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Date:      Tue, 12 Sep 2017 22:00:40 -0400
From:      Chris Gordon <freebsd@theory14.net>
To:        Russell Haley <russ.haley@gmail.com>
Cc:        freebsd-arm <freebsd-arm@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: Beaglebone Black + FreeBSD + USB WiFi = WAP?
Message-ID:  <C8BC1549-0F48-4244-8240-665276DEBB6A@theory14.net>
In-Reply-To: <CABx9NuTTewBiuesSxWsWsJg2HeRZFPeNU1WSRpqxEALxSUEhkw@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <40EA308E-489D-4A0B-B75A-2CA5A4EC474E@theory14.net> <685d0eed3532a34f239e7ff893f817db@bakulin.de> <EB1907C8-7A0A-4D45-AD21-B449DC4C0D7D@theory14.net> <CABx9NuQCrspSzcdXh0_cbO1QmexwQbrk1djaGyvKTp370AtxYA@mail.gmail.com> <CABx9NuQJWot9xgs1QtzJ87NfgZM=FPhZ%2B2a-RewDonvGG5LLKg@mail.gmail.com> <CABx9NuT1n8ZYPrZTB8vT2sBmT3U75E4UFgAGA3ZOPTotpsUWeg@mail.gmail.com> <CABx9NuQB=xBNt6%2BX=YKw4XVW5u1XysW%2Bo7pqO_9D2RC%2BF6bKug@mail.gmail.com> <20170905141711.6545490.14963.31294@gmail.com> <656A5193-7389-476C-AF58-EB013E9155F3@theory14.net> <CABx9NuQtXRbN6YPihotuLSnE5cFG-xvRRNYyFSLGxZNPBnKTKQ@mail.gmail.com> <E1992F2B-236D-467C-AAEE-B81A59EB1138@theory14.net> <CABx9NuTTewBiuesSxWsWsJg2HeRZFPeNU1WSRpqxEALxSUEhkw@mail.gmail.com>

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> On Sep 6, 2017, at 8:13 PM, Russell Haley <russ.haley@gmail.com> =
wrote:
>=20
> Argh! I was just in Maryland and we flew home from Dulles!!! I made
> the client push the date forward to last week so I could be home for
> Labour Day.
>=20
> Have fun! (sob, sob, sob). ;)

Sorry you missed it.  I agree that timing wasn=E2=80=99t great with a =
holiday weekend (for the US at least) on one side and EuroBSDcon very =
soon afterward, but constraints on the availability of the hotel drove =
the exact date.  Maybe we can see you in 2019 (we do the conference =
every other year, opposite MeetBSD).

>>> I used nuttcp for testing the wired connection, so I would plan to =
use that for the Wifi.
>=20
> nuttcp. Got it, I'll start playing with it.

For the testing described in my original email and the data below, I =
used the most basic options from =
https://fasterdata.es.net/performance-testing/network-troubleshooting-tool=
s/nuttcp/.  Specifically:

Server: =20
	nuttcp -S

Client:
	nuttcp -i1 server_hostname
	and
	nuttcp -i1 -r server_hostname


>>> - Can you run the bbb as a standard device (not an access point) and
>>> test the performance of the wlan0 interface using the method of
>>> measurement pointed above? I will do the same at some point with my
>>> wi-fi dongle.
>>=20
>> Yes, that should be easy to do, but will be next week before I have a =
chance.

I did the above -- setup the BBB as a simple WiFi client to my existing =
(ancient) access point.  I ran nuttcp between the BBB and my desktop =
(wired network, access point connected to same wired network).  Both the =
BBBB and desktop were run as server and client for nuttcp.  Many runs of =
the various combinations were run.  I saw the following:
- In general between 10 and 20 Mbps, typically on the lower side.  This =
is consistent for what I see for other devices going to my access point =
(again, it=E2=80=99s an old access point, circa 2008, so I don=E2=80=99t =
expect too much from it)
- I did have one period of slow traffic,  1 Mbps and lower.  After a few =
runs of this, I did a =E2=80=9Cservice netif restart=E2=80=9D, dealt =
with pets for a couple of minutes and when I returned performance was =
back.
- I just hit another period of slow traffic, but this is around 2.5 Mbps =
instead of the really bad < 1 Mbps.  Instead of resetting the network, =
I=E2=80=99m going to let the BBB sit until morning and test again then.  =
 I did test my iPad with a speed test app and it=E2=80=99s getting a =
little more than 10 Mbps to the internet through the same access point =
that the BBB is using.

I=E2=80=99ll follow up with what I see in the morning.   My theories at =
this time (neither very good) are:

- There is a lot of wifi congestion around me and when others are =
heavily using their wifi, I suffer.  This is exacerbated by something =
about the usb wifi NIC I have in the BBB.  This doesn=E2=80=99t impact =
the iPad or other devices due to differences in antennae or some other =
aspect of their devices.  This idea doesn=E2=80=99t quite fit with =
everything, but a guess.
- There is something in kernel or wireless stack that degrades over =
time/amount of traffic passed that ends up limiting performance.

Thanks,
Chris




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