Overclocking RT-AC56U

[Sky1111]

Seriously - this is crazy - I cannot even set CPU to 1000 Mhz (not touching the memory speeds)

Anyone else is having this issue .40 firmware?

UPDATE2 : Looks like some weird issue with Firefox ... switched to IE - had to reflash to .39 and now clocks are back to 1200/800 - YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(BogoMIPS confirmed performance jump to ~2400)

 

[primitivo]

Have there been some tweaks done to Merlin's OpenVPN protocol? I only tested the built in protocol on very first Merlin's FW for AC56U and I remember speeds were of about 18Mbps. I just tested them to see if anything changed and I can get 41Mbps down / 32Mbps up on stock clocks. Looks quite big improvement.

Also setting the built in OpenVPN client is a breeze now with the import feature.

 

[Sky1111]

Have there been some tweaks done to Merlin's OpenVPN protocol? I only tested the built in protocol on very first Merlin's FW for AC56U and I remember speeds were of about 18Mbps. I just tested them to see if anything changed and I can get 41Mbps down / 32Mbps up on stock clocks. Looks quite big improvement.

Also setting the built in OpenVPN client is a breeze now with the import feature.

yes Merlin did some optimizations, but do not see the same results as you...

 

[Sky1111]

UPDATE: with bootloader 1.0.1.9, my router is a piece of horseredish

Very unstable, even .38-2, and it looks like it is becoming a brick...

 

[Speedy1205]

Hi Guys,

I just trying this on my AC56U and somehow I don't get it work as the settings are gone after reboot.

I do the followings:
nvram set clkfreq=1200,800
nvram commit && reboot

Its changing it as I can see it with nvram show but after the reboot its back to normal:
clkfreq=800,533


Firmware: 374.40

I`m doing some wrong ?

 

[L&LD]

Not all units will allow over clocking.

You could try different (lower) values, but not recommended if you depend on your router for internet access.

 

[Speedy1205]

Not all units will allow over clocking.

You could try different (lower) values, but not recommended if you depend on your router for internet access.

hey hey I didn't want to make from my Audi a Trabant

The Router I have is the RT-AC56U which the post is about. I also got the same CPUinfo:

Processor : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
processor : 0
BogoMIPS : 1599.07

processor : 1
BogoMIPS : 1595.80

Features : swp half thumb fastmult edsp
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x3
CPU part : 0xc09
CPU revision : 0

Hardware : Northstar Prototype
Revision : 0000
Serial : 0000000000000000

But from this what I understand the value in nvram shouldn't be change to the old values automatically or I`m wrong ? It can hang, crash brick whatever but those files should go back after reset or flash ?

 

[L&LD]

Not sure what you're saying...

But after a reset or flash those files may not 'go back'. That is the point.

If you want to risk it go ahead and keep trying. But some routers over clock and some don't. I think yours is saying don't do it.

 

[Speedy1205]

well I mean that the reboot shouldn't change this values (NVRAM settings).
It should be changed after reset or flash. (maybe I`m wrong).....

I will keep on fighting as I do always And it some stage it will be at 1000

 

[Sky1111]

Please go back to Merlin .38-2 firmware and with that, try to set CPU only to 1000MHz, and see if it works.

By the way, my RMA unit has bricked and goes back... - point is, you better secure a backup router should your AC56 decide to give up...

 

[Speedy1205]

mhhh all telling me to better not do it. I mean I have an old Buffalo router here (my old) as I got my Asus yesterday

OK I will stay away from overclocking for now Don't want to brick the new one also

Thanks for all advices.

 

[brg]

Hello everyone,

A little off topic situation/problem:

Using the latest Merlin build on my AC56U and setting up OpenVPN server I can get speeds around 30/30 Mbps Up/Down.

I set up the VPN server without encryption only with authentification and when runnning various speed tests and stress tests to see how the AC56U is performing I notice that the CPU utilisation rarely pass 20 - 30 % (using top command).

So if the CPU is not 100% used, where can be the bottleneck?
Thank you for your suggestion where to look and how the speeds can be improved.

B.

 

[Sky1111]

Hello everyone,

A little off topic situation/problem:

Using the latest Merlin build on my AC56U and setting up OpenVPN server I can get speeds around 30/30 Mbps Up/Down.

I set up the VPN server without encryption only with authentification and when runnning various speed tests and stress tests to see how the AC56U is performing I notice that the CPU utilisation rarely pass 20 - 30 % (using top command).

So if the CPU is not 100% used, where can be the bottleneck?
Thank you for your suggestion where to look and how the speeds can be improved.

B.

What clocks are you at?
What is your performance at stock clocks?

 

[primitivo]

Hello everyone,

A little off topic situation/problem:

Using the latest Merlin build on my AC56U and setting up OpenVPN server I can get speeds around 30/30 Mbps Up/Down.

I set up the VPN server without encryption only with authentification and when runnning various speed tests and stress tests to see how the AC56U is performing I notice that the CPU utilisation rarely pass 20 - 30 % (using top command).

So if the CPU is not 100% used, where can be the bottleneck?
Thank you for your suggestion where to look and how the speeds can be improved.

B.

Are you reading the figures properly? Check for the IDLE, if it is 0, it means CPU is utilised in 100%.

On built in Open VPN protocol I got 41/32Mbps down/up (stock clocks) with CPU being bottleneck.

 

[brg]

Are you reading the figures properly? Check for the IDLE, if it is 0, it means CPU is utilised in 100%.

On built in Open VPN protocol I got 41/32Mbps down/up (stock clocks) with CPU being bottleneck.

I will redo the test and take a closer look at the output from the TOP command. Thank you for the suggestion.

What clocks are you at?
What is your performance at stock clocks?

This is why the question is little off topic. This performance 30/30 is at stock clocks.

 

[Sky1111]

I never tested OpenVPN server so I do not know what performance to expect.

 

[brg]

Del.........

 

[brg]

Are you reading the figures properly? Check for the IDLE, if it is 0, it means CPU is utilised in 100%.

On built in Open VPN protocol I got 41/32Mbps down/up (stock clocks) with CPU being bottleneck.

Hello,

I have installed on the AC56U the latest stock FW from Asus and I got the following performance results:

Download:

Upload:

If I understand right the CPU is around 30% - 40% idle.

Using the latest Merlin FW I can get around 30 Mbps Up/Down, so at this point it seems that the stock FW is better.

Suggestion to setup the VPN server so I can reach 100% CPU utilization?

Thank you,

B.

 

[RMerlin]

Suggestion to setup the VPN server so I can reach 100% CPU utilization?

Thank you,

This is a dual-core router, and OpenVPN is single threaded. The highest load you will get should be close to 50%.

 

[brg]

This is a dual-core router, and OpenVPN is single threaded. The highest load you will get should be close to 50%.

As I can see from the TOP command it seems that 1 core is 100% idle and the other 30-40% idle. I will try to tweak the OpenVPN server settings to see if I can stress the CPU Core up to 100%.