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I have a TP-Link Archer C80 that's advertised as a AC1900 MU-MIMO router. It doesn't support Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) but they advertise Wi-Fi speeds as:

5 GHz: 1300 Mbps (802.11ac)

2.4 GHz: 600 Mbps (802.11n)

Now I have 3 Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) capable devices (not Wi-Fi 6E but just 6).

  • My laptop (MSI GE75 Raider 9SG) has a Killer(R) Wireless-AC 1550i Wireless Network Adapter (9560NGW) 160MHz WLAN adapter

  • My Asus PN50 Mini PC has a Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz WLAN adapter

  • My Xiaomi Mi 11x Pro supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax

I'm not sure about MU-MIMO support but the Mi 11i specs page (another alias for the Mi 11x Pro) state that it has 2x2 MIMO，8x8 Sounding for MU-MIMO

For the laptop and Mini PC, as far as I can tell MU-MIMO is supported but there's no additional info I could find about that.

All 3 devices connect to the Archer C80 over Wi-Fi at a maximum link speed of 867 Mbps and when I run iPerf3 tests to confirm the actual speeds I'm getting, the maximum speeds I've seen are around 397 Mbps (with GE75 connected to Ethernet as the iPerf3 server and Mi 11x Pro connected to Archer C80 over Wi-Fi on the 5GHz band as the iPerf3 client)

The iPerf3 command I ran on the client (Mi 11x Pro) was this:

iperf3 -c 192.168.0.100 -i 0 -t 60 -P 2

And to test for reverse connection speeds:

iperf3 -c 192.168.0.100 -i 0 -t 60 -P 2 -R

My question is this:

Is it possible to have any or all of these devices connect to Archer C80 at 1300 Mbps link speed and get iPerf3 results that reflect that?

I don't expect to get the full 1300 Mbps speeds but somewhere close to 1000 Mbps so it's equivalent to or slightly better than gigabit Ethernet speeds maybe.

Vinayak
  • 10,885

2 Answers2

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To get a 1300 Mbps link at 80 MHz channel width, you need 3 spatial streams. I'm not aware of any client device offering that.

With 2 spatial streams, you'll get a 867 Mbps link at best.

User data throughput is lower still, of course. You won't get 1000 Mbps with this setup, even with 3 spatial streams.

user219095
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You're experiencing the difference between theoretical and real-world speed. Reasons can vary and are often not simple to determine.

from Signalboosters:

Forbes states that the fastest real-world 802.11ac speeds recorded are around 720 Mbps (0.72 Gbps). In contrast, the maximum speed recorded for 802.11n was 240 Mbps (0.24 Gbps).

from Lifewire - see the article for a comparison table:

An 802.11b network typically operates no faster than about 50 percent of its theoretical peak, around 5.5 Mbps. The 802.11a and 802.11g networks usually run no faster than 20 Mbps. Even though 802.11n rates at 600 Mbps compared to wired Fast Ethernet at 100 Mbps, the Ethernet connection can often outperform 802.11n in real-world usage.

And from CenturyLink:

Theoretical speed is the maximum speed that is usually listed on the box. This can be misleading, because even if all conditions are ideal, you may not reach this speed all the time. It's important to understand that:

  • It is a combined total for both uploading and downloading
  • It is calculated based on a single device being connected to the network
  • It does not consider wireless overhead, interference and distance

Real-world speed accounts for factors like:

  • Sharing bandwidth with other devices connected to your WiFi network
  • Interference from physical obstacles
  • Interference from electronics
  • Interference from nearby WiFi networks or wireless devices
  • Signal loss resulting from the distance between your device and your wireless router

So, the speeds you measure are absolutely nominal. People who have reviewed the TP-Link Archer C80 have found similar results. The speed you measure with iPerf will furthermore depend on your ISP, your network topology, and how far away their closest server is. your Network topology.

Giacomo1968
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1NN
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