RT-AX88U - Is it possible to overclock it?

[q3WXZ]

I have been searching for a couple of hours now and I haven’t been able to find anything specific for the AX88U.

The main reason I am exploring this is, of course, VPN performance.

I have 850mbps available but only get about 220 with OpenVPN.

What I saw for other models is that you can play with the NVRAM but I don’t want to mess up with my router if the same method hasn’t been tested.

When I run: cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep BogoMIPS

the value I see on all 4 cores is 100.00

even when there is a lot of load on the cpu.

let me know if there is anything I can do to improve the performance.

Thanks!

 

[Tech9]

let me know if there is anything I can do to improve the performance.

No overclocking options are available for HND routers. For better OpenVPN performance you need x86 CPU appliance, if the server you connect to allows higher speeds.

 

[q3WXZ]

No overclocking options are available for HND routers. For better OpenVPN performance you need x86 CPU appliance, if the server you connect to allows higher speeds.

Ok. Thanks for your reply.

I expected that. I was thinking on building a small mini itx box with pfSense to put between my router and the RT-AX88U so I can get full vpn speed.

do you think that’s a good idea?

 

[Tech9]

do you think that’s a good idea?

No, because the results are not guaranteed. The limitation is the maximum speed VPN servers you connect to offer. You may have 850Mbps ISP, but that doesn't mean you can get 850Mbps from your VPN provider. Usually nowhere near this speed.

 

[gattaca]

While you cannot "overclock" these units, you can turn OFF the "green" elements. These greens are essentially put those specific subsystems to sleep or "lower power mode" to reduce power consumption, heat etc.. The tradeoff is always performance. The transition from sleeping to actually executing instructions (doing real work) requires a "long time" in terms of uS to mS. While that may sould like "no-big-deal" actually it is very much a big deal when it's happening 100,000's or millions of times per second.

While the background is way too long for this thread, you can do something in /jffs/scripts/services-start.
I've not tested the varying results with iperf.

If you start playing around with this, you should add supplemental cooling. If you push your unit too hard b/c of high ambient thermals or inadequate cooling, it will start having issues by shutting itself down to protect from overheating.

Notice: I am not responsible if you overheat your router, fry your router or cause your kids and family to be screaming about "the internet is dead". Also, this will likely void any warranty. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Each model or pCPU seems to use different command formats for the parms to the /bin/pwr ...

#!/bin/sh
#
# 20210312 - XXX turn off Green and CPU WAITS - Make pCPUs run as fast as possible - no sleeping!
#
# Only AC86U
# /bin/pwr config --wait off
# /bin/pwr config --ethapd off
# /bin/pwr config --eee off
#
# Only AX86U
#
/bin/pwr config --cpuwait off
/bin/pwr config --apd off
# /bin/pwr config --eee off # This seems to hang on AX86U until ctrl-break, skip.
#
# Both models...
#
/bin/pwr config --dgm off
#
The result in the router's logs will be:
May 6 04:54:38 kernel: Wait Instruction is disabled
May 6 04:54:38 kernel: Ethernet Auto Power Down and Sleep: Disabled
May 6 04:54:38 kernel: Deep Green Mode feature changed to disabled (DGM status: deactivated)
....
Stay safe, stay alive, peace.

 

[Tech9]

This won't give any measurable speed improvements in OpenVPN performance, @gattaca. I tested it already. The CPU temp goes up about 10C.

 

[KeithW]

I have tested the Asus RT-AX86U on 3004.388.4_beta1 firmware. It I can confirm that "/bin/pwr config --eee off" will no longer hang when command is issued.
Also I do see performance increase when testing speed. I have a 10 gig service with Sonic. When using my Macbook Pro M1 directly plugged into the ONT I get around 2350 Mbps top speeds through the 2.5 gigabit switch. When I use the RT-AX86u I am getting almost 2300 Mbps with 60 devices connected.

I haven't been able to get speeds at the 2.5 gigabit switch limit until I turned off the settings suggested in the post here.
Also temps are around
Legend: 2.4 GHz - 5 GHz - CPU
Current Temperatures: 126 °F - 126 °F - 189 °F
CPU usually running between 183 and 200 °F in a room at 78 °F

Hope someone finds this of use. Thanks for the post.