AP backhaul speed test

gcarmich
Getting noticed

AP backhaul speed test

Is it possible to test the wired backhaul speed from a Meraki AP?

5 Replies 5
cmr
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

There is a speed test on the tools page, but that goes back to the Meraki cloud and is only an indication.  What exactly are you wanting to measure?

cmr
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

I ran the dashboard throughput test from three different AP models I have (MR55, MR56 and CW9166) and got 81-82 Mbps from all three.  Testing from the MX75 gives 486Mbps and as it is a 500Mbps line that one seems good.

 

As you can see, the APs processing power limits their performance testing capabilities, though not the actual performance for clients.

gcarmich
Getting noticed

Thank you for your responses.  We recently had  2 APs installed  in a remote facility.  There have been complaints that they dont perform well. I suspect the issue is on the wired backaul side therefore testng to the Meraki cloud work to.

isolate which side of the AP the issue is on.  Is it possible to do a test like trace route to get an idea of where the slowdown is?

I hope it helps you.

 

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Wi-Fi_Basics_and_Best_Practices/Tools_for_Troubleshooting_Poor_W...

I am not a Cisco Meraki employee. My suggestions are based on documentation of Meraki best practices and day-to-day experience.

Please, if this post was useful, leave your kudos and mark it as solved.
GIdenJoe
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

The only test you can use is the dashboard throughput test but this is still not 100% accurate since the dashboard itself is not a tool for speedtesting.

Since your throughput is limited by the wireless aspect anyway it could be a good idea to have the highest speed wireless client close to the AP in ideal circumstances and a wide channel so you have the highest PHY possible and make sure that client is the only one connected at that time to test and use iPerf between that wireless client towards a wired client on the same switch where the AP is wired to so you have the best possible scenario.  Do mind that even if you use a 4x4 AP your client will be 2x2 at most.

A good reference is to acount for about 5/6th's of your PHY speed as throughput to what you should be getting at between your clients.

If the result is way lower than you expect then you still have to determine is the issue is on the wireless side or the wired side by checking out the airtime and do an OTA to double check if the AP is doing nice aggregated data packets.

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