Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Duarditoh85
Aspirant

Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Hi!

Im experiencing a really weird issue with my Orbi system. I have latest firmware on my router and satellites (2.5.1.8). My following installation looks like that:

- Nokia fiber modem -> Orbi RBR50 -> Gigabit switch -> Raspberry Pi

I have a Pi 3B and a new Pi4. Both of them gets the same issue both on wired network or wireless. They doesnt get more than 40-60Mb. If i remove the switch and connect directly to the router, the issue is there. But if i connect the raspberry directly to the modem, i get almost 500Mb (My fiber speed). So... something on my Orbi is "limiting" the speed my raspberry gets. I've tried differents sd-card with different OS on raspberry, but both o them with different installations gets always the same issue.

 

I had some issues with my TV distributor that needs IGMP enabled, but i have also tried to disable this and the issue persists.

 

Problem is that i get some "buffering" issues on my raspberry 😞

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 18
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

I, also, have a Raspberry Pi 4B connected to Orbi.  Mine is "headless", so I connect using SSH or VNC.

(The Pi 3B does not have "real gigabit", so maximum network throughput with a 3B cannot match a 4B.)

 

Spectrum modem --> Orbi -->  Gig Switch --> Pi

 

The Pi 4B is capable of "speed".  iPerf3 on the Pi registers 946mbs, which is about the limit of gigabit ethernet. That, of course, is between computers running on the Orbi LAN.  How to test "speed" in terms of the internet?  Booted into the Desktop graphical environment, connected with VNC and ran tests using Firefox and Chromium with speedtest.net and fast.com

 

Chromium always reports faster "speed" than Firefox, every time.

Fast.com always reports faster speed than Speedtest.net, every time.

 

            Speedtest.net   Fast.com

Chromium    118-130         180-240

Firefox      85-101         110-210

 

My Spectrum contract is for 200mbs, and my desktop/Android phone regularly report higher (236 this morning).  My tentative conclusion is that it is not the Orbi "limiting" the Pi, it is the graphical interface on the Pi.  I think Speedtest.net floods the screen with so many ads that it consumes more Pi resources than Fast.com, and that Firefox consumes more resources than Chromium.

 

This could all be clarified by using a non-graphical speed measurement tool.  Perhaps someone knows of one?

 

The problem to be solved is "buffering" on video playback.  I would investigate different video software or different video resolution.

Message 2 of 18
Duarditoh85
Aspirant

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

It could be a possibility... But i always used the same speedtest plugin in Kodi. And i get full speed from my provider (Around 500Mb) Just when i dont use the Orbi. So... Im pretty sure that something is going on the re...
Message 3 of 18
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

I did more tests on speedtest.net and notice that my Pi 4B starts out at "full speed" for about 10 seconds (above the 200mbs I pay for), and then the speed falls off sharply and ends up quite a bit less, but still in the neighborhood of 100mbs.  My Windows computer does not exhibit this phenomenon.  It stays at a pretty constant rate throughout the test.  Android phone & tablet the same.

 

I struggle to comprehend how the Pi could be treated "differently" by the Orbi from Windows and Android devices.  The Pi does respond to heat by dropping the clock rate.  I am not confident how to measure for that effect while doing a speed test. 

 

I did install Kodi, but "nothing happened" when I started it from the graphic desktop.  Maybe it senses there is no HDMI connection on my "headless" Pi?

 

There are numerous posts on the forum questioning the Orbi's ability to deliver "full speed".  Orbi was submitted to the FCC back in 2016, when 100mb speeds were rare, and I do not remember anyone offering gigabit to residential customers.  Perhaps another test is to connect a computer to the switch and test speed with it.  Does it achieve higher speed than the Pi?  (Mine did.)

 

Sorry not to be much help.

 

Message 4 of 18
Duarditoh85
Aspirant

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

When i use a computer connected to the switch i get Around 500/500. The only way to get Around 500 is to connect the Pi directly to the Nokia modem. If it goes directly to the Rbr50, i get Around 40Mb. Thats a big difference. Same cable used for both tests.
Message 5 of 18
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Found a way to observe Pi cpu speed, and looks like that is "not it."

watch -n 5 vcgencmd measure_temp

where n is the number of seconds between observations.  (I used 2).  My Pi was at 49c when idle and "climbed" to 52c doing speedtest.net (55c for Firefox). The Pi 4B does not throttle clock speed until the CPU temperature goes over 70c.   I cannot measure GPU temperature since my Pi is "headless".

Message 6 of 18
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Thanks for doing the test.  I am puzzled about the 40mb results.  My Pi 4B gets over 100 with Firefox and almost 100 with Chromium.

 

Amazon says 15mb will stream 4K video.  Netflix wants 25mb.  Both are a lot less than 40mb.

 

It could be there are two issues:

  1. Why does Kodi buffer on the Pi?
  2. Why does the Pi get so much less "speed" when connected to the Orbi?
Message 7 of 18
Duarditoh85
Aspirant

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

I think the problem is some QoS hidden features on the Orbi system. Ill try to switch off the two satellites and try again to see if a get another result.

I get buffer issues just sometimes, but when it happened, it does every 5 seconds...

I had another "weird" issue that was isolated. I got my IPTV decoder (From my ISP) to freeze every 2-3 minutes. Problem was on one of my computers ethernet card and "Wake on lan". It must be disabled to get my IPTV box working as normal.

So... this is the second weird problem with my Orbi system and sure i need to do again a step-by-step connecting just the Pi and one by one the other devices.

Ill try when i arrive at home today 🙂

Message 8 of 18
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

The situation with Orbi and QoS is somewhat of a mystery.  When Orbi first shipped, some people remember it having a menu entry for QoS.  There no longer is.  When I dump the Orbi parameters (over 1,300), there are bunches of entries with "qos" in the names.  It appears that this is based on the port numbers used by specific internet video games. (There seem to be 18 "rules".)   As far as I can tell, there is no concept of QoS by device (MAC or IP).  I have a suspicion that QoS may be viewed as "unnecessary in this day of gigabit ISP speeds".  When devices are competing for 10 mb of internet, QoS is a powerful tool.

 

(Confession: I know too little about QoS to do anything more than observe mysteries.)

Message 9 of 18
Duarditoh85
Aspirant

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Finally i have returned the pi4 and changed to a Xiaomi Mi BOX S. Tomorrow ill get an usb-gigabit adaptor, but toda, with wifi... I got the same speed! Around 40-60Mb... The same as my other Pi3 🤣

My mobile phone gets 380Mb at the same distance than the Mi Box. Definetly, the Orbi router is managing something really bad.

Ill update situation Tomorrow when i get the usb-gigabit adapter.
Message 10 of 18
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Sorry the Raspberry Pi 4B is no longer available.  Just did what I should have done before and searched for "raspberry pi speed test".

Installed "speedtest-cli", a command line program which uses the Speedtest.com API's.

 

My Raspberry Pi 4B reports 230mbs, which is almost exactly what my Windows desktop & Android devices report.  (Would love to learn how a Pi works with a 500mbs internet link.)

So my position remains: the Orbi does not discriminate against the Raspberry Pi on internet downloads.

 

That does not mean to say that a Raspberry Pi 4B is adequate for all internet steaming applications.  Remember that Firefox and Chromium reported WAY less throughput on my  Pi 4B than the command line speedtest-cli does.  In my case, the combination of using VNC to provide the graphic interface for Chromium/Firefox and all the "video business" going on with Firefox could eat up a lot of processor power.

Message 11 of 18
Duarditoh85
Aspirant

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

I returned the Pi4 because it was restarting while playing some files, and the board got really warm without any "hard" process on it. But... come back to the "low-speed" issue. Im really surprised to see the Xiaomi Box getting also around 40Mb. If it was 40Mb all the time, i wouldnt have any problem playing online movies... But its not a solid 40Mb, it goes up and down, sometimes i get 10Mb... and there is the problem and when it happend, i get buffering issues.

Ill reset factory defaults today and disable both satellites. And give it a try without netgear armor and just the RBR50 to see what happen.

Message 12 of 18
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Heat is an issue for the Pi 4.  I put mine in an aluminum case that seems to keep it cool without a fan.

 

I also keep forgetting about Armor.  Have never activated it.  My hunch is Armor is like everything else about Orbi.  Thousands of users have it and never notice anything.  The few who do sometimes show up on the community forum asking questions, just like the few who have specific issues with Orbi show up.  I also never activated Disney Circle.

Message 13 of 18
Duarditoh85
Aspirant

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Issue found. I have reset my Orbi system to defaults and... magic! i got the expected speed. With a Raspberry Pi 3 i get around 300Mb download and 220Mb upload. When i enable the Armor on the router, the speed of some of my devices (Streaming devices) drops down to a ridiculous 45/34Mb.

Im happy with Armor, and ive paid a year subscription... But im disappointed with this issue, and i didnt find any "option" to fix it.

On the attached file i did first a speedtest, and another one after enabling armor, without reset the router.

Message 14 of 18
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Armor seem to be a problem for speeds and other apps for users over the past year or so. 

Message 15 of 18
Duarditoh85
Aspirant

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Ive send a support ticket to Bitdefender... If it just work "as it" so i hope i can get a refund to this year subscription...

Message 16 of 18
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Good Luck. 

Message 17 of 18
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi limiting Raspberry Pi Bandwidth

Now that Netgear Armor has been identified as the relevant factor, I wonder what part Kodi plays in the mix.  i.e. was Armor limiting bandwidth to (a) the Raspberry Pi, or (b) to any computer running Kodi (or some protocol that Kodi uses)?  I would test Kodi on my Windows 10 machines, but I have never activated Armor (and looks like I never will).

Message 18 of 18
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