Home LAN (Cat5e vs WiFi) network throughputs

Home LAN zones

• Area 1: 10+ Gb
• VMware Virtual Network within single VMware ESXi hypervisor
• physically unlimited network, limited only by software and server hardware
• Area 2: 1Gb
• 1 Gb LAN over Cat5e structured cabling
• Area 3 : WiFi 5 (802.11ac)
•  Amazon eero Mesh (core AP)
• Gateway eero 6 (2nd Floor - work room)
•  Area 4a : WiFi 5 (802.11ac)
•  Amazon eero Mesh (AP extender connected to core AP over wireless back-haul)
• eero 6 Extender 1 (1st Floor - living room)
• Area 4b : WiFi 5 (802.11ac)
• Amazon eero Mesh (AP extender connected to core AP over wireless back-haul)
• eero 6 Extender 2 (1st Floor - guest room)

Network Devices 

• 192.168.8.11 wired connection @ Area 1
• iperf server on VMware VM with FreeBSD 14.2 in home lab rack
• VMXNET3 
• 192.168.8.12 wired connection @ Area 1 
• iperf client on VMware VM with FreeBSD 14.2 in home lab rack
• VMXNET3 
• 10.0.4.214 wired connection @ Area 2
• iperf client on MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016) with MacOS Monteray (12.7.6)
• 1 Gb USB NIC
• 10.0.4.74 @ 802.11ac wireless connection @ various Areas
• iperf client on MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016) with MacOS Monteray (12.7.6)
• WiFi 802.11ac (Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.77.111.1 AirPortDriverBrcmNIC-1710.4)

Network Throughput Methodology 

Server @ Area 1 (192.168.8.11)

• iperf3 -s 

Clients @ various areas 

• upload
• iperf3 -c 192.168.8.11 -t60 -i5 -P4
• download
• iperf3 -c 192.168.8.11 -t60 -i5 -P4 -R

iPerf Throughput Tests

Throughput within Area 1 (192.168.8.11 <---> 192.168.8.12) 

• Expected Throughput: 10+ Gbits/sec 
• Upload: 13.8 Gbits/sec
• Download: 13.8 Gbits/sec

Throughput between Area 1 and Area 2 (192.168.8.11 <---> 10.0.4.214) 

• Expected Throughput: 1000 Mbit/s
• Upload: 790 Mbits/sec 
• Download: 932 Mbits/sec

Throughput between Area 1 and Area 3 (192.168.8.11 <---> 10.0.4.74) 

• Expected Throughput:
• ~200-300 Mbps for single-stream devices
• ~500-700 Mbps for devices with 2 or 3 spatial streams in good conditions
• In optimal conditions, with high-end devices and close proximity to the router, speeds can reach ~900 Mbps or slightly higher, approaching Gigabit Ethernet speeds. 
• Upload: 532 Mbits/sec
• Download: 651 Mbits/sec

Throughput between Area 1 and Area 4a (192.168.8.11 <---> 10.0.4.74) 

• Expected Throughput:
• ~200-300 Mbps for single-stream devices
• ~500-700 Mbps for devices with 2 or 3 spatial streams in good conditions
• In optimal conditions, with high-end devices and close proximity to the router, speeds can reach ~900 Mbps or slightly higher, approaching Gigabit Ethernet speeds. 
• Upload: 97 Mbits/sec
• Download: 126 Mbits/sec

Throughput between Area 1 and Area 4b (192.168.8.11 <---> 10.0.4.74) 

• Expected Throughput:
• ~200-300 Mbps for single-stream devices
• ~500-700 Mbps for devices with 2 or 3 spatial streams in good conditions
• In optimal conditions, with high-end devices and close proximity to the router, speeds can reach ~900 Mbps or slightly higher, approaching Gigabit Ethernet speeds. 
• Upload: 78 Mbits/sec
• Download: 114 Mbits/sec