Testing Archer C7 v2 with different ath10k firmware

[dalanmiller]

I installed all the various firmware variants on my Archer C7 v2 running 19.07.1.

root@OpenWrt:/etc# cat /etc/openwrt_release
DISTRIB_ID='OpenWrt'
DISTRIB_RELEASE='19.07.1'
DISTRIB_REVISION='r10911-c155900f66'
DISTRIB_TARGET='ath79/generic'
DISTRIB_ARCH='mips_24kc'
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION='OpenWrt 19.07.1 r10911-c155900f66'
DISTRIB_TAINTS=''

I ran iperf with default settings three times after installing and rebooting after each firmware install. These were the highest results.

Firmware	kmod	Result speed
ath10k-firmware-qca988x	kmod-ath10k	374 Mbits/sec
ath10k-firmware-qca988x-ct	kmod-ath10k-ct	299 Mbits/sec
ath10k-firmware-qca988x-ct-htt	kmod-ath10k-ct	357 Mbits/sec

Is this in line with what everyone else is seeing with this tried (tired?) and true hardware?

[Gingernut]

@dalanmiller

firmware variants on my Archer C7 v2 running 19.07.1.

root@OpenWrt:/etc# cat /etc/openwrt_release
DISTRIB_ID='OpenWrt'
DISTRIB_RELEASE='19.07.1'
DISTRIB_REVISION

More or less when I did some brief testing here:

Archer C7 v5 Poor Wireless Performance

Hi Team, I recently switched from DD-WRT to OpenWrt on my TP-Link Archer C7 v5 (AC1750). Everything is fine, except the Wi-Fi performance. On the 5 GHz network: Using DD-WRT, I was able to download files at ~60 MB/s over the internet. SpeedTest was around 500 Mbps, which is the limit of my ISP contract. Using OpenWrt, downloads never go above 16 MB/s and SpeedTest is around 100 Mbps over AC Wi-Fi. If I use Ethernet, I get 500 Mbps back to normal. I tried to install iperf on the router …

[Router]

@dalanmiller

Is this in line with what everyone else is seeing with this tried (tired?) and true hardware?

Yep. I always switch to ath10k-firmware-qca988x + kmod-ath10k when updating OpenWRT on my Archer C7 V2. It's a huge difference from the default.

[loyukfai]

Interesting, thanks for the info. Have you tried -smallbuffers too?

Because the 2.4GHz part isn't so stable on newer OpenWrt releases, and people has postulated if it's a side-effect of the changes in ath10k. My experience is that using either the "original" ath10k and the ct version (the first 2 in your list) makes no difference whatsoever, that's, the 2.4GHz part may die after some time.

BTW, my brief test of using -htt is much worse than yours, in fact it's the worst. However, I need to re-test it at another time to try to minimize the neighbourhood interferance.

Using the non-ct firmware and kmod gives the highest result, that's consistent with your result.

Perhaps it's also possible to mix and match ct and non-ct versions too?

Cheers.

[ergamus]

If you mean mix and match for example using non-ct kmod and ct firmware, that would create more problems than it solves. I believe I saw a post somewhere from the CT firmware maintainer that doesn't recommend this either.

If the standard qualcomm firmware works for you, why not stick with it?

[Router]

@loyukfai

Using the non-ct firmware and kmod gives the highest result, that's consistent with your result.

Same here and we need to get the developers to switch our device to non-ct firmware and kmod because it is just causing issues for people who don't realize this switch must be made to avoid throughput issues.

[loyukfai]

There are some benefits of using the -ct version, I remember some devs explained about it. Throughput is not necessarily everything. Perhaps an entry on the C7 wiki is sufficient?

Cheers.

[Router]

@loyukfai

Throughput is not necessarily everything.

On older hardware like this, it's way up there.

[johngriff]

Recently got this router. WiFi range is sub optimal and I’ve already experienced one of these random disconnects.

Came across this, maybe worth poking around? https://www.candelatech.com/ath10k-ug.php

[Router]

Never had disconnects with 19.x firmware. I recommend following what the OP says. It helped with my throughput so it might help with your connection issues.

[Deoradhan]

In other solutions I'm seeing recommendations for the kmod-ath10k-ct-smallbuffers driver. The issue many are having is the new driver uses more memory then the router has and overflows. Has anyone tested this one for connection and throughput?

[Router]

@Deoradhan

Has anyone tested this one for connection and throughput?

Have you tried it yourself?