[ 386.11alpha Build(s) ] Testing available build(s)

[SheikhSheikha]

Hmmm, I don't know what 'yes, I do all the ropes' means.

6 to 8 Mbps less isn't anything I would worry about, particularly over VPN (too many variables to account for).

All the ropes means that I know what I am doing and that I know what I am noticing.
You may consider 6-8 not interesting, That is your opinion. I think that this loss is significant, especially as ping speed and jitter increase as well. And as in 386.7.2 non of this is experienced, there seems something not as it can be.

 

[L&LD]

Okay, as you know all the ropes already, proceed.

But I still think you're chasing unicorns.

 

[StrikerXXX]

So, finally rolled back the firmware to .10. Oddly, I was still getting these same repeating log entries!?
Restored .cfg and .tar files that I save with each change of firmware edition. The endless log entries STOPPED.
I hope that this will help Merlin understand what's going on with the alpha...

Are the .cfg and .tar files from firmware version .11? Did you use them on stable .10 firmware? I have an ac68u, with the firmware from the topic, but I'm finding this version of merlin very bad, I'm wanting to go back to the official asuswrt, but now I'm afraid of giving this problem.

In my case, which does not show this error, I can go back to stock without any problems, will it work normally?

 

[SheikhSheikha]

Okay, as you know all the ropes already, proceed.

But I still think you're chasing unicorns.

And I think you are judgemental with a very unfriendly tone and for no reason at all. A difference of 20% is a huge difference in my opinion. You may think otherwise but I do not think I am chasing unicorns. I want my router to work as it can and not how it does now.

 

[Tech9]

It's perhaps the updated OpenVPN version, @SheikhSheikha. ARMv8 routers lost about 70-80Mbps OpenVPN speed between 384 and 386/388 firmware versions - very noticeable difference. Unfortunately, nothing we can do about it. See this comment:

Release - ASUS RT-AX86 Series(RT-AX86U/RT-AX86S) Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388.22525

Waiting for 23012 with clean 22525. I have something specific to check on it. Anything we should know about?

www.snbforums.com

 

[RMerlin]

ARMv8 routers lost about 70-80Mbps OpenVPN speed between 384 and 386/388 firmware versions

That was from the move to OpenSSL 1.1. I spent tons of time doing regression testing, and the performance losses came from the OpenSSL devs making architectural changes to a particular portion of the code (which I can't remember in detail as it's been years), and therefore nothing could be done about it. The best I could do was gain a small performance boost from switching to -O2 instead of -O3 optimization, assumedly because the smaller code better fit within the cache, while -O3's loop unrolling would cause more cache misses.

 

[Tech9]

That was from the move to OpenSSL 1.1

Yes, the link above is your previous explanation. Security has priority over speed.

Do you know about any changes in OpenVPN 2.6.2 potentially causing @SheikhSheikha issue?

 

[L&LD]

And I think you are judgemental with a very unfriendly tone and for no reason at all. A difference of 20% is a huge difference in my opinion. You may think otherwise but I do not think I am chasing unicorns. I want my router to work as it can and not how it does now.

No, not judgemental at all, and my 'tone' is to provide you information as effectively as possible. Don't try to read anything more into my responses. You simply must be realistic about your hardware's limits though.

Older platforms may continue to work, but eventually, there is a real limit to what the older hardware and SDKs can do. There is no (indefinite) free lunch. See RMerlin's response above.

You may want to consider upgrading your older routers. An RT-AX86U or better is highly recommended and will be a much better match for your ISP speeds and current expectations.

 

[RMerlin]

Do you know about any changes in OpenVPN 2.6.2 potentially causing @SheikhSheikha issue?

No, but I haven't done any test either to confirm if there really is a performance drop or not.

 

[SheikhSheikha]

It's perhaps the updated OpenVPN version, @SheikhSheikha. ARMv8 routers lost about 70-80Mbps OpenVPN speed between 384 and 386/388 firmware versions - very noticeable difference. Unfortunately, nothing we can do about it. See this comment:

Release - ASUS RT-AX86 Series(RT-AX86U/RT-AX86S) Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388.22525

Waiting for 23012 with clean 22525. I have something specific to check on it. Anything we should know about?

www.snbforums.com

Thank you for this information. At least now I have a global understanding on what I experience

 

[Tech9]

Design as you go and adjust as required. All home routers have limited OpenVPN performance. Latest models can do about 200Mbps. You may want to explore x86 hardware router/firewall options running pfSense/OPNsense. A box with newer i3/i5 class CPU can do 400-500Mbps. Added cost and learning process involved though. Your existing routers can be used as Access Points with limited functionality (no VLAN support for Guest Network).

 

[capncybo]

Over the years I've grown to dislike most (security/encryption) not just because I find the subject rather boring & dry. It's because it obviously adds layers of complexity & overhead which in-turn... slows things down. I've also found (more often than not) it's actually the upgrades to the security components themselves which break or cause most issues. Unfortunately as said above, "Security has priority over speed." And the older the hardware... the less free-lunches ;-) [In my case... it's what is really preventing us from upgrading to a faster than 300Mbps ISP. We'd have to start spending some real-money to take much advantage of the speed provided. Yet the reality is... we really don't need the extra speed.]

Sorry, I did go OFF-TOPIC there except... It might be somewhat beneficial to officially test & acknowledge (perhaps within the change log) the SSL performance regression & OVPN speed reduction.
Hopefully it might minimize the frequency of the complaint?

 

[Tech9]

@SheikhSheikha needs VPN for different purposes.

 

[Sonyrolfy]

As Tech9 suggested. Maybe this guide is tempting when vpn speed is important for you. https://nguvu.org/pfsense/pfsense-baseline-setup
Its based on AIRVPN but other vpn providers wont be that hard.
My 2c

 

[Howard_inGA]

Are the .cfg and .tar files from firmware version .11? Did you use them on stable .10 firmware? I have an ac68u, with the firmware from the topic, but I'm finding this version of merlin very bad, I'm wanting to go back to the official asuswrt, but now I'm afraid of giving this problem.

In my case, which does not show this error, I can go back to stock without any problems, will it work normally?

I used files matching the firmware version. As to rolling back to stock, that is beyond my experience with this router. It has never been stock...always Merlin!

 

[StrikerXXX]

I used files matching the firmware version. As to rolling back to stock, that is beyond my experience with this router. It has never been stock...always Merlin!

Ah, now I understand, thanks for the clarification. Yesterday, I went back to the stable version of merlin, 386.10, because 386.11 alpha was horrible, it had disconnections out of nowhere, slowness to open several sites, etc.

I did a hard reset and reinstalled at 386.10, the ac68u went back to working normally as before, everything was fine, it's been on for almost 20 hours and no connection has been lost, wifi is always at maximum, at least I'm relieved not to have had any error like the one you were having.

I was going to change merlin for the stock firmware, but it's working so well at 386.10 that I decided to continue with it, I'll only test .11 again in the final version, before that I'll continue with the stable one to avoid having problems.

 

[Akore]

"it had disconnections out of nowhere"

I think I am seeing that on my ac68U. I was on the 5G wifi and it just disappeared out of site... so I tried to connect to the 2.4 SSID and it would not let me.. said the password had changed... then a few minutes later everything was working again without even a reboot of the router... is this what you are seeing? I though maybe my hardware was going bad...

 

[octopus]

Asuswrt-Merlin 386.11 is now available for AC models

Asuswrt-Merlin 386.11

Thanks, we can close this thread now.

@RMerlin

 

[heysoundude]

no betas...that's what I watch for before mentally preparing to upgrade. this one caught me off guard.