I did this test because uploading files to NAS is incredible slow today. The only different is my new WF2190 last week. I spends hours to do a full check of my NAS and eventually find out it is related to driver. I didn’t uninstall D-Link DWA-171 rev A1‘s Realtek driver before installing netis WF2190. During the test, I also learned the difference of my WiFi devices.
QNAP TS-119PII
QNAP TS-119PII runs QTS is an embedded Linux developed by QNAP. It contains:
- Marvell 88F6282 which is a single core ARMv5TE-compliant 32-bit processor with 256K L2 cache.
- 512MB RAM and is not upgradable.
- Seagate Laptop SSHD 1 TB in single tray.
- QTS is 4.2.4 build 20170313
QNAP TS-119PII with Mac OSX File Transfer Performance Report is a good reference to learn its capability.
Mac Mini Late 2012
I have upgrade my Mac mini Late 2012 to 16GB RAM and SanDisk Extreme Pro 480GB SSD. Now running OSX 10.12 aka macOS Sierra.
According to Mac Mini Late 2012 Teardown on iFixIt, it contains:
- Broadcom BCM4331 supports 802.11n, and 802.11a @ 5GHz.
- Broadcom BCM4331 supports 802.11n, 802.11g, and 802.11b @ 2.4GHz.
- Max speed for 802.11n is 450Mbps @ 5GHz with 3T3R.
- Max speed for 802.11n is 150Mbps @ 2.4GHz with 1T1R.
- Broadcom BCM57765 as Gigabit Ethernet.
Asus RT-AC1200G+
According to ASUS RT-AC1200GP on WikiDevi, it contains:
- Broadcom BCM47189 supports 802.11ac, 802.11n, and 802.11a@ 5GHz.
- Broadcom BCM43217 supports 802.11n, 802.11g, and 802.11b @ 2.4GHz.
- Max speed for 802.11ac is 867Mbps with 2T2R.
- Max speed for 802.11n is 300Mbps with 2T2R.
- Broadcom BCM53125 as Gigabit Ethernet.
- Firmware is 9.0.0.4.382_10680.
D-Link DWA-171 Rev A1
The H/W ver: A1 is very important information but only show on a small label on the package or the last few characters of P/N on the device. Different hardware version might use different chips result in different performance and comparability.
According to D-Link DWA-171 rev A1 on WikiDevi, it contains:
- Realtel RTL8811AU supports draft 802.11ac which is not 802.11ac.
- Max speed for 802.11ac is 433Mbps with 2T2R.
- Max speed for 802.11n is 150Mbps with 1T1R.
- USB 2.0 interface.
- OSX driver is Wlan_11ac_USB_MacOS10.8~10.12_Driver_v1830.10_UI_5.0.3.
netis WF2190
According to Netis WF2190 on WikiDevi, it contains:
- Realtel RTL8812AU supports draft 802.11ac which is not 802.11ac.
- Max speed for 802.11ac is 867Mbps with 2T2R.
- Max speed for 802.11n is 300Mbps with 2T2R.
- USB 3.0 interface.
- OSX driver is RTLWlanU_MacOS10.6_MacOS10.11_Driver_1830.2.b19_1827.4.b22_DropDownMenu_5.0.2.b9.
Test Method
For security concern, I enable both WPA2 Personal and MAC filtering.
Test file is a single MP4 at 451.7MB.
Upload to TS-119PII through File Station. The Background Task windows provides upload Transfer Rate information. It’s using Hypertext Transfer Protocol instead of Samba or Apple Filing Protocol. More about how it works can be fund in How does HTTP file upload work? on StackOverflow.
Temperature is measured by smcFanControl 2.6. Computer fan runs at 5500rpm and the weather is 29°C to 33°C.
Performance and Temperature
Theoretical (All @ 5 GHz) | Upload Speed | Mac Mini Temperature | |
Mac Mini Build-in | 2T2R 802.11n @ 300Mbps | 25MB/s | 57°C |
D-Link DWA-171 rev A1 | 1T1R draft 802.11ac @ 433Mbps | 19MB/s | 57°C |
netis WF2190 | 2T2R draft 802.11ac @ 867Mbps | 27MB/s | 60°C |
Analyze
Build-in WiFi (Broadcom BCM43xx) is about 20% faster than DWA-171 rev A1 (RTL8811AU). WF2190 (RTL8812AU) is fastest but Mac mini is also hottest.
More Thoughts
After testing with different devices, I have following conclusion:
- Always use only one Realtek device and driver on the same OSX computer.
- If you want to install a new driver, uninstall the others first.
- Although a draft 802.11ac 1T1R device has better spec, it’s not always faster than a 802.11n with 2T2R.
Reference
- Apple macOS Sierra
- Apple OS X
- Apple: How to connect with File Sharing on your Mac
- Apple: Mac mini (Late 2012) – Technical Specifications
- Asus: RT-AC1200G+
- Datasheet: BCM57765
- D-Link Wireless AC Dual Band USB Adapter DWA-171
- eidac: smcFanControl 2.6 released
- iFixIt: Mac Mini Late 2012 Teardown
- MACお宝鑑定団:macg.co:Mac mini (Late 2012)は11n/450Mbps/3ストリームに対応している
- Marvell: Marvell 88F6282 SoC
- Microsoft: Windows Server 2012 R2
- netis: WF2190
- Prepare Your NAS File Transfer Performance Test with Mac OSX Client
- QNAP
- QNAP: File Storage & Sharing
- QNAP TS-119PII
- QNAP TS-119PII with Mac OSX File Transfer Performance Report
- QNAP TS-119PII
- QNAP: QTS
- Samba
- SANDISK EXTREME PRO SSD
- Seagate Laptop SSHD Datasheet
- StackOverflow: How does HTTP file upload work?
- Thecus W5000 and QNAP TS-119PII with Mac OSX Wireless File Transfer Performance Report
- Wiki: Apple Filing Protocol
- Wiki: ARM architecture
- Wiki: Gigabit Ethernet
- Wiki: Hypertext Transfer Protocol
- Wiki: IEEE 802.11a-1999
- Wiki: IEEE 802.11ac
- Wiki: IEEE 802.11b-1999
- Wiki: IEEE 802.11g-2003
- Wiki: IEEE 802.11n-2009
- Wiki: Multi-level cell
- Wiki: Network File System
- Wiki: USB
- Wiki: USB 3.0
- Wiki: Wi-Fi Protected Access
- WikiDevi: ASUS RT-AC1200GP
- WikiDevi: Broadcom
- WikiDevi: D-Link DWA-171 rev A1
- WikiDevi: Netis WF2190
- WikiDevi: Realtek