R7800 - voxel 065SF - NordVPN - slow speed

[tommytqt]

Hi everyone,
I am new here at this forum. If i make any mistakes with the forum rules, please forgive me. I enjoy exploring knowledge here so far.

Anyway, I bought a Netgear R7800 and flashed it with voxel .65SF firmware. I also enabled ProxyCrypt. I used NordVPN. I did couple speed tests and got different numbers:

1. Speedtest without anything (just directly from my router to my modem and to my ISP):
   almost 300 mbps DL /14-15 mbps UL
   
   
2. Speedtest with the VPN client instaled on my pc:
   almost 90-100 mbps DL /10 mbps UL.
   I understand that the speed is depends on the VPN server i am connecting to.
   
   
3. Speedtest with OpenVPN client (NordVPN - same server as #2) installed on my R7800: 60-70 mbps DL /8-10 mbps UL.
   
   
4. Speedtest with OpenVPN client install on my R7800 + tunnel pass thru set up for 1 PC using Kamaj's add on:
   150-160 mbps DL /11 mbps UL.

There is no way for me to understand or explain why i received different results in different cases above. Therefore, i posted here hoping someone can help me.
It looks like after i enable the VPN on my router, my speed decreases no matter what i do (VPN tunnel pass thru). At #4, was i suppose to get the speed of #1?

Do i need to do something else on my router? Run any command lines?

Thank you so much.

 

[kamoj]

Some comments:
You are very welcome here to this forum! People here are very friendly and help full.

In my experience NordVPN is not a fast or reliable vpn provider in regards of speed.
I've tried a lot of things with and without the R7800 Voxel OpenVPN Client.
It was during a whole week of tests impossible to get consistent speed.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/how-to-connect-to-nordvpn-as-a-client-using-voxel-firmware.55646/#post-473243
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/nordvpn-script-change-start-vpn-server-from-gui-on-r7800-voxel.55844/#post-476272
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/openvpn-performance-of-the-rt-ac86u.41217/page-14#post-478756

As comparision:
I normally use a local nearby vpn provider and then I get consistently 500+ Mbps from PC and 120+ Mbps through R7800.
I tried the the Asus RT-AC86U with Merlin FW and got 200 Mbps+, and that's about what you can get with a consumer router today.

The Voxel client might not be perfectly setup for NordVPN, and since I don't have any subscription there I can't help to improve it)
I use some special tweaks for vpn, but even without them I get 100+ Mbps.

One of the reasons for not getting better than 120 Mbps is that there is no HW acceleration available for the R7800. Voxel and I have spent a lot of time to improve the OpenVPN speed.
Another reason is that the whole packet routing is done through ip routing instead of ip sets/iptables.
So my add-on pass through also use the slower ip routing.

If you anyone reading this is good at iptables you are very welcome to help improve the speed.
(I am sure changing to iptables rules will improve performance a lot, but I don't have the skills or time to do it myself.)

If you want faster vpn speed using the R7800 I recommend you to:

• Change to a vpn provider that has fast servers.

If you want faster/full speed vpn pass through I recommend you to :

• Use a separate HW-LAN-port for that (See The easy way 1):
  https://www.snbforums.com/threads/voxel-vpn-connection-problem.50078/page-2#post-446741

Still the R7800 is a fast router, and has a great price/performance value, when using Voxel FW.

PS
I think you did a series of very good tests. Thank you for sharing them and hope to see more of your posts here!

Hi everyone,
I am new here at this forum. If i make any mistakes with the forum rules, please forgive me. I enjoy exploring knowledge here so far.

Anyway, I bought a Netgear R7800 and flashed it with voxel .65SF firmware. I also enabled ProxyCrypt. I used NordVPN. I did couple speed tests and got different numbers:

1. Speedtest without anything (just directly from my router to my modem and to my ISP):
   almost 300 mbps DL /14-15 mbps UL
   
   
2. Speedtest with the VPN client instaled on my pc:
   almost 90-100 mbps DL /10 mbps UL.
   I understand that the speed is depends on the VPN server i am connecting to.
   
   
3. Speedtest with OpenVPN client (NordVPN - same server as #2) installed on my R7800: 60-70 mbps DL /8-10 mbps UL.
   
   
4. Speedtest with OpenVPN client install on my R7800 + tunnel pass thru set up for 1 PC using Kamaj's add on:
   150-160 mbps DL /11 mbps UL.

There is no way for me to understand or explain why i received different results in different cases above. Therefore, i posted here hoping someone can help me.
It looks like after i enable the VPN on my router, my speed decreases no matter what i do (VPN tunnel pass thru). At #4, was i suppose to get the speed of #1?

Do i need to do something else on my router? Run any command lines?

Thank you so much.

 

[tommytqt]

Thank you very much for your reply.
So with your experience, i believe this is the best i can get from NordVPN and Voxel firmware with my R7800.
I have 2 more questions, hope you can answer as well.

1. Will i get better speed if i use DD-WRT or Merlin, or different firmware on my R7800?
2. I did some research before purchasing NordVPN, i found NordVPN rated pretty high. Do you know which VPN provider has high speed?

Thank you so much Kamoj.

Some comments:
You are very welcome here to this forum! People here are very friendly and help full.

In my experience NordVPN is not a fast or reliable vpn provider in regards of speed.
I've tried a lot of things with and without the R7800 Voxel OpenVPN Client.
It was during a whole week of tests impossible to get consistent speed.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/how-to-connect-to-nordvpn-as-a-client-using-voxel-firmware.55646/#post-473243
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/nordvpn-script-change-start-vpn-server-from-gui-on-r7800-voxel.55844/#post-476272
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/openvpn-performance-of-the-rt-ac86u.41217/page-14#post-478756

As comparision:
I normally use a local nearby vpn provider and then I get consistently 500+ Mbps from PC and 120+ Mbps through R7800.
I tried the the Asus RT-AC86U with Merlin FW and got 200 Mbps+, and that's about what you can get with a consumer router today.

The Voxel client might not be perfectly setup for NordVPN, and since I don't have any subscription there I can't help to improve it)
I use some special tweaks for vpn, but even without them I get 100+ Mbps.

One of the reasons for not getting better than 120 Mbps is that there is no HW acceleration available for the R7800. Voxel and I have spent a lot of time to improve the OpenVPN speed.
Another reason is that the whole packet routing is done through ip routing instead of ip sets/iptables.
So my add-on pass through also use the slower ip routing.

If you anyone reading this is good at iptables you are very welcome to help improve the speed.
(I am sure changing to iptables rules will improve performance a lot, but I don't have the skills or time to do it myself.)

If you want faster vpn speed using the R7800 I recommend you to:

• Change to a vpn provider that has fast servers.

If you want faster/full speed vpn pass through I recommend you to :

• Use a separate HW-LAN-port for that (See The easy way 1):
  https://www.snbforums.com/threads/voxel-vpn-connection-problem.50078/page-2#post-446741

Still the R7800 is a fast router, and has a great price/performance value, when using Voxel FW.

PS
I think you did a series of very good tests. Thank you for sharing them and hope to see more of your posts here!

 

[kamoj]

1. Will i get better speed if i use DD-WRT or Merlin, or different firmware on my R7800?
A). I've not tried the standard/old (Kong) DD-WRT for some time, but when I tested it gave marginally higher speed than Voxel FW.
B). Merlin dosn't make FW for the R7800.
C). There are also different versions of FW called OpenWRT. I have not tried them, and not seen any results with them!
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/new-openwrt-for-r7800.56038/
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/is-the-stock-netgear-r7800-qos-really-this-bad.56306/#post-485834

2. I did some research before purchasing NordVPN, i found NordVPN rated pretty high. Do you know which VPN provider has high speed?
You have to found out what is good near where you live. And very much depending on where you want to connect...
I tested Express VPN once and it was considerably faster for me than NordVPN e.g.
But my nearby much cheaper vpn provider is even faster (much).

Please come back and share your experience!

Thank you very much for your reply.
So with your experience, i believe this is the best i can get from NordVPN and Voxel firmware with my R7800.
I have 2 more questions, hope you can answer as well.

1. Will i get better speed if i use DD-WRT or Merlin, or different firmware on my R7800?
2. I did some research before purchasing NordVPN, i found NordVPN rated pretty high. Do you know which VPN provider has high speed?

Thank you so much Kamoj.

 

[avtella]

Thank you very much for your reply.
So with your experience, i believe this is the best i can get from NordVPN and Voxel firmware with my R7800.
I have 2 more questions, hope you can answer as well.

1. Will i get better speed if i use DD-WRT or Merlin, or different firmware on my R7800?
2. I did some research before purchasing NordVPN, i found NordVPN rated pretty high. Do you know which VPN provider has high speed?

Thank you so much Kamoj.

ExpressVPN is generally considered the fastest of the major ones. I have it and it’s lived up to its name and reputation. NordVPN was decent in my short time testing it but I found ExpressVPN was more consistent in providing high speeds. I would say kamoj is right.

 

[tommytqt]

Thank you very much for everyone's inputs.
I was checking out ExpressVPN.
The price is huge different. I signed up with NordVPN for $107 for 3 years. ExpressVPN is $100/year.
I think I'll switch after 3 years. In the meantime, i will teach myself more about networking, routers, etc.
I just purchased another small Asus router on ebay (AC1900 i believe). I will flash this router to use the vpn and connect it to my R7800 which is open.