Is this VPN speed slow?

[Pinoybear]

I setup an openVPN connection on my RT-AC88U (380.68_4) to a Private Internet Access server in TX.

While my router is connected and a speedtest.net test to a server in Dallas, I get 20/11 speeds.
When I do a test to the same server without VPN or with the Windows client connectioned to a TX server, I get 100/11.

I followed their DD-WRT setup guide and the setup uses UDP and 128-bit AES.

I know a router shouldn't be expected to run a line speed for VPN, but is 20% of maximum normal?

TIA

 

[CaptainSTX]

I setup an openVPN connection on my RT-AC88U (380.68_4) to a Private Internet Access server in TX.

While my router is connected and a speedtest.net test to a server in Dallas, I get 20/11 speeds.
When I do a test to the same server without VPN or with the Windows client connectioned to a TX server, I get 100/11.

I followed their DD-WRT setup guide and the setup uses UDP and 128-bit AES.

I know a router shouldn't be expected to run a line speed for VPN, but is 20% of maximum normal?

TIA

That is slow. I don't use an AC88 but on AC1900P I can get downloads of 60 - 75 Mbps.

Are you running any other processor intensive processes such as QOS parental controls etc.?

Search this site for tips on tweaking your connection settings when running a VPN client.

 

[ChatmanR]

Why are you connecting to a PoP in TX? Where are you located?

 

[CaptainSTX]

The OP tested his throughput using both a client on the router, client on a PC and direct in the same location. His test clearly indicates a problem.

Secondly connecting to the nearest VPN server isn't necessarily faster. I get significantly faster speeds connecting to all NYC VPN servers than Jacksonville, Miami or Atlanta and I am in Florida. Chicago is also faster than these nearby servers but not quite as fast as NYC.

 

[grandleaf]

I setup an openVPN connection on my RT-AC88U (380.68_4) to a Private Internet Access server in TX.

While my router is connected and a speedtest.net test to a server in Dallas, I get 20/11 speeds.
When I do a test to the same server without VPN or with the Windows client connectioned to a TX server, I get 100/11.

I followed their DD-WRT setup guide and the setup uses UDP and 128-bit AES.

I know a router shouldn't be expected to run a line speed for VPN, but is 20% of maximum normal?

TIA

It's NORMAL according to my experience.

OpenVPN client runs on a router is extremely slow (Weak CPU?, no hardware acceleration?).
I have heard that the OpenVPN client code is single threaded, so multi-core might not help.
Switch to a less expensive protocol like PPTP/L2TP (of course less secure), you can see significant performance improvement (say 60Mb~100Mb).

The bad thing is lots of VPN servers don't support PPTP/L2TP any more (e.g. NordVPN), some VPN providers still have PP2P support (e.g. PureVPN).

IKEv2 should be faster than OpenVPN, but it is not supported by the router.

 

[Razor512]

Are you able to telnet into the router and run TOP in order to see what the CPU usage is while doing a speed test over the VPN?

 

[Pinoybear]

Hi there,

I'm not doing anything "fancy" outside of the UI; I'm not telnetting or ssh'ing into my router. I am using adaptive QoS. My priorities set as shown in the attached screenshot. Also attaching a screen shot of the VPn setup. Maybe there are settings to tweak/optimize my VPN?

I also opened a ticket with PIA to see what their opinin is.

Razor512, I don't understand telneting and running TOP...

Honestly I never put thought into VPN until this weeks events with the FCC and blowing away Net Neutraility.. /sigh /faceplam

Thanks, everyone

Eric

 

[Pinoybear]

Why are you connecting to a PoP in TX? Where are you located?

I'm in Denver and the TX server comes up as the best server to use.

 

[doczenith1]

The 88U can do 70-80 Mbps using PIA. Download the ovpn zip file from the PIA website and load the file for the server that you want to use (or just use my values which are from a recent ovpn file from PIA). I got a bump in the download speeds by adding the following to the custom configuration section:
sndbuf 524288
rcvbuf 524288
push "sndbuf 524288"
push "rcvbuf 524288"

These are the custom config values that were part of the ovpn file:
tls-client
remote-cert-tls server
disable-occ

This is my current setup.

 

[Xentrk]

Don’t forget about the experimental fast-io option you can enter in the Custom Configuration section.

 

[doczenith1]

Good call @Xentrk! The following values were obtained using the Ookla Speedtest app on Windows 10. Results are the average of the best three values of six tests.

Without fast-io: 213 down - 269 up.
With fast-io: 235 down - 304 up with max values being 238/312

 

[OOo]

I use VPN client to connect one AC68 to another AC68 (different location). My speeds are 5mb down /3mb up. Using firmware 3.0.0.4.380_7743

Is there anyway to increase these numbers? Different router maybe?

I am not an expert but have managed to figure out quite a bit on this site.

thanks

 

[RMerlin]

Good call @Xentrk! The following values were obtained using the Ookla Speedtest app on Windows 10. Results are the average of the best three values of six tests.

Without fast-io: 213 down - 269 up.
With fast-io: 235 down - 304 up with max values being 238/312

The reason I'm reluctant to add this option by default is OpenVPN still marks it as being experimental.

Also note that this option only works for UDP-based tunnels.

 

[grandleaf]

OK, problem solved.

I have built a pfSense box with a SuperMicro i3-7100U, the NordVPN download speed increased from 30Mb (rt-ac87u) to 900Mb (pfSense), 30 times faster!!!

The download speed without VPN is around 950Mb (I using xfinity giga)

 

[Marin]

So....after reading all of the above would you say that your Custom Configuration section has all of the following:

remote-random
tun-mtu 1500
tun-mtu-extra 32
mssfix 1450
ping 15
ping-restart 0
ping-timer-rem
explicit-exit-notify 3
remote-cert-tls server
pull
fast-io

sndbuf 524288
rcvbuf 524288
push "sndbuf 524288
push "rcvbuf 524288”
remote-cert-tls server
disable-occ

From what I have noticed, the top section is loaded automatically when you upload a NordVPN ovpn file in Merlin 384.7. The second, is what you guys suggested. Does it look ok?

The configuration below also been suggested when compression tab is disabled:

remote-cert-tls server
remote-random
nobind
tun-mtu 1500
tun-mtu-extra 32
mssfix 1450
persist-key
persist-tun
ping-timer-rem
reneg-sec 0
compress


Then this is what NordVPN recommends for use (from their tutorial using a 380.xx FW):

remote-cert-tls server
remote-random
nobind
tun-mtu 1500
tun-mtu-extra 32
mssfix 1450
persist-key
persist-tun
ping-timer-rem
reneg-sec 0
compress

I’m thinking the top configuration is the most complete but feel free to suggest otherwise.

Those of you who experienced a nice bump in speeds after these adjustments, what DNS servers are you using in WAN tab? VPN provider’s or others?

Thank you



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[unsynaps]

That speed actually sounds about right for anything other than an 86.

 

[Sh0cker54]

It's NORMAL according to my experience.

OpenVPN client runs on a router is extremely slow (Weak CPU?, no hardware acceleration?).
I have heard that the OpenVPN client code is single threaded, so multi-core might not help.
Switch to a less expensive protocol like PPTP/L2TP (of course less secure), you can see significant performance improvement (say 60Mb~100Mb).

The bad thing is lots of VPN servers don't support PPTP/L2TP any more (e.g. NordVPN), some VPN providers still have PP2P support (e.g. PureVPN).

IKEv2 should be faster than OpenVPN, but it is not supported by the router.

It is supported now check this thread
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-ipsec-vpn-server.44973/#post-436400