I'm tempted to replace my all-in-one consumer router with one targeted for business i.e. more robust (to cope with harsh usage scenarios) and more capable/features (though most won't be needed in a home/SOHO environment).
To convince myself, I've to realise how good the low-end business routers are and how poor a home router can be. So I conducted tests to see under what workloads a home router will break. Apparently the tests I can do and dream up are very limited. Hence, this thread...to hear interesting stories from the fields regardless deployments in homes or in small business.
I think the use in small business is particularly interesting. I always wonder when a home router is deployed there, what kind of workloads it actually handles.
Here are my three simple torture tests
Also worth pointing out on a usual season that I don't tinker with the router, it can operate non-stop for many months. The longest I can recall is ~4 months. It was interrupted because I wanted (not that I need) a firmware upgrade.
I don't find an excuse to dump my all-in-one. Would love to hear others' stories.
To convince myself, I've to realise how good the low-end business routers are and how poor a home router can be. So I conducted tests to see under what workloads a home router will break. Apparently the tests I can do and dream up are very limited. Hence, this thread...to hear interesting stories from the fields regardless deployments in homes or in small business.
I think the use in small business is particularly interesting. I always wonder when a home router is deployed there, what kind of workloads it actually handles.
Here are my three simple torture tests
- Linux PC connected through wire. One Linux client connected to 2.4GHz. Another Linux client connected to 5GHz. The 2.4G client send iperf streams (maxing out 2.4G throughput) to the wired PC. The 5G client pulls iperf streams (maxing out 5G throughput) from the wired PC.
Result: the iperf streams can go on and on through AC56U without disruption. That's more than 40 hours continuously until I have to stop the test.
- Linux server in the cloud with 200Mbit/s WAN. Home WAN 100Mbit/s. Home Linux PC connected to AC56U on 5GHz.
Use scripts to initiate 12,000 iperf streams to the server in the cloud. This max out the 100Mbit/s WAN. Each stream will end up with a tiny amount, on average 8.3Kbit/s in steady state.
Result: Active connections (as seen on the Sysinfo GUI) shoot up to near 12,000 and settle slightly above 10,000. I think that's more because of the PCs (actually VMs) at both ends aren't capable enough.
For the ~10,000 active streams, they can go on and on again...for as long as I can bear with. This time around 20 hours before I've to stop the test.
- Linux PC connected through wire. Bombard the little router with smallest packet and as many as possible. I shall say up front that my iptables table isn't that complicated.
Result: AC56U can process ~67,000 packets per second without loss of a single one.
Also worth pointing out on a usual season that I don't tinker with the router, it can operate non-stop for many months. The longest I can recall is ~4 months. It was interrupted because I wanted (not that I need) a firmware upgrade.
I don't find an excuse to dump my all-in-one. Would love to hear others' stories.