Limited WAN throughput on Asus AC5300 (running merlin 386.1)

[Ilyak]

I have just got a 900Mbs fibre connection installed. When I plug into the provider supplied router (Billion BiPac8900AX) I get 900+ Mbps on my server and laptop. When I connect (wired from server, wireless or wired from laptop) via the AC5300 I can only get ~300 MBps throughput max.

I killed QOS (no need to limit the kids anymore!) and other things which might add overhead but no good.

I only really need the extra with the server but it seems a shame not to make it available. I could turn the AC5300 into a dumb access point and plug another AC88U into the provider router but it seems a shame to throw away all the AC5300 funtionality.

I have an existing network with quite a few devices and family groupings (home office) around the property to provide coverage and extra gigabit ports with 3 AC88Us ant 2 AC86Us as APs connected to the main router and am loathe to ditch that, I would have thought the AC5300 should be able to handle more WAN throughput if it supposedly copes with >1Gbps Wifi internally.

I can plug the server into the provider router but then of course it is outside the LAN. I tried a Luxul multi-WAN as a workaround, plugging the server into that, the main WAN into the WAN port and another WAN port into the LAN port on the AC5300 (and another failover into the ADSL) and it works so the server can see bothe the world and the internal LAN but unfortunately the Multi-Wan is even more lame and only gives about 90Mbps throughput (yes it has gigabit ports).

My simple fix is to plug the server into the provider router, plug the AC5300 into it also and stick a second gigabit ethernet to USB 3 adapter as a client on the LAN so the server has two ethernet interfaces so it will see the LAN and get a hotline to the outside world and reduce load on the AC5300 for the rest of the network but it is still annoying to have the rest of the network throttled by what I thought was a high end router.

Any suggestions welcome.

Yes, I know I don't really need 900Mbps for everything but I've got it so I want to use it!

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @Ilyak.

See how closely you've followed the major points in the suggestions below.

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021

As a quick test, 'Withdraw' from the TrendMicro in the Administrative, Privacy page and reboot.

Wait 15 minutes or so after the router has restarted and test again.

 

[Ilyak]

Thank you very much for that. So I withdrew from Trend and rebooted, got throughput up to a steady 400Mbps. Any other suggestions? In fact it was pretty steady at 400Mbps exactly, almost as if being throttled deliberately.

 

[Ilyak]

Well the USB-ethernet adapter arrived and it solves the problem, but I wonder if anyone has got more than 400Mbps through the WAN of an ASUS router, specifically 5300

 

[L&LD]

I think almost everyone else can do more than 400Mbps throughput via the WAN.

That USB Ethernet adaptor doesn't sound too promising if that is all it can do.

What USB port is it connected to? What are the specifications of your laptop?

 

[Ilyak]

Sorry if I wasn’t clear, the 400Mbps limit is the most any device can get through the Asus AC5300.

If I plug the gigabit Ethernet card from my server or laptop into the billion router I get 900Mbps+ consistently. The Asus Wan port is plugged into another lan port on the billion router by a short Cat 6 cable. If I plug the server or laptop into a Lan port on the AC300 with the same cable that gets 900+ on the Billion router the rate drops to 400Mbps. Connecting via WiFi I can also get close to 400, typically 300+ but I am testing via Ethernet to exclude wifi issues.

The USB (3.0) Ethernet was just my workaround, one Ethernet connected to billion router to get full speed to internet, another to LAN port on ASUS so it can see local devices on rest of network without NAT.

The setup is fibre-modem-Billion BiPAC-AC5300-AC88-AC88-AC88-AC86

no Qos.
Withdrawn from Trend

 

[L&LD]

I would reset the router if it couldn't hit above 400Mbps.

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global

Followed by the suggestions below.

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021


But even before all the above, why aren't you running your most powerful router as the router?

And that router is the RT-AC86U.

 

[Ilyak]

So I just did a test with everyone in the house asleep. Checked AI protection off, time scheduling off, qos off.
Did two Speedtests on router itself then ran one on server which has a card plugged into the billion router next to the ASUS’ WAN connection and got 900Mbps then ran a third on the Ac5300.
Note they vary. Computers connected to Billion router pretty stable.
Then I took a pic of router main page - not a lot going on, cores not busy, plenty of RAM free.
It looks like left to itself with nothing else to do the AC5300 cannot get throughput on the WAN

 

[Ilyak]

I would reset the router if it couldn't hit above 400Mbps.

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global

Followed by the suggestions below.

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021


But even before all the above, why aren't you running your most powerful router as the router?

And that router is the RT-AC86U.

Is that right? I assumed because the 5300 was newer, cost a load more and has a big pay and looks like something out of a sci-fi movies robot spider whereas the 88 only looks slightly garrish and was only a bit overpriced and the 86 looks like something an ISP would give away and has a smaller psu the 5300 had the most processing power!
Seriously, if slightly tongue in cheek.
Are you saying the unobtrusive 86 is a better router at a fraction of the price?

 

[Ilyak]

I would reset the router if it couldn't hit above 400Mbps.

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global

Followed by the suggestions below.

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021


But even before all the above, why aren't you running your most powerful router as the router?

And that router is the RT-AC86U.

 

[Ilyak]

Tried rebooting. Don’t wish to lose all settings, have set up DHCP to assign addresses but can save then reload config but then that will presumably replicate issue.

Are you serious about 86U?

cheapest and looks like ISP freebie.

88 has bigger PSU more expensive assume more processing power.

5300 robot spider overpriced I assumed the fastest router they made.

 

[Ilyak]

ok, so I found this

I have basically disabled every feature I can see (all the reasons I got the router!) except the DHCP server. I can’t find a setting to turn off IPtraffic and enable hardware acceleration

 

[L&LD]

Yes, seriously. Newer models, even unassuming ones, are better than much older 'gaming' models for routing. Don't buy marketing. Buy hardware.

List of Asus routers - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I wouldn't be so worried about how long it may take to get the network stable. Going from 400Mbps to 900Mbps will be worth it.

And if it's taking you much more than an hour to do this? Keep practicing.

 

[bluzfanmr1]

ok, so I found this

I have basically disabled every feature I can see (all the reasons I got the router!) except the DHCP server. I can’t find a setting to turn off IPtraffic and enable hardware acceleration

View attachment 30732

In this picture hardware acceleration is diabled as its incompatible with IP Traffic. If you disable IP Traffic and enable hw acceleration does it work?

EDIT: Sorry I misread your statement. IP Traffic should be on the QoS or Traffic tab and HW Acceleration on the LAN, Switch Control tab.