MikroTik wireless not having consistent response times

hjoelr · Tue Apr 29, 2008 1:49 am

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

jwcn · Tue Apr 29, 2008 4:56 am

Noise floor? Signal strength?

hjoelr · Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:43 pm

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!

jwcn · Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:42 pm

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

hjoelr · Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:21 am

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!

jcremin · Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:30 am

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

jwcn · Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:38 am

-64 to -72 is ideal

MikroTik wireless not having consistent response times

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