Linksys WRT32X Speed Issues

Switched from DD-WRT back to OpenWRT and had significant drop in overall speed.

Went from:
~100 Mbps Download
~15 Mbps Upload

To:
~60 Mbps Download
~12 Mbps Upload

Spent a few hours attempting to tweak wireless settings to improve speed with no luck, open to any ideas. Useful information below. Tyfys.

Software:
OpenWrt 19.07.7 r11306-c4a6851c72 / LuCI openwrt-19.07 branch git-21.044.30835-34e0d65

Hardware:
Linksys WRT32X

uname -a:
Linux RouterName 4.14.221 #0 SMP Mon Feb 15 15:22:37 2021 armv7l GNU/Linux

cat /etc/config/wireless:

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option hwmode '11a'
        option path 'soc/soc:pcie/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.0'
        option channel 'auto'
        option htmode 'VHT160'
        option legacy_rates '0'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option macaddr '62:38:e0:c0:5d:92'
        option key 'wifi password'
        option encryption 'psk2+ccmp'
        option macfilter 'allow'
        option ssid 'WifiName'
        list maclist 'xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option hwmode '11g'
        option path 'soc/soc:pcie/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:02:00.0'
        option channel 'auto'
        option htmode 'HT40'
        option legacy_rates '0'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
        option device 'radio1'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option macaddr '62:38:e0:c0:5d:91'
        option key 'wifi password'
        option encryption 'psk2+ccmp'
        option macfilter 'allow'
        option ssid 'WifiName'
        list maclist 'xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'

config wifi-device 'radio2'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option hwmode '11a'
        option path 'platform/soc/soc:internal-regs/f10d8000.sdhci/mmc_host/mmc0/mmc0:0001/mmc0:0001:1'
        option channel 'auto'
        option htmode 'VHT80'
        option legacy_rates '0'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio2'
        option device 'radio2'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option key 'wifi password'
        option encryption 'psk2+ccmp'
        option ssid 'WifiName'
        list maclist 'xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'
        option macfilter 'allow'

My two cents:

  • HT20 is the slowest possible speed. You want VHT160 on radio 0 and VHT40 on radio 1.
  • Specifying a country is worthless in this device, because it is fixed in the EEPROM.
  • Use 'ig reg get' to check that all three radios are configured on the same country.
1 Like

Corrections Made:
Set "Country Code" to "driver default" on all three radios.
Increased "Operating frequency Width" on all three radios.

The speed tests on a few of my devices show varied results, some speeds are closer to what was previously achieved others slower than before. Overall I think the speed was improved. I updated the post with the newest output from /etc/config/wireless.

Thank you for your help, got any more ideas/suggestions?