AX88 - RAM Usage - how much is normal?

[RMerlin]

RT-AC86/GT-AC2900 was killed by RT-AX58

Not really. The RT-AC86U is potentially twice faster than the RT-AX58U (four streams versus only two). The RT-AC86U also has a better CPU.

 

[Bamsefar]

So, no need for a more powerful router if you are only using the basics.

Yes and NO. Yes because that is how it is used currently. NO since I actually would like to use some of the features. For example if USB drives attached to my router had worked I would most likly never moved it from the router to my server. I would have loved to keep it there. However I need to have a router that is stable, and with USB drive attached, well that seems to not work.

Another note: Since the AC86 actually was an alternative for me, I am surprised to read comments on that router would benefit from more RAM...

Can we ever get enough RAM? mobiles seems to grove RAM size faster than I can think of.... Just as a comparison....

 

[RAH-66]

The RT-AC86U is potentially twice faster than the RT-AX58U (four streams versus only two).

No, RT-AX58 use 160Mhz with speed more 1Gb Ethernet

The RT-AC86U also has a better CPU.

Maybe, but RT-AX58 with 3 core CPU Broadcom BCM6750 https://www.broadcom.com/products/wireless/wireless-lan-infrastructure/bcm6750

 

[Val D.]

Can we ever get enough RAM?

No. Manufacturers offer only what you need today. They want you to return tomorrow and buy another product.

No, RT-AX58 use 160Mhz with speed more 1Gb Ethernet

In theory RT-AC86U can reach 2167Mbps on AC. Don't believe marketing statements, they are there to sell the product.

 

[RAH-66]

In theory RT-AC86U can reach 2167Mbps on AC. Don't believe marketing statements, they are there to sell the product.

its real, 2x2 160Mhz more 1Gb Ethernet, read this https://www.snbforums.com/threads/intel-ax200-netgear-rax80-rax120-test-results.56389/

 

[RMerlin]

No, RT-AX58 use 160Mhz with speed more 1Gb Ethernet

160 MHz requires an entire band AND DFS channel access - something a lot of people either won't have access to, or interference will prevent from running at full speed. So for the majority of users, you have to divide Asus's marketing in half on that router's specs sheet. Most people will only get half of that rated speed, while anyone with a 3x3 or 4x4 NIC will benefit from up to twice the speed of the AX58U.

Basically, it's like expecting to be able to run 40 MHz on the 2.4 GHz band - most people will not be able to do that due to interference.

Maybe, but RT-AX58 with 3 core CPU Broadcom BCM6750 https://www.broadcom.com/products/wireless/wireless-lan-infrastructure/bcm6750

Older ARM-A7, most likely will be lacking AES acceleration and other performance enhancements available in the bcm490x.

This is a mid-range SKU, while the RT-AC86U was a high-end SKU.

 

[dosborne]

NO since I actually would like to use some of the features.

I guess my age is showing, I'm old school. I want my router to route to the best of its ability for the price. I want my NAS to perform NAS functions to the best of its ability for the price. I want my web servers ... You get the idea. Each device gets appropriate resources and associated money, each can be upgraded independently. No single point of failure. Lots of spare parts from previously upgraded devices. I never considered the usb port in the router to be used for anything other than a couple of scripts or swap at the most (and I don't use it for even that) and I sincerely doubt anyone at Asus would claim it should be used as a NAS.

 

[RAH-66]

160 MHz requires an entire band AND DFS channel access - something a lot of people either won't have access to, or interference will prevent from running at full speed. So for the majority of users, you have to divide Asus's marketing in half on that router's specs sheet. Most people will only get half of that rated speed, while anyone with a 3x3 or 4x4 NIC will benefit from up to twice the speed of the AX58U.

Basically, it's like expecting to be able to run 40 MHz on the 2.4 GHz band - most people will not be able to do that due to interference.

Intel 9260 is installed in "every second smoothing-iron" (laptop), phone use 2x2. Today, except AX200, no alternative for PC.

 

[Makaveli]

I guess my age is showing, I'm old school. I want my router to route to the best of its ability for the price. I want my NAS to perform NAS functions to the best of its ability for the price. I want my web servers ... You get the idea. Each device gets appropriate resources and associated money, each can be upgraded independently. No single point of failure. Lots of spare parts from previously upgraded devices. I never considered the usb port in the router to be used for anything other than a couple of scripts or swap at the most (and I don't use it for even that) and I sincerely doubt anyone at Asus would claim it should be used as a NAS.

Sometimes the old ways are best.

And I'm also of the same train of thought dedicated device for specific usage.

Instead of spending hours with some Tom Foolery trying to figure out why things aren't working and why I'm not seeing the performance I should be getting.

As much as I like to tweak and try things sometimes I just want to come home and sit on the couch and have things just work. Way less stress and I do IT for a career I don't want to come home to be fixing stuff.

 

[Bamsefar]

Although I do belong in the "old kind of club" - each box for it self, I still like some minor simple things to well just work.

- I do not need a NAS, I just need to share a few files - why do I need to buy a NAS for that?
- I do not need a Server for filesharing, I need a server for my homeautomation software (HomeSeer), but not for fileshare.

It actually comes back to the "keep it simple" version: Do not add more boxes just because of....

 

[Makaveli]

Although I do belong in the "old kind of club" - each box for it self, I still like some minor simple things to well just work.

- I do not need a NAS, I just need to share a few files - why do I need to buy a NAS for that?
- I do not need a Server for filesharing, I need a server for my homeautomation software (HomeSeer), but not for fileshare.

It actually comes back to the "keep it simple" version: Do not add more boxes just because of....

You would have to define what is "a few files" I think a couple small files on a USB key should be fine. If you are talking about Multi GB files or even small files but 1000 of them that is the problem people are having if you usage case fits you will run into the same issues everyone else is.

I have all my media on a HTPC which serves the whole network so this issue is something I will never see in my setup.

 

[Bamsefar]

My "normal" load for file sharing is my music FLAC collection, so it might be a few files per hour or so. Then maybe a movie (ripped DVDs). Nothing fancy at all. Getting a NAS for this kind of file sharing seems wrong in my eyes.

 

[Makaveli]

My "normal" load for file sharing is my music FLAC collection, so it might be a few files per hour or so. Then maybe a movie (ripped DVDs). Nothing fancy at all. Getting a NAS for this kind of file sharing seems wrong in my eyes.

And how many files are in this Flac Collection?

 

[Bamsefar]

It is about 1TB of FLAC, but as I mentioned it is only a few files per hour that is used. Take a normalt CD, it might be about 45 minutes per album, so say about 5 albums per day that is streamed? and maybe a movie. This is not a large volume. Not in my world.

 

[Makaveli]

It is about 1TB of FLAC, but as I mentioned it is only a few files per hour that is used. Take a normalt CD, it might be about 45 minutes per album, so say about 5 albums per day that is streamed? and maybe a movie. This is not a large volume. Not in my world.

The amount of songs played per album isn't alot.

However you have to remember the Router will be caching that whole directory to memory regardless of how often you are hitting the files for playback.

For a test try reducing that to 1GB and monitor that for a day or so and check memory usage.

 

[dosborne]

It is about 1TB of FLAC, but as I mentioned it is only a few files per hour that is used.

Huge difference between this a running a couple of scripts. I wish you luck, but I wouldn't do it, and I would expect at some point you will have reliability issues. Can't see why anyone would put anything remotely questionable on their router, which is the key component to smooth, fast, reliable internet. But it's your choice.

 

[Bamsefar]

Well if it realy caches all filenames, then I see the problem also - however since this was a 4TB 3.5" disc I am not 100% sure it does since it from-time-to-time had to spinn up the disc to be able to read file structure....

 

[Vexira]

Unfortunately, even with the latest official Asuswrt firmware, if all TrendMicro features are enabled RT-AC86U can’t survive 10 days with no reboot. The RAM usage creeps up to 95% and things go downhill. Usually first stops working Traffic Analyzer, then WebUI becomes unresponsive or unavailable. I don’t know how long ASUS will tolerate buggy TrendMicro firmware components. And how long it is going take to fix other non working or partially working components, like Samba server mentioned above. Who was the programmer who decided to allocate all available RAM to buffers, crashing other main services in the process?

Have you tested a once a week or one a day automatic reboot?

 

[Vexira]

Yes and NO. Yes because that is how it is used currently. NO since I actually would like to use some of the features. For example if USB drives attached to my router had worked I would most likly never moved it from the router to my server. I would have loved to keep it there. However I need to have a router that is stable, and with USB drive attached, well that seems to not work.

Another note: Since the AC86 actually was an alternative for me, I am surprised to read comments on that router would benefit from more RAM...

Can we ever get enough RAM? mobiles seems to grove RAM size faster than I can think of.... Just as a comparison....

I seen a ubqity box with 2 GB ram onboard mabye it might become more common in future.

 

[Val D.]

Have you tested a once a week or one a day automatic reboot?

RT-AC86U may refuse to boot after soft reboot. This is one of the issues with this router.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/ac86u-sometimes-powers-completely-off-during-reboot.48296/
And scheduled reboot is not a solution, it's only a workaround. The software has to be fixed.