1. Forum
  2. Usenet
  3. LINUX.DEBIAN.USER

  • Different HTTP download speeds over Wi-Fi (but not cable)

    From Paul Menzel@21:1/5 to All on Mon Mar 31 10:20:01 2025
    [Please Cc me on replies.]

    Dear Debian folks,


    In the Eduroam Wi-Fi network of the TU Chemnitz (X-WiN, Cisco CW9164i,
    CW9166i, C9124AXE-E) I noticed too low download speeds from Debian
    archive mirrors. Using a cable full adapter speed is achieved, so it’s
    not some bottleneck in the peering. Later I also noticed this in other
    Wi-Fi networks (Versatel), though I couldn’t verify with a cable there.
    This also happens with non-mirror HTTP servers, but I have no idea, who
    to ask, so I am writing to you.

    Download speed over Wi-Fi for most mirrors [1] was limited to 30 MB/s –
    for example ftp.de.debian.org (TU Dresden (X-WiN), Apache/2.4.62
    (Debian)). Only with deb.debian.org (Fastly, varnish) I got 43 MB/s.
    Later tests, not at TU Chemnitz, show that mirrors.xtom.de (nginx) is
    also much faster, where download speed of mirrors.xtom.de is greater
    than Fastly’s one. As full speed is achieved with cable, it shouldn’t be related to the Web server software in use.

    This is reproducible on different systems (Dell XPS 13 9360 with
    Qualcomm QCA6174, Macbook with macOS) and with GNU Wget and curl. Also
    it’s reproducible in different Laptops and with different providers
    (Eduroam X-WiN, Versatel) and access points (Cisco, Ruckus).

    I never noticed because I mostly use cable connections, and often
    Internet speeds over 25 MB/s are not common for the Wi-Fi networks, I use.

    1. Can you reproduce that?
    2. Do you have an explanation? What do mirrors.xtom.de and Fastly do differently?


    Kind regards,

    Paul


    [1]: https://www.debian.org/mirror/list


    $ wget -O /dev/null http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/f/flightgear-data/flightgear-data-base_2020.3.19+dfsg-1_all.deb
    --2025-03-23 11:29:51-- http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/f/flightgear-data/flightgear-data-base_2020.3.19+dfsg-1_all.deb
    Auflösen des Hostnamens ftp.de.debian.org (ftp.de.debian.org)…
    141.76.2.4, 2a13:dd80:deb::deb
    Verbindungsaufbau zu ftp.de.debian.org
    (ftp.de.debian.org)|141.76.2.4|:80 … verbunden.
    HTTP-Anforderung gesendet, auf Antwort wird gewartet … 200 OK
    Länge: 914066216 (872M) [application/vnd.debian.binary-package]
    Wird in »/dev/null« gespeichert.

    /dev/null 32%[=======> ] 283,09M 28,6MB/s
    ETA 21s ^C

    $ wget -O /dev/null http://deb.debian.org/debian/pool/main/f/flightgear-data/flightgear-data-base_2020.3.19+dfsg-1_all.deb
    --2025-03-23 11:30:04-- http://deb.debian.org/debian/pool/main/f/flightgear-data/flightgear-data-base_2020.3.19+dfsg-1_all.deb
    Auflösen des Hostnamens deb.debian.org (deb.debian.org)… 146.75.122.132, 2a04:4e42:8e::644
    Verbindungsaufbau zu deb.debian.org (deb.debian.org)|146.75.122.132|:80
    … verbunden.
    HTTP-Anforderung gesendet, auf Antwort wird gewartet … 200 OK
    Länge: 914066216 (872M) [application/vnd.debian.binary-package]
    Wird in »/dev/null« gespeichert.

    /dev/null 10%[=> ] 95,73M 39,1MB/s
    ^C

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dan Purgert@21:1/5 to Paul Menzel on Mon Mar 31 11:50:01 2025
    On Mar 31, 2025, Paul Menzel wrote:
    [Please Cc me on replies.]

    Dear Debian folks,


    In the Eduroam Wi-Fi network of the TU Chemnitz (X-WiN, Cisco CW9164i, CW9166i, C9124AXE-E) I noticed too low download speeds from Debian archive mirrors. Using a cable full adapter speed is achieved, so it’s not some bottleneck in the peering. Later I also noticed this in other Wi-Fi
    networks (Versatel), though I couldn’t verify with a cable there. This
    also happens with non-mirror HTTP servers, but I have no idea, who to
    ask, so I am writing to you.

    Your university WiFi network is imposing the restriction on speed, not
    the remote site.

    This is either a dynamic restriction (lots of people connected to one AP
    means they all only get a fraction of the total), or an admin-imposed
    one (e.g. all clients get 45 mbit / sec tops).


    --
    |_|O|_|
    |_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
    |O|O|O| PGP: DDAB 23FB 19FA 7D85 1CC1 E067 6D65 70E5 4CE7 2860

    -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----

    iQIzBAEBCgAdFiEE3asj+xn6fYUcweBnbWVw5UznKGAFAmfqZMEACgkQbWVw5Uzn KGAr4w//bNVmR+sbX6AHQkR1vaWQe2x19uxxi7angVTUyVks1PTEaUzJxq90uhc1 nyNtFC6asvd+d2WBD0phykScSgXzvkD8bpLKaNMrt6InJUlo59A1TMpxFW5L3wj7 QOiwj2jo76o9DtJaq1A3lClTWhbjLjdoBqx46/ARpHGwneFOrKngfk1MYny4R7q/ 57KZTFUkHxLFy5C8wBhworxQMBqPpBc34ja8SRWqZpnvPyIlcl/z2BjHS1qS47xx Huy+PoWmOHYBEFm2EuWRQpcTBIPTKdAjVcUjMiReaUNHe2wSYagXk7XLInBreEDZ f9A5jvf0/cv+EV9h2QdUNncAAwbs/sayRNInAPixrdyJqtIa0yiYo3HYCjsrN9IJ 08BTpP1V2fHOeXLGbPVfnqN00V0gLtRhQozpWGVQSdvMnS51agxfbK5oGmAviGA8 kWh1W1haTJjnP8l5qbL5q/UEjFwPvfwJ7LYGyP5zgf1qIqEPhziI+CPkFW6qpyoS tr/r4GXy6lkaCsl25O0skVStirjWnUvuzE+4ABOGOoCBtYh+Lj/VS9pNAAOq/kAo aWo5sgj28eYPEyws2hTdWoff5cYvaLdh1XHj6R2VMs4gZHr04Va3C3HI6rOgy5i3 vyEyrrmt3W/3mZFa9RNOdOZlQh6uEdXtBmDb0syoc/jWcWyWwxc=
    =Jgsq
    -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Us