Sorry, don't see how this can be helpful to my case.
All this configuration change does - assigns WAN port to your LAN network, so basically now you have [0 WAN / 5 LAN] ports instead of [1 WAN / 4 LAN].
Maybe it is useful when you need +1 port on Dump AP, but it has nothing to do with the described problem...
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No, I was testing on my laptop connected to the main router vs raspberry pi connected to the secondary router. So CPU cycles of routers were not involved.
I know, that's why I'm using it only as Dump AP to extend Wi-Fi coverage. Upgrading to 18+ is not suitable due to very limited device memory. I can't install any package additionally with these versions.
But you're still vulnerable to major vulnerabilities.
What packages are you installing on a dumb AP?
Yep, and I'm okay with this for now... This is used primarily for one Wi-Fi surveillance cam watching the street, so hackermans may sniff it if they like. No real usage or sensible data is walking around there.
For example, zabbix-agent and related, as I have monitoring set up.
Still, despite the fact, LEDE 17.01.7 is deprecated and vulnerable I had no issues with speed between two such routers before...
They could also compromise your entire network and take down your camera, if they want.
So, there is very little in the configuration that can affect the speed of the connection on the switch.
Have you tried testing between two wired computers connected to the 841N?
I will consider this later, but now the speed limit is a more annoying problem... And this is not related to the firmware version directly.
Nope. Only between devices connected to different routers and when replaced the second router with laptop. Will try this also and reply a bit later. Thanks for helping.
Ok, I tried now with two laptops. Got 100 Mbps while connected to 841N. Also got 100 Mbps when connected to different routers. So the LAN itself looks perfectly fine.
But still, the speed test on 841N shows around 20-30 Mbps... Kind of magic.
How to troubleshoot further?
Your WiFi speeds will inherently be limited by the old 802.11n hardware. But post your config info and we will look at that.
Please copy the output of the following commands and post it here using the "Preformatted text </> " button:
Remember to redact passwords, MAC addresses and any public IP addresses you may have:
cat /etc/config/network
cat /etc/config/wireless
But the point is the INTERNET speed is limited EVEN when I connected with cable to 841N.
LAN speed is perfectly fine for both Wi-Fi and Cable (also it worked just fine with two old routers).
So this is not a hardware limitation, nor a wireless problem (for simplicity let's assume we are talking only about cable connection now).
network:
config interface 'loopback'
option ifname 'lo'
option proto 'static'
option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
option netmask '255.0.0.0'
config globals 'globals'
option ula_prefix '****:****:****::/48'
config interface 'lan'
option type 'bridge'
option ifname 'eth0'
option proto 'static'
option netmask '255.255.255.0'
option ip6assign '60'
option ipaddr '192.168.1.2'
option gateway '192.168.1.1'
option broadcast '192.168.1.255'
option dns '192.168.1.1'
config switch
option name 'switch0'
option reset '1'
option enable_vlan '1'
config switch_vlan
option device 'switch0'
option vlan '1'
option ports '1 2 3 4 0'
wireless:
config wifi-device 'radio0'
option type 'mac80211'
option hwmode '11g'
option path 'platform/qca953x_wmac'
option country 'UA'
option channel '13'
option htmode 'HT40'
option noscan '1'
config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
option device 'radio0'
option mode 'ap'
option network 'lan'
option encryption 'psk2+ccmp'
option key '********'
option ssid '********'
Is that possible to be happening because of NAT offloading enabled on the main router?
841N does not support this feature as it appears only in 19.07 or something.
At first glance, this makes sense because the feature comes in when NAT is happening.
So in LAN no issues, but attempts to access WAN result in issues.
Also, there was no such a feature on the old router, so everything worked just fine together.
However, I'm not sure how things are working for Dumb AP, whether it should also support offloading if the main router has it enabled. Or (more likely) all the packets are going to the main router as is and it processes everything, so it does not matter what Dumb AP supports on not.
Ok... so try this:
Move the 841N so that you can use a short, known good cable between it and the C7. Then test again.
The 841N doesn't care about NAT offloading... if it is a dumb AP, it is just another device on the network, and it doesn't have to know about or care about what is happening on the C7. Your speed should be limited only by the 100Mbps uplink between the two devices or the wifi capabilities.
But the laptop shows a perfect 100 Mbps speed test over the same cable...
Also if LAN speed is 100 Mbps, but internet speed is low, there is no possibility for faulty cable.
Well, will try some more tests tomorrow and post my findings.
It is still worth testing. I agree that it doesn't really make sense, but stranger things have happened.
If you connect the laptop to one of the other LAN ports you should get good speed. [In its default configuration with OpenWrt] the four LAN ports are hardware switched together and do not depend on the software in the 841 at all. The hardware switch is always as fast as the 100 Mb Ethernet link.
The WAN port of an 841 is a separate path to the CPU, so should you add it to the LAN bridge it still will need some CPU time on each packet for LAN-LAN transfers where one of the ports is the blue WAN port. So when setting up a dumb AP and bridging all the ports, use the blue WAN port for a device that won't have heavy traffic.
I know this, and this is not related to my case as the routers are already connected between LAN<->LAN ports. I'm getting a good speed but only for the local network.
Did some more tests (all wired). Here are the results:
iperf3:
100 Mbps: Laptop1 --- [LAN|841N|LAN] --- [LAN|ARCHER|LAN] --- Laptop2
100 Mbps: Laptop1 --- [LAN|841N|LAN] --- [LAN|ARCHER|WAN] --- Laptop2
speedtest:
20-30 Mbps: Laptop1 --- [LAN|841N|LAN] --- [LAN|ARCHER|WAN] --- Modem
100 Mbps: Laptop1 ------------------------ [LAN|ARCHER|WAN] --- Modem
As you can see from the scheme, I even tried connecting Laptop2 to the WAN port on Archer instead of Modem (assigned another range to WAN and set up IP addresses manually) to emulate the real internet connection with NAT, etc. and did the same iperf3 test between them. And even in this case iperf3 gives me perfect speed.
But as soon as I measure the real Speedtest it is limited to 20-30 Mbps...
upd1. Just tried upgrading 841N to 18.06.9, configured as Dumb AP from scratch. The same nonsense... 20-30 Mbps.
upd2. Found a very similar issue here. Also the same speed limit around 20-30 Mbps (but only Wi-Fi) and nothing helped.
I run out of ideas, this is something unexplainable...
Tried another router as a secondary with exactly the same configuration - everything works flawlessly.
I can't explain it and I think we'll never know why, but looks like Archer C7 v5 and TL-WR841N v9 are kind of incompatible...
The topic can be closed.
Could you please tell the make and model of the secondary router now you're using?
Xiaomi Mi Router 4A Gigabit Edition was found with a good discount, so I decided it is worth trying for its price. A decent option if you want Gbps ports (however only 2) and a MediaTek chip for cheap.
But I'm pretty sure that any modern low-range TP-Link or anything else would be good as well (for 100 Mbps internet connection).
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