OpenVPN Speed Issue

[MediaMan09]

They do however cover the DNS too as far as I know, when I connect I always do a DNS leak test and it always comes back as a single DNS server "Choppa LLC" in the area where I select the location in the US, I am also able to for example get a different netflix for the UK, watch their BBC One videos whereas before I would get a "not available in your area" message, I cant remember the DNS for there though but unlocking US content shouldn't be a concern.

Hmm, when I chatted with them that they said they had no DNS services to provide, but perhaps the question was asked incorrectly and/or misunderstood. I resent two questions to them just now, perhaps you/others already know the answers:

Suppose I want to have OpenVPN setup as a client on my AC68U-Merlin. Assume its typically enabled all the time. I then have two questions about unblocking Netflix US on my ROKU3.

Q1) If I understand correctly, this should be doable, as you state "We use our own private DNS servers for your DNS queries while on the VPN. After connecting we set your operating system's DNS servers to 209.222.18.222 and 209.222.18.218." But ROKU has no local DNS edits on its operating system -it relies on the router only - also requires that the Google DNS servers be blocked via static routes on the router. Will all this still work with PIA when using its VPN servers via OpenVPN Client on the rotuer??

Q2) Suppose I turn the VPN off on the router. The only way , typically, that the ROKU3 will still work is if I specify supplied DNS entries ( such as your 209.222 DNS entries) in my router as primary/secondary, along with the static routes. Will these still be "in effect" if I am not signed in to a VPN server??​

I bought a years subscription with a walmart gift card, cost me just $50, and now they are offering a 2 year subscription for $60 which I am definitely going to get when mine is close to running out. I have honestly not read about a better VPN out there.

There are a few that always come up near the top of the list in the reviews ;hard to say which one is best. I signed up with SmartDNS for 2 years, as well on a great price ($49), still within my 14 day moneyback window). Its all working now (OpenVPN on Client, OpenVPN or Router (sloooow), Unblocking on ROKU... but curious if PIA would be better as your performance scores were better.

Q3) If I sign up now while still subscribed to SmartDNS and not use the Smart DNS/VPN service, I wonder if I can effectively test out PIA?
​

There is a Toronto and North York location on my PIA location list, I don't know if they are new additions since you tried it.

It's a catch 22 thing. I want to use VPN server near my location to mask my IP but also want to mask my location. Some VPN servers seem to do that, some not.

 

[Zirescu]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/othe...-up-and-using-openvpn-on-asus-routers?start=2

You have picture with performance numbers of asus routers here.

Just for clarification - that test was using the OpenVPN server on the router and not the client.

 

[MediaMan09]

...PIA ......now they are offering a 2 year subscription for $60 which I am definitely going to get when mine is close to running out. .

Is that offer still on? Don't see it on their pricing page : https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/buy-vpn/

 

[MoonDogg]

So my solution for now is there is only one device on my system that I want on the VPN 24/7 so I have made a rule in the router to have just that device go through the vpn and it is working pretty good.. of course that devices speed is limited to about 10Mbps but thats ok for now..

 

[MediaMan09]

So my solution for now is there is only one device on my system that I want on the VPN 24/7 so I have made a rule in the router to have just that device go through the vpn and it is working pretty good.. of course that devices speed is limited to about 10Mbps but thats ok for now..

With only one device of concern, why not just run the OpenVPN client on that machine...and forget about any rules in the router.

 

[MediaMan09]

Based on Branjo's positive experience, I decided to give PIA a shot. My take so far, in the areas I am seeking VPN/DNS services for, is as follows:

1) PIA VPN CLIENT APP ON WINDOWS:
>>WORKING GREAT

• love it
• seems like a solid implementation, with their own clean and intuitive app.
• VPN server speed excellent, almost same as normal non-VPN speeds ( ~ 80 Mbps)
• can easily foresee setting this up seamlessly on all desktops

2) OPENVPN CLIENT ON ROUTER:
>>WORKING , BUT ROUTER VPN SPEED MUCH LESS THAN PIA APP

• well known to expect low speeds with Open VPN as client on router
• typically now getting up to 25 Mpbs (unclocked).
• tip - On the Client 1 setup, the Accept DNS configuration needs to enabled), ie Relaxed, Strict and Exclusive. I used Relaxed.
• tip - try less encryption with AES-128-CBC on port 1196

3) UNBLOCKED CONTENT VIA WINDOWS eg Netflix US:
>>WORKING GREAT

• can view unblocked content on the computer (eg Netflix US) when VPN connected to a U.S. Server.
• no access when connected to local VPN servers, as expected

4) UNBLOCKED CONTENT VIA ROKU WHEN OPENVPN ON ROUTER IS OFF :
>>WORKAROUND IN PLACE. .

• PIA doesn't appear to work like other VPN providers, where router changes such as primary/secondary DNS changes and static routes were sufficient to unblock content, all without requiring VPN to be ON in the router ( which can be quite slow)
• I suspect the issue here is that , unless VPN is active, PIA cannot authenticate a user as a paid subscriber. legitimately using their DNS servers. Other VPN provides do this as they enabled/associated a real IP address with their DNS servers, so it would work even when not using their VPN servers. I see tvunblock.com does this for free, but PIA does not, , even for a paid subscriber. The result is content remains blocked ( ie Netflix shows local region)
  
• THERFORE CONFIGURATION 5 IS REQUIRED - VPN MUST BE ON ENABLED ON THE ROUTER..

5) UNBLOCKED CONTENT VIA ROKU WHEN OPENVPN ON ROUTER IS ON :
>>WORKING - VPN SPEED MAY OR MAY NOT BE AN ISSUE

• accesses out-of-region content perfectly
• may become problematic slow speeds per #2)
• to limit impact on other devices, ONLY the ROKU can be directed by policy, to use the VPN, such that other devices can bypass the VPN, and for example use the faster PIA VPN client instead. (per suggestion from member Calisro )

BOTTOM LINE - PIA - ABSOLUTE KEEPER. COST EFFFECTIVE SOLUITION (AT ABOUT $3/MO) FOR IP MASKING AND UNBLOCKING CONTENT.

 

[ronan_zj]

I have the same issue with my AC68U on my 18Mb/s internet service.
I get full speed on PIA app and only 8Mb/s if I use OpenVPN on my router. In addition, I have also tried to change my MTU to 1400 from 1500, and the internet connection is dead and I have to perform a factory reset. I guess the CPU on the router doesn't have enough power, so I have to stick with my PIA software.

 

[Branjo Snow]

Wel

It isn't a firmware/software issue it is all about the hardware. The VPN Accelerator has 1.8Ghz dual core processor and 2 GB or memory. Compare that to most SOHO routers.

Same reason why your VPN client can run much faster on a PC than on a router, better and faster hardware.

You asked for a way to offload VPN processing and the accelerator is a device specific way to do it. While with PCs you can run the VPN directly, no way to do so with lower powered devices, streaming video boxes, etc.

Its good that there is such a thing (news to me), all we need now is for someone to produce a cheaper version lol.

 

[john9527]

I have the same issue with my AC68U on my 18Mb/s internet service.
I get full speed on PIA app and only 8Mb/s if I use OpenVPN on my router. In addition, I have also tried to change my MTU to 1400 from 1500, and the internet connection is dead and I have to perform a factory reset. I guess the CPU on the router doesn't have enough power, so I have to stick with my PIA software.

The router can easily support higher connects. I also have PIA VPN and get over 50Mb/s on my 50/5 service that benchmarks around 58Mb/s without the VPN active. Router is an AC68R overclocked to 1200/800.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Wel


Its good that there is such a thing (news to me), all we need now is for someone to produce a cheaper version lol.

In some cases you do get what you pay for. With Sabai you get excellent firmware and IMHO best in the industry technical support if you should need it.

I have been using their hardware for five years and my router running Sabai and my VPN Accelerator run for months with no problems and no need to reboot. When I do reboot the problem I'm trying to solve is some glitch in FIOS's network.

 

[MediaMan09]

The router can easily support higher connects. I also have PIA VPN and get over 50Mb/s on my 50/5 service that benchmarks around 58Mb/s without the VPN active. Router is an AC68R overclocked to 1200/800.

What speeds were you getting for OPENVPN on the router before your over clocked?

 

[ronan_zj]

I guess I couldn't overclock my AC68 because the bootload is 1.0.2.0 now.
I couldn't figure out what other setting I should change to get the high connection speed via OpenVPN.

 

[john9527]

What speeds were you getting for OPENVPN on the router before your over clocked?

To be honest, it had been so long ago I didn't remember. So I just ran a test returning the clocks to the default 800,600 and forced it to go to the same PIA server.

clkfreq=800,600, Download 30.2 Mb/s
clkfreq=1200,800 Download 55.4 Mb/s

I'm on CFE 1.0.2.0...what makes you think you can't overclock?

 

[ronan_zj]

To be honest, it had been so long ago I didn't remember. So I just ran a test returning the clocks to the default 800,600 and forced it to go to the same PIA server.

clkfreq=800,600, Download 30.2 Mb/s
clkfreq=1200,800 Download 55.4 Mb/s

I'm on CFE 1.0.2.0...what makes you think you can't overclock?

I thought only lower bootload could overclock the CPU.
is there any tutorial on how to do it? I tried Merlin auto overclock before but I failed the process.

 

[john9527]

I thought only lower bootload could overclock the CPU.
is there any tutorial on how to do it? I tried Merlin auto overclock before but I failed the process.

Only the lower bootloader was able to make use of a changed button behavior for the LED Button (that function has now been removed).

To overclock you now have to do it via telnet/ssh into the router. The first number in the command is the cpu clock, the second the memory clock. I'd work up in steps, to make sure things are stable. The old button behavior set the clocks to 1000,667 (there are discreet valid values, forgot about that, my 600 test value was probably rounded down to 533)

nvram set clkfreq=1000,667
nvram commit
reboot

If I remember correctly, 800,1000,1100,1200 are valid for CPU and 533,667,800 for memory. Default being 800,667. Some routers seem to be more sensitive to the memory clock, so I'd leave experimenting with that one for last.

 

[Calisro]

The router can easily support higher connects. I also have PIA VPN and get over 50Mb/s on my 50/5 service that benchmarks around 58Mb/s without the VPN active. Router is an AC68R overclocked to 1200/800.

I also get 50. Around 50Mbps and my core is around 10% idle so maybe 60Mbps would be doable (but im capped at 50 with my ISP). I am also overclocked to 1200.

 

[Calisro]

I have the same issue with my AC68U on my 18Mb/s internet service.
I get full speed on PIA app and only 8Mb/s if I use OpenVPN on my router. In addition, I have also tried to change my MTU to 1400 from 1500, and the internet connection is dead and I have to perform a factory reset. I guess the CPU on the router doesn't have enough power, so I have to stick with my PIA software.

btw, just an FYI. When using the PIA App, it works differently than ANY openvpn implmentation. Their app uses a web service to send clients to least busy servers that are part of a regional gateway. When you use openvpn, you will not get the same 'least loaded' connection but I've never had an issue with speeds anyway.

Just mentioning to be careful comparing the PIA app to openvpn (whether it be on a desktop of the router).

 

[john9527]

I also get 50. Around 50Mbps and my core is around 10% idle so maybe 60Mbps would be doable (but im capped at 50 with my ISP). I am also overclocked to 1200.

I run about 15% idle getting to the 50s Mb/s.....so I agree with you.....I think it will top out around 60Mb/s if all the stars line up

 

[ronan_zj]

I just did OC 1200/800 on my AC68 and I still got no performance change .
I have attached screen shots on my OpenVPN setup and test result here.
with OpenVPN off, I have full speed 21Mb/s. (Core 1 15% and Core 2 3% load at full speed)
With OpenVPN on, my connection speed is 9Mb/s which is 50% drop. ( 75% load on Core 1 and 2)

 

[ronan_zj]

more pics