ZYXEL Setup and Proceed Throughput Test Owner’s Manual

: June 9, 2024
: ZYXEL

Table of Contents

Background
Setup Appropriate Test Environment – Other Factors
Evaluate connection quality
Choose the tool and proceed test
Documents / Resources

Setup and Proceed Throughput Test
Owner’s Manual

Background

“Throughput” is an indicator to evaluate the performance of a network and devices within, and widely used to compare the capability between different brand products (either access point or client devices). However, the value can be easily interfered by lots of factors, and cause user’s misunderstanding. Hence, this document provides a comprehensive process for throughput test, including “setup test environment”, “ensure good connection quality”, and “select appropriate test tool”. By following the process, we hope all our customers can get the reliable and precise test result.

Setup Appropriate Test Environment – Wireless Channel
All devices in the same channel share the wireless resources together, so the first thing we need to do is to select a clean or less noisy channel, making sure the test isn’t affected by other devices.

Select ideal environment through spectrum monitor software
We can use some software to monitor the Wi-Fi environment (such as “inSSIDer” for Laptop or “Wi-Fi Analyzer” for Android smartphone), and select the least- used channel according to the monitor result. Like the picture below, the channel with stronger and more signal indicates to higher interference, so we should avoid those channels to get more stable performance.

(In the example given above, we can see that Channel 128 is less used, with “0” co-channel and overlapping signals, which indicates a good environment for wireless- transmission)
After selecting the channel, we can configure it on the [Access Point > Configure > Radio setting]. In the bottom of the page, we can specify the channel of each radio, and wait 2 to 3 minutes to let AP apply the configuration.

Select ideal environment by “Dynamic Channel Selection” of AP
Another option to select the ideal environment is to use the “DCS” function on the access point, where AP can auto-evaluate all available channels, and select the least interfered one.
In the same “radio setting” page, we need to first uncheck “avoid 5G DFS Channel” to let AP use more channels, and in the bottom of the page, select the AP, and click “DCS Now” to let AP proceed the process. ZYXEL Setup and
Proceed Throughput Test - configuration

Setup Appropriate Test Environment – Other Factors

Ensure only the test device connects to access point
In the last section, we mentioned that access points in the same channel would share the resources. Besides, other wireless clients connecting to the same AP will also share the resources and degrade the throughput. Therefore, the ideal condition during the test period is only the test device connecting to the access point. In the [Access Point > Monitor > Clients] page, we can see if there is other online clients connecting to the AP. Note: If it is hard to disconnect all wireless clients, please at least ensure them connecting with signal strength larger than -65 dBm, with the capability 11ac or 11ax.
Placement/Location of access point and test device
Each access point has its own signal propagation pattern. So before proceeding the test, we should deploy it in the right location to get the best result.

Place the access point on the desk and facing up
Place the access point on the ceiling and facing down
Do not place the access point behind TV, metal rack, or other obstacles.
Make sure the test device is in the line-of-sight to the access point

Evaluate connection quality

After optimizing the test environment through the process mentioned above, we then connect our test device to the AP. Before proceeding the throughput test, we can check some indicators to verify if the setup and connection status is correct and healthy enough for the test.

Signal Strength
Link rate (Tx/Rx rate)
Client Capability

For windows laptop, we can use “netsh wlan show interface” in the cmd window:
For the android phone, we can click [show advanced setting] in the Wi-Fi page.
On NCC, we can also check the client information on the [Access Point > Monitor > Clients] page.
Note: the link rate displayed is the theoretical maximum speed, which does not equal to the actual throughput due to packet encapsulation and other factors. Here we just use this value to evaluate the signal strength and negotiation result between access point and wireless client.

Choose the tool and proceed test

Different speed test tool has its own implementation, hence in the same environment; we might get different test result on different tools.
Here we recommend two commonly used tools for testing:
“Speedtest.net” and “iPerf”.

speedtest.net
Support Platform: PC, Laptop, Smartphone (Android, iOS) Benefit: Can be easily executed through browser Shortcoming: Since the test traffic passes through the Internet, the result is relatively unstable. (Due to the ISP and regional network issue)
iPerf
Support Platform: PC
Benefit: The test can be done under Intranet, so the test environment is simple, clean without lots of interference
Shortcoming: More complicated and steps are required for test

Step 1: Run iPerf on STA1 as Server
Step 1-1: Drag the .exe file to cmd
Step 1-2: Add “ -s” in the command line
Step 1-3: Press Enter ZYXEL Setup and Proceed Throughput Test - SERVER
1

Step 2: Run iPerf on STA2 as Client
Step 2-1: Drag the .exe file to cmd
Step 2-2: Add “iPerf -c -w4M -l 65535 -P 10”
Step 2-3: Press Enter ZYXEL Setup and Proceed Throughput Test - SERVER
2

As the result, the iPerf shows 574/541 Mbps in Upload/Download, comparing to 129/74 Mbps displayed on the speed test. It’s because other network components, such as switch/cable/Internet network connection quality, cause to the difference.
Note:

Do not test multiple devices’ throughput together
For each test device, please do multiple tests and calculate the average value
When comparing the throughput between multiple devices, please ensure the test environment is the same. (Better to proceed the test consecutively in the near time point)

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