PI5/Kit speed lower than expected

b0rg · December 28, 2025, 8:27pm

I’m a little disappointed over the wifi speed I’m getting with the kit. Not running a VPN at the moment.

According to the Okla speed test I’m only getting 80-100Mbit using the PiFi kit with the PI5 wired to our router vs 1-1.1Gbit when connected to the router’s own wifi.

Pi5 is located about 2’ from the router supplying regular wifi.

Not sure if I’m doing something wrong.

Including some random Luci info:

From router:
Pi wired to Lan3 on the router: LAN3 Connected 1000Mbps

ID	Name	IP Address	MAC Address	Connection Type	Link Rate	rssi	Attached To
6	Pifi	192.168.88.13	66:66:66:66:66:78	Wired	1Gbps	-	66:66:66:66:66:48

Luci Status Overview:

Status

System

Hostname	PiFi
Model	Raspberry Pi 5 Model B Rev 1.1
Architecture	ARMv8 Processor rev 1
Target Platform	bcm27xx/bcm2712
Firmware Version	OpenWrt 24.10.1 r28597-0425664679 / LuCI (HEAD detached at 2ac26e5) branch 25.103.51521~2ac26e5
Kernel Version	6.6.86
Local Time	2025-12-28 66:66:30
Uptime	2h 14m 7s
Load Average	0.04, 0.04, 0.06

Memory

Total Available
Used
Buffered
Cached

Storage

Disk space
Temp space
/dev/mmcblk0p1 (/boot)
/dev/mmcblk0p3 (/mnt/mmcblk0p3)

Port status

eth0

1 GbE

Part of network:
wan: !(http://192.168.3.14/luci-static/resources/icons/ethernet.png "Ethernet Adapter: “eth0"”)

▲ 421.9 MiB
▼ 871.3 MiBReceived bytes: 871.27 MiB
Received packets: 759.07 KPkts.
Received multicast: 60.01 KPkts.
Receive errors: 0 Pkts.
Receive dropped: 0 Pkts.
Transmitted bytes: 421.89 MiB
Transmitted packets: 536.67 KPkts.
Transmit errors: 0 Pkts.
Transmit dropped: 0 Pkts.
Collisions seen: 0

Network

IPv4 Upstream

Protocol: DHCP client
Address: 192.168.88.13/24
Gateway: 192.168.88.1
DNS: 192.168.88.199
DNS: 192.152.0.2
Expires: 1h 46m 51s
Connected: 2h 13m 9s

Device: Ethernet Adapter: “eth0”
MAC address: 66:66:66:66:66:78

Active Connections

Active DHCP Leases

Hostname	IPv4 address	MAC address	Lease time remaining	Static Lease
W0nka	192.168.3.217	66:66:66:66:66:9E	10h 57m 12s

Bjorns-iPhone	192.168.3.134	66:66:66:66:66:BB	9h 57m 58s
iPhone	192.168.3.122	66:66:66:66:66:91	9h 55m 43s

Active DHCPv6 Leases

Host	IPv6 address	DUID	Lease time remaining	Static Lease
There are no active leases

Wireless

radio0

Type: Cypress CYW43455 802.11ac/b/g/n
Channel: 153 (5.765 GHz)
Bitrate: -

SSID: Unavailable
Mode: Client
BSSID: 66:66:66:66:66:79
Encryption: -
Associations: -

radio1

Type: MAC80211 802.11ac/b/g/n
Channel: 44 (5.220 GHz)
Bitrate: 351 Mbit/s

SSID: W0nk3r5
Mode: Master
BSSID: 66:66:66:66:66:41
Encryption: WPA2 PSK (CCMP)
Associations: 1

Associated Stations

Network	MAC address	Host	Signal / Noise	RX Rate / TX Rate
Access Point “W0nk3r5” (phy1-ap0)	66:66:66:66:66:9E	W0nka (192.168.3.217)	-68 dBm	468.0 Mbit/s, 80 MHz, VHT-MCS 5, VHT-NSS 2
351.0 Mbit/s, 80 MHz, VHT-MCS 4, VHT-NSS 2

Powered by LuCI (HEAD detached at 2ac26e5) branch (25.103.51521~2ac26e5) / OpenWrt 24.10.1 (r28597-0425664679) / Lua compatibility mode active

Tail of system log:
un Dec 28 66:66:32 2025 daemon.info sh[2306]: Interface phy1-ap0 exists and is UP. All good.
Sun Dec 28 66:66:32 2025 daemon.warn wpa_supplicant[1194]: phy0-sta0: Failed to initiate sched scan
Sun Dec 28 66:66:34 2025 daemon.warn wpa_supplicant[1194]: phy0-sta0: Failed to initiate sched scan
Sun Dec 28 66:66:36 2025 daemon.warn wpa_supplicant[1194]: phy0-sta0: Failed to initiate sched scan
Sun Dec 28 66:66:38 2025 daemon.warn wpa_supplicant[1194]: phy0-sta0: Failed to initiate sched scan
Sun Dec 28 66:66:40 2025 daemon.warn wpa_supplicant[1194]: phy0-sta0: Failed to initiate sched scan
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.info sh[2527]: true
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.err sh[2527]: mv: can’t rename ‘/etc/sysp/usbcheck/pifi_checkusb_setup’: No such file or directory
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.info sh[2527]: Checking for the file at /etc/sysp/usb…
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.info sh[2527]: /etc/sysp/usb exists.
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.info sh[2527]: The file /etc/sysp/usb does not contain ‘0’.
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.info sh[2527]: true
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.err sh[2527]: uci: Entry not found
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.info sh[2527]: Current SSID does not match expected SSID. Detected SSID:
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.err sh[2527]: /etc/sysp/pifi_unconfigured: line 2:
: not found
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.err sh[2527]: /etc/sysp/pifi_unconfigured: line 66: syntax error: unexpected end of file (expecting “then”)
Sun Dec 28 66:66:41 2025 daemon.info sh[2527]: Path and port match. No action needed.
Sun Dec 28 66:66:42 2025 daemon.info sh[2527]: Radio1 is up. No action needed.
Sun Dec 28 66:66:42 2025 daemon.warn wpa_supplicant[1194]: phy0-sta0: Failed to initiate sched scan
Sun Dec 28 66:66:43 2025 daemon.warn wpa_supplicant[1194]: phy0-sta0: Failed to initiate sched scan
Sun Dec 28 66:66:45 2025 daemon.warn wpa_supplicant[1194]: phy0-sta0: Failed to initiate sched scan
Sun Dec 28 66:66:47 2025 daemon.warn wpa_supplicant[1194]: phy0-sta0: Failed to initiate sched scan

Channel stats Radio0/5Ghz

Signal	SSID	Channel	Channel Width	Mode	BSSID
-10 dBm	Local Interface	149	20 MHz	Client	66:66:66:66:66:79
-25 dBm	⬤ hidden	40	160 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:4A
-25 dBm	⬤ hidden	40	160 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:4A
-25 dBm	⬤ Dizzy5	40	160 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:4A
-29 dBm	⬤ W0nk3r5	44	80 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:41
-48 dBm	⬤ hidden	40	20 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:0D

Radio1/5Ghz

Signal	SSID	Channel	Channel Width	Mode	BSSID
-10 dBm	Local Interface	44	80 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:41
-32 dBm	⬤ hidden	40	160 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:4A
-33 dBm	⬤ Dizzy5	40	160 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:4A
-33 dBm	⬤ hidden	40	160 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:4A
-52 dBm	⬤ hidden	40	20 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:0D
-74 dBm	⬤ hidden	40	160 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:A2
-74 dBm	⬤ hidden	40	160 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:A2
-74 dBm	⬤ Dizzy5	40	160 MHz	Master	66:66:66:66:66:A2

Network interfaces:
lan

Type: Bridge
Device: br-lan
Connected: yes
M66: 66:66:66:66:66:41
RX: 442.75 MB (579664 Pkts.)
TX: 935.62 MB (751161 Pkts.) (Type: Wireless Adapter
Device: phy1-ap0
Connected: yes
M66: 66:66:66:66:66:41
RX: 473.01 MB (390690 Pkts.)
TX: 957.51 MB (761116 Pkts.))
br-lan Protocol: Static address
Uptime: 2h 38m 12s
M66: 66:66:66:66:66:41
RX: 442.75 MB (579664 Pkts.)
TX: 935.62 MB (751161 Pkts.)
IPv4: 192.168.3.14/24
IPv6: undefined/0

wan

Type: Ethernet Adapter
Device: eth0
Connected: yes
M66: 66:66:66:66:66:78
RX: 936.93 MB (794210 Pkts.)
TX: 446.91 MB (551167 Pkts.)
eth0 Protocol: DHCP client
Uptime: 2h 49m 9s
M66: 66:66:66:66:66:78
RX: 936.93 MB (794210 Pkts.)
TX: 446.91 MB (551167 Pkts.)
IPv4: 192.168.88.13/24

jimmy86 · December 29, 2025, 3:30pm

That seems very very slow compared to what I see. I get easily 500+ with VPN on.

I get faster than you even paired wireless so that’s super low on a highspeed connection with a cable.

Can I ask for a quick check. Do you have a device with an ethernet port that can do a speed test?

To see what speed your router is really giving from that 1gbps port (going to guess that’s the issue/bottleneck)

pifi · December 29, 2025, 3:36pm

As @jimmy86 said, it’s a lot less than you’d expect and not the speeds that it can handle

Couple of checks I’d do:

First, as already suggested, what do other devices get from that same port (speed test)
Is the wireless network showing as PiFi 5 or PiFi 5 Setup (confirms if it’s actually broadcasting from the USB adapter)

I see that radio0 is operating on channel 44 (non default channel) - have you changed the wireless channel?

b0rg · December 30, 2025, 7:40am

Hooking my laptop up to the the same lan port on the router shows a link speed of 2.5Gbs and I get +2Gbs up/down on the speed test.
When the PI5 is hooked up the link speed shows as 1Gbs and Luci shows ethernet port status as 1GB

I have not changed any low level wireless settings such as channels. I changed the name to W0nk3r5 and it looks like radio 0 is the built in wifi which is not active. So it seems it’s using the USB adapter.

radio0

Type: Cypress CYW43455 802.11ac/b/g/n
Channel: 2 (2.417 GHz)
Bitrate: -

SSID: Unavailable
Mode: Client
BSSID: 2C:CF:67:B5:AF:79
Encryption: -
Associations: -

radio1

Type: MAC80211 802.11ac/b/g/n
Channel: 48 (5.240 GHz)
Bitrate: 585 Mbit/s

SSID: W0nk3r5
Mode: Master
BSSID: A0:8C:F2:02:15:41
Encryption: WPA2 PSK (CCMP)
Associations: 1

pifi · December 30, 2025, 12:10pm

The Pi has a 1Gbps port so that is the correct rating

But I don’t understand why you would be seeing 80-100Mbps real world

I did see a channel difference from my config

Can I suggest a factory reset or PiFi and before changing any config can you redo the speed test when it’s wired to your router

b0rg · December 31, 2025, 11:16pm

I did a factory reset from the app. Speed before setup came back w 70 Mbs down/. I also did a speed test on regular raspberry pi os 64 bit and also got some disappointing results. It seems like I have some more work to do there before getting back to PiFi. But this is basically my first raspberry experience. I’ll keep you posted.

b0rg · January 4, 2026, 6:53pm

Found one of the culprits - slow and undersized SD card. Had some issues w the SD card in the PiFi so I just grabbed one in the pile and burned PiFi onto it. I happened to be a 16GB / U1 card.

After changing to a 64GB U3 card I’m getting ~230 Gbs down and ~500 up from PiFi when the Pi5 is on a wired connection. Better but still not happy.

On the pi5 itself I’m getting 500 down wired running 64 bit OS. So there’s something else not PiFi related going on. I’m still digging as time permits.

pifi · January 5, 2026, 3:55pm

Yes, should be able to higher download based on what you’ve said so seems bottleneck somewhere