[tk101]

I have looked at the discussions with similar topics here and on other boards but the solutions do not seem to work or are not applicable to my situation.

I have pfSense running on a small box with two gigabit ports. I have the OPT1 and OPT2 gig links running to a gig switch and a Nighthawk R7000P, that I am simply using for my WiFi AP. It is running the newest version of DD-WRT available for it and the WAN is disabled so it will simply act as the WiFi adapter. QoS is disabled and the only option that ever shows (regardless of WAN settings) on the setup page for SFE is On/Off (no CTF&FA) options. SFE is on.

My service is over 500Gbps down (tests push and occasionally surpass 600). My pfSense tests correct speeds. My computer attached to my switch on the pfSense box tests correct speeds. But anything on my Wifi barely pushes 120 max on 5GHz, sitting right next to the router. I did a speed test in DD-WRT and the Wifi Speed is 500+ but the Internet Speed is testing around 100-120. So the bottleneck is apparently on that link. I do not believe it is the pfSense box because the other link works fine to the switch. I am assuming it is a configuration issue with the router that is limiting the Internet speed.

I also just replaced the cable with a brand new Cat6, just to rule that out.

I have read DD-WRT sometimes has this issue with these routers, and the suggestions are stock firmware or some Merlin-based variant for the Nighthawk. But I have used DD-WRT forever and like it so I would prefer getting this working if I can.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[BFG-9000]

Those suggestions you have read for stock or Merlin are to increase WAN to LAN routing speeds, since those may have better CTF(Cut Through Forwarding) and FA(Flow Acceleration) implementations than can be possible with later Kernels given much less development time for drivers. That's not applicable here since you are using it as an AP.

The problem is... R7000P is an abomination because its 5GHz radio is attached via USB like R8000, so uses the unreliable Dongle Host Driver + as you'd expect that would require more CPU power just to shepherd the packets through USB over to and from the LAN. And unlike BCM43602 on R8000 none of its radios features its own 320MHz ARM CPU and 960kB of SRAM to fully offload/hardware-accelerate Wifi, further increasing CPU usage because that all has to be done in software using the main CPU. 1GHz of dual-core ARM only goes so far.

7000P is perfectly serviceable on 2.4GHz, but buggy and slow on 5GHz. Even on stock. At least R8000 has a 2nd 5GHz radio attached via PCIe.

[tk101]

So the Speedchecker test in DD-WRT - the Internet Speed *should* reflect something near my service down speed, correct? Because a speed test on my phone is showing ~120Mbps, which aligns with the Internet speed of Speedchecker. Whereas a speed test on my PC wired to the switch shows the full 500Mbps+. So regardless of the 2.4G vs 5G on the 7000P, shouldn't that link still be getting over 120 to the router? Like the bottleneck is not the Wifi but the link from my router to the AP.

[kernel-panic69]

[tk101]

[lexridge]

[kernel-panic69]

This is how I came to the conclusion:

[egc]

I do not have one and will not purchase one exactly because of the DHD implementation.

That said 120 Mb/s for 5 GHz seems low, maybe someone actually using it can confirm if this is the max speed, I am assuming Ch36, 80 Mhz wide etc.

But it will not hurt to check your Wireless settings, there is a sticky in this forum with the best wireless settings also scroll down to the bottom of that thread and yes CTF, CTF+FA can also speed up bridge traffic so can help a tiny bit.

[egc]

[itwontbewe]

are you choosing a channel number or leaving it on auto?

on the R7000P if you leave it on auto you will get a 20 width channel

i don't have a fast isp but my wifi easily exceeds 300

*
i don't need 2.4 GHz so i disable it

if you run both 2.4 & 5 GHz you may get rey key drops

when i run 5 GHz by itself i don't get them