Ping Spikes on Ethernet when using Merlin build from a few months ago

[rjmxtech]

I had installed Merlin on my Asus n66u a few months ago (mid September to be exact) and from time to time, I would get 100ms+ or so ping spikes from the usual 12ms while in the game I play. Oddly enough, I was on ethernet directly connected to the router. I ran a few tests back then and I came to the conclusion from the ping tests that at random intervals the ping would spike up to 30-100ms (even higher at times). So just to test things, I switched back to stock asus firmware and for some reason there are no ping spikes any longer. When we tested the connection (Gigabit) directly into our fiber modem which was configured in passthrough to use the n66u as the router, there were no ping spikes and this was also the case when using stock asus firmware. One of my colleagues suggested that it had to do with how the Asus stock firmware handles frames (mentioning something regarding 'fpga') in comparison to the Merlin one, however, I was under the impression that they used the same drivers. Does anyone have any ideas for this?

@Nullity and anyone else who may see this
The below statement seems to be non-applicable at the moment
[EDIT] I cannot respond to any replies, it says "This message is awaiting moderator approval, and is invisible to normal visitors." please try to PM me if possible or email me at rjmxtechnology@gmail.com

 

[Nullity]

They use the same drivers, AFAIK.

Are pinging internal or external hosts?

When using Merlin, was it acting as an AP or router?

Did you Reset to Defaults with Merlin's release?

 

[rjmxtech]

They use the same drivers, AFAIK.

Are pinging internal or external hosts?

When using Merlin, was it acting as an AP or router?

Did you Reset to Defaults with Merlin's release?

When using the firmware, I reset it to factory defaults several times within the Merlin release with no luck as the problem was still present. Additionally, the ping spikes usually only occurred when pinging external hosts, although I never tested if it was present when pinging internal hosts as well. When using Merlin, it was configured as both an access point and a router, and the weird thing is, it all works fine on Asus stock firmware (except I cannot configure it how I want). I would like to go back to Merlin, but if I find that this issue is still present, it is a deal-breaker because it is quite disruptive and annoying when trying to play games and stream movies and do other similar tasks on the network.

 

[RMerlin]

[EDIT] I cannot respond to any replies, it says "This message is awaiting moderator approval, and is invisible to normal visitors." please try to PM me if possible or email me at

You just need to wait for one of the forum mods to approve the post. Some keywords will trigger the forums' spam filter, meaning the post has to be approved by Tim or me (when it's within the Asus forums).

 

[RMerlin]

I can't think of any reason for these spikes, especially since it doesn't affect other people. My first guess is you enabled a feature that might be causing those regular spikes. Start by looking at the router's CPU load to see if it also shows similar spikes. Also, unplug any USB disk plugged on the router ify ou had any, to isolate the root cause of the issue.

 

[rjmxtech]

You just need to wait for one of the forum mods to approve the post. Some keywords will trigger the forums' spam filter, meaning the post has to be approved by Tim or me (when it's within the Asus forums).

Oh okay. I understand. I shot you an email regarding this, don't know if you received it or not, but this issue has been puzzling me for a few months now and I want to see if I can try to get to the bottom of it.

 

[rjmxtech]

I can't think of any reason for these spikes, especially since it doesn't affect other people. My first guess is you enabled a feature that might be causing those regular spikes. Start by looking at the router's CPU load to see if it also shows similar spikes. Also, unplug any USB disk plugged on the router ify ou had any, to isolate the root cause of the issue.

The thing is, it doesn't occur on Stock asus and I have a printer and a USB flash drive plugged in constantly. I am probably just as confused as you are about this issue.

 

[RMerlin]

Oh okay. I understand. I shot you an email regarding this, don't know if you received it or not, but this issue has been puzzling me for a few months now and I want to see if I can try to get to the bottom of it.

I did, but I don't have the time to run through everyone's reports in addition to everything else I'm already juggling with, that's why I prefer for users to post here on the forums, where the community can handle the majority of support cases.

 

[RMerlin]

The thing is, it doesn't occur on Stock asus and I have a printer and a USB flash drive plugged in constantly. I am probably just as confused as you are about this issue.

Simplify the setup them to try and isolate the root cause. First things I would remove are the USB devices.

 

[Nullity]

When using the firmware, I reset it to factory defaults several times within the Merlin release with no luck as the problem was still present. Additionally, the ping spikes usually only occurred when pinging external hosts, although I never tested if it was present when pinging internal hosts as well. When using Merlin, it was configured as both an access point and a router, and the weird thing is, it all works fine on Asus stock firmware (except I cannot configure it how I want). I would like to go back to Merlin, but if I find that this issue is still present, it is a deal-breaker because it is quite disruptive and annoying when trying to play games and stream movies and do other similar tasks on the network.

First, I'd begin troubleshooting by exclusively pinging internal hosts to show where the latency actually originates.

 

[rjmxtech]

I am going to flash the latest build and see if the issue is still present first and foremost. I will then take appropriate measures from there

 

[rjmxtech]

I am going to flash the latest build and see if the issue is still present first and foremost. I will then take appropriate measures from there

@RMerlin @Nullity I flashed the build and I am going to run some tests to see if I see ping spikes again. I am running one on google's 8.8.8.8 DNS server for a external test and then I am going to run one on local network. I have all USB devices in at the moment and I will run one with all USB devices out later as well.

 

[rjmxtech]

So far so good @RMerlin. I even got my scanner working with my linux machines via SANE server. I will check back if I see the issue again. Seems the latest build has no ping spikes any longer. Had a consistent 12ms ping average throughout the entirety of several games.