RT-AC68U OpenVPN Server Slow

[pjd50]

Hi all,

Tried to find similar threads before posting here, but most of the threads/replies had to do with using commercial, third party VPN services (e.g. NordVPN) - that is *NOT* what I'm talking about here.

At my home (west coast of USA) I have an RT-AC68U router. Home ISP there has 1000DL/35UL Mbps speeds. On the RT-AC68U, I am running an OpenVPN Server 1. I then exported OpenVPN Configuration File for this VPN server.

I am now doing work out-of-state, and my ISP here has ~300DL/30UL Mbps speed.

I open my computer here, I connect to the home router VPN server using TunnelBlick MacOS. Everything work's fine, except the speed comes to a complete crawl (barely useable: ~1.2DL/12.5UL Mbps - usually around 800Kbps DL - so extremely slow...).

I really did try searching, found some threads by RMerlin about speeds on the RT-AC68U being limited to about ~50Mbps, but obviously I'm getting much slower than that. Is there any way to improve performance? Thank you so much!

 

[Smokey613]

The RT-AC68U has NO hardware acceleration and your VPN speeds are within what is to be expected.

If you want to stay with an Asus solution, you need to move to newer, more powerful hardware such as an RT-AX86U/S or similar.

 

[Tech9]

Home ISP there has 1000DL/35UL Mbps speeds

You can never exceed about 30Mbps no matter what hardware you use - limited by your home ISP upload speed. Your VPN speed is low indeed - check the configuration settings again. I'm getting about 30Mbps on OpenVPN from similar hardware RT-AC66U B1 router from Europe to North America, but it's running stock Asuswrt and almost nothing else. This hardware is very stable, but >10 years old already and has some limitations.

 

[Smokey613]

I misread his ISP speeds. I thought it was 1000DL/350UL not 1000DL/35UL.

 

[Tech9]

This RT-AC68U is perhaps struggling with normal duties on Gigabit ISP, it's running Asuswrt-Merlin and perhaps something else - no wonder there is no much resources left for VPN even if the Server is configured properly. I would say RT-AC68U is good for up to 300-400Mbps ISP. For Gigabit chance - wired only with very basic configuration, no TrendMicro involvement, no QoS and very light on user scripts. VPN use comes on top as extra load.

 

[pjd50]

Thank you for the replies. It's a bit perplexing that my home ISP has 35Mpbs upload speed, but when I VPN into the ASUS router from out-of-state, I only get 1.5Mpbs down. Perhaps you've helped me figure out that it is just old hardware (though it is interesting you get 30Mbps speed from Europe to North America)...

I do have a Synology NAS - perhaps I should run an OpenVPN server on it instead?

 

[Tech9]

though it is interesting you get 30Mbps speed from Europe to North America

This is what I get (ISP 200/200) and RT-AC66U B1 actually has slightly faster CPU (1000MHz vs 800MHz on common RT-AC68U models) and my router is doing literally nothing else than VPN Server there. Yours has more things to do serving as home network core on Gigabit ISP plus running other things.

I do have a Synology NAS - perhaps I should run an OpenVPN server on it instead?

Explore the options, but I would say upgrade your home router to something like RT-AX86U. Your family will be happier with better speed and coverage. This specific model is in firmware crisis on the new 388 firmware, but it will get better over time. The hardware is much better than your RT-AC68U.

 

[pjd50]

This is what I get (ISP 200/200) and RT-AC66U B1 actually has slightly faster CPU (1000MHz vs 800MHz on common RT-AC68U models) and my router is doing literally nothing else than VPN Server there. Yours has more things to do serving as home network core on Gigabit ISP plus running other things.



Explore the options, but I would say upgrade your home router to something like RT-AX86U. Your family will be happier with better speed and coverage. This specific model is in firmware crisis on the new 388 firmware, but it will get better over time. The hardware is much better than your RT-AC68U.

Thank you! I'm going to look into some options.

 

[egc]

I also get about 30 Mb/s on my Ac68U running OpenVPN and about 100 Mb/s running WireGuard.
Unfortunately WireGuard is not supported by Asus-WRT on this router, so for that I had to use another third party firmware

 

[pjd50]

I also get about 30 Mb/s on my Ac68U running OpenVPN and about 100 Mb/s running WireGuard.
Unfortunately WireGuard is not supported by Asus-WRT on this router, so for that I had to use another third party firmware

Thanks. It would be a dream to reach 30 Mb/s (which is my maximum ISP upload anyway). I am only get 1 Mb/s.

 

[rampuse]

This is what I get (ISP 200/200) and RT-AC66U B1 actually has slightly faster CPU (1000MHz vs 800MHz on common RT-AC68U models) and my router is doing literally nothing else than VPN Server there. Yours has more things to do serving as home network core on Gigabit ISP plus running other things.



Explore the options, but I would say upgrade your home router to something like RT-AX86U. Your family will be happier with better speed and coverage. This specific model is in firmware crisis on the new 388 firmware, but it will get better over time. The hardware is much better than your RT-AC68U.

Hello, @Tech9 , i also read on ur other post that said , the cpu speed and clock matter for vpn. in the other post u had said that the 68u has a dual core at 1.5 ghz or something aand the 86u has quad core at 1.8ghz, so the 86u gives around 200mbps throughput on openvpn. Am i correct? But, if so, then the zyxel usg flex 100 firewall vpn hardware appliance claims 200 and 100 mbps vpn throughput; BUT it ONLY has a dual core 1.2ghz processor (according to someone on internet who opened it up). so, am i missing something, or, the zyxel wont give their mentioned throughput....how can they give this kinda throughput on such a dual core processor?? btw, i am no network guy, i am just building (for the first time) a openvpn server on an asus tuf gaming ax5400 router, for one of my clients.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @rampuse.

The number of cores and the frequency of the CPU are not the only parts that make VPN faster or slower. There is also the support (if it has it or not) of AES Instructions and the hardware SDK versions too. Everything matters.

Manufacturers' maximum speeds for their products should be taken with a (huge) grain of salt. There are many variables that they can use/omit to make their products seem faster. Such as VPN version, encryption used, etc.

 

[rampuse]

i have setup pfsense on an ryzen 2400g (4core8thread 3 ghz) and set openvpn server on it. one internal motherboard gigabit lan (using as wan) and other pcie gigabit lan card (lan for pfsense). when i connect form a win10 openvpn client in another isp internet i get only 2MBps read speed in smb. i.e. reading from shared volume on pfsense lan side pc. can i get 100mbps i.e. 12MBps or something? i really want 100 or 150mbps speeds for accessing the local pfsense lan shared drive. please help. using pfsense community edition 2.6.0.

 

[rampuse]

i have setup pfsense on an ryzen 2400g (4core8thread 3 ghz) and set openvpn server on it. one internal motherboard gigabit lan (using as wan) and other pcie gigabit lan card (lan for pfsense). when i connect form a win10 openvpn client in another isp internet i get only 2MBps read speed in smb. i.e. reading from shared volume on pfsense lan side pc. can i get 100mbps i.e. 12MBps or something? i really want 100 or 150mbps speeds for accessing the local pfsense lan shared drive. please help. using pfsense community edition 2.6.0.

btw am getting saame 2MBps speed on same setup but using openvpn server on asus tuf ax5400 router. actually tried pfsense because i thought i get better openvpn speeds on it.!!@!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rampuse]

i have setup pfsense on an ryzen 2400g (4core8thread 3 ghz) and set openvpn server on it. one internal motherboard gigabit lan (using as wan) and other pcie gigabit lan card (lan for pfsense). when i connect form a win10 openvpn client in another isp internet i get only 2MBps read speed in smb. i.e. reading from shared volume on pfsense lan side pc. can i get 100mbps i.e. 12MBps or something? i really want 100 or 150mbps speeds for accessing the local pfsense lan shared drive. please help. using pfsense community edition 2.6.0.

the cpu has aes enabled. it is available in pfsense dashboard (shows as active) BUT on openvpn server settings page there is only 'intel rand..' as hardware acceleration, so have selected it . (no aes option here)

 

[Tech9]

Hello, @Tech9 , i also read on ur other post that said , the cpu speed and clock matter for vpn

You can't compare different type CPU cores by clock speed alone.

i have setup pfsense on an ryzen 2400g (4core8thread 3 ghz) and set openvpn server on it

This hardware is not needed for pfSense, but it can do >500Mbps on OpenVPN easily.

when i connect form a win10 openvpn client in another isp internet i get only 2MBps read speed

Your issue is somewhere else. Not hardware or software capabilities (pfSense) related.

btw am getting saame 2MBps speed on same setup but using openvpn server on asus tuf ax5400 router

What's your ISP upload speed?

 

[rampuse]

This hardware is not needed for pfSense, but it can do >500Mbps on OpenVPN easily.

what?????????????? seroiusly??? i would die for such a performance......

 

[rampuse]

What's your ISP upload speed?

it is 200mbps up and 200mbps down on the pfsense side. it is 350+ up and 350+ down on client side.

 

[rampuse]

BTW, i am testing this out in my home/office, so can change the wan/lan isps and client isps and all that. i have 3 isps in my office/home.
I connected the client to same router to whcih the pfsense firewall/ryzen is connected. the client has 192.168.4.123 and the lan ip of pfsense lan side pc (smb host) has 192.7.7.16 (through a switch conected to pfsense lan port). now i get over 40MBps copy speed. i.e. over 300mbps speed!!! thus, the pfsense seems to handle it fine (although the cpu only reaches 11% load at max). does this mean my pfsense side isp is not giving 200mbps upload and IT IS the problem??? please help.

 

[rampuse]

BTW, i am testing this out in my home/office, so can change the wan/lan isps and client isps and all that. i have 3 isps in my office/home.
I connected the client to same router to whcih the pfsense firewall/ryzen is connected. the client has 192.168.4.123 and the lan ip of pfsense lan side pc (smb host) has 192.7.7.16 (through a switch conected to pfsense lan port). now i get over 40MBps copy speed. i.e. over 300mbps speed!!! thus, the pfsense seems to handle it fine (although the cpu only reaches 11% load at max). does this mean my pfsense side isp is not giving 200mbps upload and IT IS the problem??? please help.

if so, might try changing the isp.....