AX58U Slow OpenVPN speeds

[R G G]

As alluded to here in this thread by the developer of Merlin - who I assume got his hand on the AX58U at some point to develop merlin for it - users can expect 100 Mbps of throughput with OpenVPN on the AX58U. This made logical sense to me, as my AX88U with a 1.8ghz CPU comfortably reaches 200 Mbps on OpenVPN. So I assumed 100 Mbps on the AX58U might even be a conservative estimate.

No hardware acceleration, no. Expect about 100 Mbps max for OpenVPN throughput in general.

I picked one up for the office a few days ago. I was met with OpenVPN speeds that would make my 10 year old AC66U blush. Here is a speed test:

2 questions:

- Am I doing something wrong, or is it just supposed to be this bad?
- Has anyone built a wireguard kernel for this router yet? I didn't find any.

 

[L&LD]

AES-NI is what makes the RT-AC86U, RT-AX88U, and RT-AX86U superior. Comparisons can't be made with just CPU speeds accounted for.

Those results seem in the ballpark of what I would expect with that router.

What are your ISP speeds? What are the capabilities of the remote server you're connecting to? What options did you enable in the OpenVPN config? What are the speeds possible from a (beefy) computer setup vs. the router (to test/compare what you should expect as a 'max')?

 

[R G G]

What are the capabilities of the remote server you're connecting to?

I’m using a linode profile which gives me 200 Mbps on my 88U at home. That should answer everything probably.

ISP speeds are 150/50. All OpenVPN options are the same as the 88U.

 

[eibgrad]

It would help if there was a wee bit more detail here.

For example, OpenVPN performance is affected on these routers for both client *and* server. I assume you're referring to the OpenVPN client, but I want to be sure, because from the perspective of the OpenVPN server, most users are more likely limited by the upload bandwidth of their ISP.

Also, what is the performance of that router *without* the OpenVPN client active? For all I know, you've failed to enable CTF (NAT hardware acceleration), which would be indicated by poor performance whether or not the OpenVPN client was active.

And have you tried other OpenVPN servers? And at other times of the day? IOW, just how consistent are these poor numbers.

 

[R G G]

It would help if there was a wee bit more detail here.

For example, OpenVPN performance is affected on these routers for both client *and* server. I assume you're referring to the OpenVPN client, but I want to be sure, because from the perspective of the OpenVPN server, most users are more likely limited by the upload bandwidth of their ISP.

Also, what is the performance of that router *without* the OpenVPN client active? For all I know, you've failed to enable CTF (NAT hardware acceleration), which would be indicated by poor performance whether or not the OpenVPN client was active.

And have you tried other OpenVPN servers? And at other times of the day? IOW, just how consistent are these poor numbers.

As mentioned above, I get 150/50 without the OpenVPN client. I've done iperf tests, it's clearly not a router problem.

Yes, I consistently get ~40/40 with the VPN ciient. Nothing more, nothing less.

The server is capable of 2 Gbps... I get 150/50 on my AX88U with OpenVPN on.

 

[wrink]

Yes, after researching this forum, I think its safe to conclude that the AX-58U is limited to 40 - 50 Mbps with OpenVPN, no matter what the provisioned ISP speed is. The only way around for the AX-58U to have higher speeds, might be through the wireguard support that Asus has released beta firmware for some of their hardware(s) - but at least (I'll have to) wait for Merlin to adopt it in his release. Particularly because wireguard can take advantage of the multicore ASIC, which OpenVPN can't.

So I'm hoping someone, maybe Merlin, can help with a rough estimate of when the AX58U can gain Wireguard support... or at least whether its slated to gain so someday -- otherwise, I'll have to invest in a AX88U, instead of pointlessly waiting

Thanks, for anyone's inputs... ?

 

[Tech9]

otherwise, I'll have to invest in a AX88U, instead of pointlessly waiting

Invest in x86 router/firewall. Many DIY options are available.

 

[wrink]

Invest in x86 router/firewall. Many DIY options are available.

Doesn't answer my question, but thanks for the off-topic advise

 

[Tech9]

@RMerlin will give you rough estimate shortly. Wait and stay on topic.

 

[L&LD]

RMerlin won't implement Wireguard support, (I'm pretty sure he's stated this already).

If/when Asus does, for your model, and they release GPL for it with WG included, RMerlin's fork will have it too.

 

[wrink]

Thanks, that's helpful input. I see the new - RC3-Beta firmware from Asus, carrying the Wireguard feature. So hopefully Asus will release the GPL for WG included, given the latter itself is open source. So we have something to look forward to...