Understanding Wi-Fi Performance Beyond Certification
The Broadband Forum’s TR-398 test plan is the gold standard for Wi-Fi performance certification. It covers everything from throughput to multi-client fairness and long-term stability. However, complete TR-398 testing is complex, time-consuming, and designed for certification, not day-to-day validation.
TR-398 has one particular test section (6.3.1) dedicated to Wi-Fi Range vs. Rate (RvR) testing. RvR provides a simple, repeatable, and automated way to validate Wi-Fi performance by measuring Wi-Fi throughput at different attenuation levels.
Is Range vs. Rate enough? When not focused on full-scale certification, vendors, OEMs, and operators building or deploying broadband Wi-Fi gateways can focus on RvR as the baseline for continuous validation, regression testing, and stability testing.
TR-398 and the complexity of certification testing
TR-398 defines a structured and thorough set of tests to evaluate Wi-Fi access point performance in a controlled lab environment. These tests include:
- RF performance – Signal strength, antenna patterns, and interference handling
- Throughput and latency – Multi-client performance under various conditions
- Airtime fairness – Efficiency of resource allocation across different client types
- Long-term stability – Ensuring devices remain reliable over extended periods
While these tests are crucial for certification (and certification is important), they require specialized equipment, dedicated lab setups, and significant engineering resources, making them impractical for everyday validation.
A more straightforward and repeatable approach is needed for teams that frequently update Wi-Fi firmware, validate gateway designs, or need ongoing performance monitoring.
Why Range vs. Rate is the foundation of Wi-Fi performance testing
Range vs. Rate measures how Wi-Fi throughput changes as signal strength decreases. This test is simple yet provides deep insight into real-world Wi-Fi behavior.
Here’s why RvR should be a cornerstone of your testing strategy:
Wi-Fi RvR testing establishes a consistent performance baseline
RvR provides a repeatable and objective way to measure Wi-Fi performance across firmware versions, hardware revisions, and environmental conditions.
Without RvR, performance drift can go unnoticed—leading to unexpected real-world failures.
Wi-Fi RvR is essential for regression testing
Wi-Fi firmware and driver updates can significantly impact signal processing, rate adaptation, and antenna behavior.
By automating RvR tests, teams can detect performance regressions early, preventing issues from making it into production.
RvR can identify issues before they impact customers
Many Wi-Fi problems - such as antenna misalignment, firmware rate control bugs, and power level misconfigurations - manifest first as performance degradation over range. Routine RvR testing can catch these issues before they affect real users.
RvR helps validate stability over time
We have written many times about the importance of stability testing for broadband Wi-Fi gateways, which combines long-term performance testing with feature and protocol tests that exercise a device’s core functions. Stability testing can be done with clean, straight performance testing, but adding controlled and repeatable RvR testing with programmed attenuation will stress the device in the exact ways it is going to be used in the field.
Automating RvR testing for day-to-day validation
While high-end certification platforms handle full TR-398 validation, they aren’t generally built for ongoing regression testing. For continuous integration/deployment scenarios (outlined in our automated testing strategy guide), automated RvR testing can give you most of the coverage you need, assisted by:
- Automating programmable attenuator control for seamless execution
- Integrating into CI/CD workflows for continuous performance validation
- Reducing the need for expensive, complex test setups
Example: RvR Testing in CDRouter
CDRouter makes RvR testing simple by automating throughput measurements at multiple attenuation levels. Below is an example of an RvR test result from CDRouter:
This graph shows Wi-Fi throughput at various attenuation levels, providing a clear performance curve that marks TR-398’s rate requirements. This can help diagnose problem areas and give you a baseline pass/fail view. By integrating automated RvR tests into routine validation, broadband gateway teams can ensure consistent Wi-Fi performance without the burden of full TR-398 testing.
Making RvR a standard for your Wi-Fi testing
Full TR-398 certification remains essential for compliance, but day-to-day performance validation requires a more efficient approach. By making RvR testing a standard part of Wi-Fi performance validation, teams can:
- Catch regressions before they impact customers
- Validate stability over time
- Reduce testing complexity and cost
- Ensure real-world Wi-Fi performance aligns with user expectations
The CDRouter Wi-Fi Range vs. Rate Expansion makes automated, repeatable RvR testing simple - helping to deliver better, more reliable Wi-Fi experiences.
