                     DISTANCE INTERFACE 
0 A S  ;;; send all internet access through firewall
        0.0.0.0/0                          r 192.168.2.254               1        ether1     
 1 ADC  10.5.50.0/24       10.5.50.1                                     0        wlan1      
 2 ADC  192.168.2.0/24     192.168.2.11                                  0        ether1

/interface wireless 
set 0 ack-timeout=dynamic adaptive-noise-immunity=yes allow-sharedkey=no antenna-gain=0 \
    antenna-mode=ant-a area="" arp=proxy-arp band=2.4ghz-onlyg basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps \
    basic-rates-b=1Mbps burst-time=disabled comment="" compression=no country=no_country_set \
    default-ap-tx-limit=0 default-authentication=yes default-client-tx-limit=0 \
    default-forwarding=yes dfs-mode=none disable-running-check=no disabled=no \
    disconnect-timeout=3s frame-lifetime=0 frequency=2442 frequency-mode=manual-txpower \
    hide-ssid=no hw-retries=4 mac-address=00:0C:42:23:24:95 max-station-count=2007 \
    mode=ap-bridge mtu=1500 name="wlan1" noise-floor-threshold=default \
    on-fail-retry-time=100ms periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 \
    preamble-mode=both proprietary-extensions=post-2.9.25 radio-name="000C42232495" \
    rate-set=default scan-list=default security-profile=default ssid="MikroTik" \
    station-bridge-clone-mac=00:00:00:00:00:00 \
    supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps \
    supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps tx-power-mode=default \
    update-stats-interval=disabled wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-default-bridge=none \
    wds-default-cost=100 wds-ignore-ssid=no wds-mode=disabled wmm-support=disabled 

/interface ethernet 
set 0 arp=enabled auto-negotiation=yes comment="" disabled=no full-duplex=yes \
    mac-address=00:0C:42:1C:50:2B mtu=1500 name="ether1" speed=100Mbps 
set 1 arp=enabled auto-negotiation=yes comment="" disabled=no full-duplex=yes \
    mac-address=00:0C:42:1C:50:2C mtu=1500 name="ether2" speed=100Mbps 
set 2 arp=enabled auto-negotiation=yes comment="" disabled=no full-duplex=yes \
    mac-address=00:0C:42:1C:50:2D mtu=1500 name="ether3" speed=100Mbps

Do any of you know what could be my problem? I do only have one antenna to the R52 card, but I have the mikrotik set to use only that one antenna. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Joel

Noise floor? Signal strength?

I’m using iStumbler (Mac OS program) to see my signal and noise level. My noise level is -96 or 9% and the signal is -23 or 75%. I honestly don’t really understand those numbers, but I assume the higher the percentage, the better. On a linksys wireless (WRT54g), I can get consistent response times when the percentage is around 30%. I hope this helps.

Thanks!

-23 is too loud. You are overdriving the connection. You need to see less signal.

Wow, I am pretty stupid! I found that iStumbler was causing the sluggish response times every 4th ping. When I closed iStumbler, my pings normalized.

jwcn, when you say -23 is too loud, are you saying that I am too close or that I’m overdriving my R52 somehow? Also, what is a good signal strength?

Thanks!

-50 is usually the strongest signal most people recommend. Some even say get it closer to -60.

-64 to -72 is ideal