Configured CAPSMAN, set up everything and it …works. Mostly. I can pull down somewhere around 60/40mbps with a 100/100 pipe. Nailed up channel 11 to the 2.4 radio, and 38 to the 5 radio, 20mhz channel, no expansion channels. Those channels are completely clear (I dont have many neighbors). I know enough about wireless to be dangerous so not sure where to go from here. Should I post a config? How do I do so and make sure all sensitive info is hidden?
Hello, you should start by exporting your configuration from both devices.
Remove any sensitive information if there is any.
Go to terminal, input export file=(here you put any name you like) and that’s it, file with your desired name will be in Files tab in winbox. Open it with notepad for eg. and remove serial numbers, software ID, and passwords or keys for VPNs etc.
That way you will receive help much faster.
On topic, why such narrow channel if there isn’t any interference around ? Try bumping your channel to 40 or 80 MHz. With 20 MHz you are most likely hitting a limit.
With 20 MHz i think you can expect around 100-150 Mbps in theory maybe, so the numbers you see are around spot on for real life situation.
Other comments:
it is worthwhile to test wired performance from host to iperf server.
Just to make sure your baseline is correct.
Also, that cap ac, is it using legacy wireless driver or wifi-qcom-ac driver ? We don't know right now (but export of config will tell).
Capsman is running on CRS326, I assume ? Why use capsman with only 1 AP ? Or are there multiple ?
And you did test without capsman, meaning, cap ac using wifi locally ? Was that better ?
If you did not or the result was the same, then the title of your post is (to say the least) misleading.
As far as I know capsman on itself is normally not responsible for slower wifi speeds (unless capsman forwarding is being used, then it could be).
Wifi and network settings usually are the usual suspects.
Attached export for the switch; not sure how I can get an export for the CapAC as I cannot winbox to it (does not show in neighbors and isnt assigned an IP). As far as I can tell theres no sensitive info in it after looking through the config.
I did change the channel to 40 (80 isnt an option, for some reason). Dumb question, one uses the same center frequency on a 40/80mhz channel as the 20, right? That’s what I did, just set the channel to 40 and no change in my testing.
I believe it is the legacy driver. Read a bit on the wifi-qcom-ac driver and it is something that apparently requires you to rebuild your config so I am not ready to tear everything down. Once I can get the legacy drivers working to what I expect (i.e. not barely double digit transfer speeds internally) I can tackle the new drivers.
Yes it is on the 326. I have three APs but currently only running one. I just moved and haven’t had time to set up the other two. I definitely want to get this one working up to snuff before doing so. As an aside I just had channels and SSIDs to ‘auto’ meaning I didnt nail up two separate 5 and 2.4 ghz ssids and channels to a radio, I just let capsman handle it. From what I read breaking it out like I have it now is the best practice and did so in an attempt to get better performance.
I did not. Started with capsman, not sure how to test it without. I will say at the last house I was pulling much faster speeds (100+ all day internet, faster internally). Not sure what could have changed with the move.
Hoping wiser heads than mine can spot something I did wrong or misconfigured then we can rebuild with the new drivers then I can add in the other two APs then build out my guest wireless SSIDs again.
Maybe internet speeds are not stable ? Different ISP etc. Do you have DSL, fibre optic, mobile internet ? I mean you are getting from 75 to 90 Mbps over wireless while having 111 Mbps over wire. That’s not bad.
Is something loading your network ? Maybe some wired device like IPTV STB or something is stealing part of the bandwidth while you are doing your tests ?
Fiber. I get 75-90 on a ‘good’ run, sometimes its closer to 40 or 30. Even 10-20 at times. It’s definitely the wifi as I get 30-40 or less sometimes when running iperf against an internal server, internet not even involved. When I hardwire the client into the switch, that test is gigabit. Host to hosts (wired through switch) are getting 1gb, and hardwired host to internet is 100mbps (my rated line speed) 100% of the time.
I have pared down my network to just one switch, a couple proxmox hosts with only about four guests right now. Each host/guest is idle, and my FW shows the links both vlan and internet near zero when I start the test.
When I moved in the connection was crummy like this when I was verifying line speed during the tech install. I ended up blowing out all the caps (which is why the radios are now named cap3 and cap4) and re-provisioning and everything started working at 100up/down through the wifi to internet again. Recently I noticed it was getting less responsive and rather than just removing/reprovisioning I figured I should split out my 2.4 and 5 and nail them up to frequencies as best practice says.
There’s something I had to have done dumb, but I cant figure it out.
You are unable to export configuration from cAP ac ? My suggestion would be to factory reset your cAP ac, configure it as a plain AP, no CAPsMAN, no VLANs etc, just simple AP. Test your speeds and then add your desired configuration bit by bit.
But CAPsMAN shouldn’t affect your speed. I have 5 wAP ax in my office controlled by CAPsMAN and I get close to full speed ISP is providing me. (1000/500).
I dont think it’s capsman per se, I think something is misconfigured. Hard to blow out everything and rebuild with family in town and one working remotely from my place. Anything else I can try or fix?
Without seeing your CAPsMAN configuration it's hard to guess what could be wrong. That's why I suggested you to start over, piece by piece. Did you check if CAPsMAN forwarding is enabled as @holvoetn suggested.
If you are using CAPsMAN forwarding then all traffic is seen by CAPsMAN and CAP, not only management traffic and in case of the CAPsMAN forwarding I think all data is encrypted so your switch and AP will work harder to handle that.
I guess I am confused. Are you referring to the configurations I set in the capsman area? Isn’t that in the config file I posted above? Or is this only something we can get by connecting to the CapAC itself and pulling? I don’t see the CapACs in the neighbors tab on winbox when connected to wifi. I even got my third AP out which was new in box and couldn’t see it either.
As an equal aside, not sure where you picked this up but this is not so smart.
Worst case you have all APs at the same frequency shouting at each other and guess what happens then with your performance.
Down the drain ...
I don't see any channel specification in your configurations.
Which means all your APs get the same config when provisioning.
Currently you only have one so for now, no issue. But it may come.
I never use auto. Never.
I plan my APs, I draw out which frequency is to be used where and then I assign them through provisioning the correct config for that AP.
What if you move further on to AX gear and that AP uses frequencies which your client devices can not see ? You would think everything is broken (and it's actually a config problem).
Set frequency yourself so you know where it will be.
You also said (I think) you are in a relatively interference free environment. Did you check ?
Is that AP using frequencies which are not being used by something else ?
Also, why wpa2 ? Why added encryption aes-ccm ?
wpa3 is faster then wpa2.
Unless not all your client devices support wpa3 ?
Yeah, that is why I figured it was time to nail it all up. I had seen multiple places stating that having ‘auto’ take care of things leads to problems.
Yes I used inSSIDer. There’s like two other frequencies used that I can see, and I chose channels both in 2.4 and 5ghz to not bump heads with them.
Everything I read has said to use aes over tkip, and those are the only options. As for WPA3 its not listed, I presume because I am not using the newer ‘wifi-qcom-ac’ drivers?
I also have cleaned up the “asterisked” interfaces on the config. No significant changes, but at least it’s better aligned to best practices. I have attached it.
Capsman only send ap configurations. Traffic is still processed by the app itself.
With 7.21 it can be processed by Capsman.
Don't compare wired with wireless bandwidth. One is usually regular, the second is more random depending of lot of factors.
I get that but were talking max 60mps, usually 30mbps or less right next to the AP, and my off the shelf ISP routers are 100mps+ a floor above. That plus I was getting 100+ from my CapACs just a few weeks ago tells me something isnt right. I bring up wired to show it isn't the switch and it isn't my ISP.
Switch CPU stays at almost idle, physical interfaces are barely pegging an increase in usage, ensured theyre 1gbps, I've tried a new out of the box AP, I’ve updated to 7.20, deleted the ‘unknown’ interfaces, done a freq scan to set my channels to non-collision, split out 2.4 and 5ghz, re-provisioned my APs, built a new config for said provisioning, ensured local handling was on, and im out of ideas where to look.