Pepwave Speedfusion - Slow Speeds when using multiple Sim Cards?

[laurieballard]

Hi

We are using a Pepwave MAX-HD4 and have a Speedfusion VPN back to our Data Centre.

All tests so far seem to prove that when using the bonding feature with more than a single sim card, the speed seems to be less than using a single sim card.

I have tried various Sim Card combinations but the results are the same!

The outbound policy is set to Weighted Balance and we are running the latest 6.2 firmware.

If 1 Sim card is used, the speed is 35Mbps.
If more than 1 Sim card is used (any between 2 and 4 total), the speed sits around 20Mbps.

I have disconnected the Speedfusion and used the Pepwave speed checker, the result is 55Mbps so clearly the VPN tunnel is not distributing the packets properly.

There are two similar threads on this that I can find:

Peplink | Pepwave - Forum

Peplink | Pepwave - Forum

One goes back to 2012 and as far as I can tell, the issue is the same and has not been resolved?

Obviously I have logged a ticket but we are looking to use this combination for a decent amount of our Marine Clients and at the moment, it just doesn’t work.

My understanding is that when using Weighted Balance with the Speedfusion, the packets from a Single TCP transaction will be distributed amongst the Sim cards and reassembled at the other end??
If this is the case, why do the speeds drop when using more than 1 Sim card?

I have attached the results of testing. Three Sim Testing for Peplink.docx (251 KB)

Thanks

[TK_Liew]

Hi,

Something to share with you for your better understanding on performance of SpeedFusion Bonding.

1. The WAN links are shared bandwidth basis?
Please take note Cellular connection is bandwidth sharing basis. You possible not get SIM1 (10Mbps) + SIM2 (10Mbps) = 20Mbps. We have documented this in Partner Pavilion. Please find here for more details. I noticed you are using Vodafone for SIM1 and 2, EE for SIM3.

2. Please do not use speed test result as a benchmark to judge SpeedFusion performance.
Please take note speed test with speedtest.net or the speedtest you have done is doing bandwidth testing between your notebook and speedtest server. However SpeedFusion tunnel is a point to point connection between HD4 and Data Center Balance router.
In other word you are building SpeedFusion tunnel between HD4 and Data Center Balance router, not between your PC and speedtest server. Therefore speed test result you have done can’t represent SpeedFusion throughput between HD4 and Data Center Balance router.
Since you have opened ticket on this, our tech support can help to test the actual throughput between HD4 and Data Center Balance router.

Your question: My understanding is that when using Weighted Balance with the Speedfusion, the packets from a Single TCP transaction will be distributed amongst the Sim cards and reassembled at the other end??
If this is the case, why do the speeds drop when using more than 1 Sim card?

Please take note outbound policy will not control the traffics in SpeedFusion tunnnel. Speed drop when using more than 1 SIM may cause by the connection quality between 2 sites. I suspect one of the cellular link has high latency or packet drop. Anyway our tech support will able to check the root cause on this.

Hope this help.

[laurieballard]

@TK_Liew

Hi,

Something to share with you for your better understanding on performance of SpeedFusion Bonding.

1. The WAN links are shared bandwidth basis?
Please take note Cellular connection is bandwidth sharing basis. You possible not get SIM1 (10Mbps) + SIM2 (10Mbps) = 20Mbps. We have documented this in Partner Pavilion. Please find here for more details. I noticed you are using Vodafone for SIM1 and 2, EE for SIM3.

I realise we are not going to get Speed of Individual Sim x Amount of Sim Cards to equal the total throughput. However, if I test all three Sim cards connected without the VPN, they get 55Mbps combined. If we account for 20% VPN overhead, the speed should be around 45Mbps but with the VPN connected we only see 25Mbps which is a huge drop.

2. Please do not use speed test result as a benchmark to judge SpeedFusion performance.
Please take note speed test with speedtest.net or the speedtest you have done is doing bandwidth testing between your notebook and speedtest server. However SpeedFusion tunnel is a point to point connection between HD4 and Data Center Balance router.
In other word you are building SpeedFusion tunnel between HD4 and Data Center Balance router, not between your PC and speedtest server. Therefore speed test result you have done can’t represent SpeedFusion throughput between HD4 and Data Center Balance router.
Since you have opened ticket on this, our tech support can help to test the actual throughput between HD4 and Data Center Balance router.

I am not judging the Speedfusion performance and I realise why Speedtest websites and downloads are never a true representation of actual throughput. However, this doesn’t explain the huge speed drop when using all three Sim Cards with the VPN connected?? Even assuming 20% overhead, we are seeing 55Mbps without the VPN (3 SIM Cards) but only 25Mbps with the VPN connected, so less than half.

Your question: My understanding is that when using Weighted Balance with the Speedfusion, the packets from a Single TCP transaction will be distributed amongst the Sim cards and reassembled at the other end??
If this is the case, why do the speeds drop when using more than 1 Sim card?

Please take note outbound policy will not control the traffics in SpeedFusion tunnnel. Speed drop when using more than 1 SIM may cause by the connection quality between 2 sites. I suspect one of the cellular link has high latency or packet drop. Anyway our tech support will able to check the root cause on this.

So you are saying that the outbound policy has NO effect on how the traffic is distributed amongst the Sim cards WHILST the VPN is connected? If so, what does control the traffic on the VPN? It is automatically load balanced amongst the Sim cards?

Hope this help.

I have attached another set of tests to this post for your reference.

Again, I will reiterate, I know that speedtests and internet downloads are not a true reflection of total throughput BUT why does the speed drop by 50% when using multiple Sim Cards whilst SpeedFusion is active? Without Speedfusion, I can get over double the speed when using 3 Sim Cards. If this is how the product works then its clearly not aggregating speed, its simply bonding for resiliency at the cost of overall throughput.

Thanks!