Wi-Fi HaLow throughput limitation on MM8108 (RD09 v4) + Jetson Orin NX – need guidance for higher data rates

[nasihabdulnazer]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently evaluating Wi-Fi HaLow (MM8108-EKH19, RD09 v4 reference design) with an NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX and would appreciate guidance on improving throughput.

Current setup

• Module: MM8108-EKH19 (RD09 v4)

• Host: NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX

• Mode: HaLow Access Point

• Channel width: 8 MHz

• Channel: ~924 MHz

• Security: WPA2/WPA3

• Country code: AU

• Connection type: USB

• Measured using: https://www.speedtest.net

Observed performance

• Average throughput: ~20–21 Mbps

• Link appears stable, RSSI and noise look reasonable

• Screenshot attached showing AP status and speed

Questions

1. Is ~20 Mbps expected for 8 MHz channel width on MM8108, or am I missing configuration optimizations?

2. What parameters most significantly impact HaLow throughput?

   • Channel width (8 / 16 MHz)

   • MCS selection

   • Guard interval

   • AMPDU / aggregation settings

   • USB vs SDIO interface

3. Are there recommended Jetson-side driver or kernel tuning steps to improve throughput?

4. Is Speedtest.net a valid benchmark for HaLow, or should I be using iperf3 (UDP/TCP) instead?

5. What is the realistic maximum throughput achievable on MM8108 RD09 under ideal conditions?

Target requirement
My end goal is to stream 3 × Full HD (1080p) camera streams over Wi-Fi HaLow.
Assuming ~6–8 Mbps per stream, I’m targeting ~20–25 Mbps sustained throughput with reasonable latency and stability.

I’d appreciate any:

• Configuration recommendations

• Reference throughput numbers

• Best practices for video streaming over HaLow

Thanks in advance,

[david.rice]

@nasihabdulnazer ,

~20-21 Mbps is not bad on the MM8108/RD09. The max PHY data rate possible on the MM8108 is 43.3 Mbps. When you take that data rate into consideration along with the Wi-Fi management overhead, the max UDP throughput in ideal circumstances (low noise, high SNR, direct line of sight, etc) is around ~30 Mbps or so.

I’m a little unclear about your physical setup for testing. You have an EKH19 (which includes the RD09 USB dongle plugged into it). You mention also having an nVidia Jetson Orin NX, do you have an RD09 USB dongle plugged into that end?

With regard to your question about speedtest.net being a good test or not, I would recommend doing an iperf test between the Jetson and the EKH19 so that the test is only over the HaLow connection. Since video streaming is mostly UDP traffic, you’ll want to do a UDP iperf test. Give it a target rate of 30 Mbps and see if you can fill the pipe.