Router + 4G modem download slower (30%) compared to 4G modem via USB

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hello all,
I have TL-WR1043ND router running latest OpenWRT and Huawei E3372. They work together, which is great achievement for me, but now I have started looking at speed and see it slower from router over WiFi compared to connecting Huawei E3372 via USB to laptop.

Download speeds:
over WIFI 24Mbps
over USB 31Mbps

This is around 30% difference or additional 7Mbps.

Is it natural lose of speed which I need to accept or should I be able to fix it with configuration somehow?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

2

First of all, use wired connection for your test.
Then make sure you're not violating your carrier's ToS by sharing the connection.
What you observe could be a result of shaping activated by the carrier as a countermeasure.

3

I have used same SIM card for testing and same Huawei E3372 device. The only difference is how is it connected. In one test it is connected to the router, laptop connected to the router via Wifi. In another test Huawei E3372 is connected directly to laptop via USB.

I don't think carrier plays any role in this, but I might be wrong.

4

Routers wifi is 11n: Up to 450Mbps(dynamic),
based in that, 24Mbps is pretty good.

1 Like
5

Are you saying Wifi speed is a limiting factor here?

6

Yes, whoever suggested you should try using a cable, were on to something.

1 Like
7

While you don't specify the hardware revision of your router (especially v1 is below spec), the TL-WR1043ND only provides 2.4 GHz 802.11n wireless, for which 20-25 MBit/s is the maximum attainable throughput to begin with. You really want concurrent dual-band routers offering at least 802.11ac support these days (unless you're on a slow ADSL connection and have little internal networking).

8

Hey all,
today I spent quite a bit of my time testing speeds in different configurations.

One thing I discovered while walking from one room to another is, that Huawei E3372 is very sensitive to physical location - room in which being tested. Speed measurements can be drastically different and ranges from 15Mbps in one corner of the room to 60 Mbps in another.

As @AndrewZ suggested I have switched my testing from Wifi to ethernet cable. Still I see around 30% lower download speeds when comparing USB dongle connected to router and to laptop via cable VS dongle connected directly to same laptop via USB.

@slh just to clarify, my router is TL-WR1043ND V3, but this is probably not relevant at the moment as Wifi factor is eliminated for now.

9

v3 means a lot of good (well, better) things in this context, as it implies 720 MHz 8/64, instead of 400 MHz 8/32. This performance doesn't just affect the wireless throughput, but even more the very CPU intensive USB2 port as well. I've never played with 720 MHz QCA9558 so far, but the 400 MHz AR9132 in the v1 maxed out around 2.0-2.5 MByte/s (and while certainly better, I wouldn't expect QCA9558 to be massively better either). USB on these SOCs wasn't designed with performance in mind, printer sharing at best.