VPN on console. AC86u vs XR500 vs PC to console (Ethernet connection sharing)

[jamesfps]

Hi everyone,

I found this forum really useful these last few weeks, when looking into the best routers for VPN.

I am looking to get a VPN activated on my Xbox in order to play in foreign servers, that I would not otherwise be able to do without a VPN. For example, being based in the UK I can set the VPN to USA, and am able to then play on USA servers on Call of Duty.

I believe I have two options: 1. either set up the VPN on a router or 2. activate VPN on my PC and attach an ethernet cable from PC to Xbox and share the connection from PC to Xbox.

It seems that the Asus AC86u is considered one of the best routers when it comes to Open VPN on the router. It is worth noting that using the PC to Xbox method, I should be able to utilise other protocols such as WireGuard which may give greater speeds compared to OpenVPN only on the router side.

I have my doubts regarding the XR500 VPN capabilities, however it has such useful gaming features that I would be willing to sacrifice a little VPN performance and from what I understand gaming does not require a huge amount of bandwidth (according to one of the reps on the Netgear forums)

I was wondering what would give the best VPN performance when comparing:

1. Asus AC86u vs PC to Xbox internet connection sharing

2. Netgear XR500 vs PC to Xbox internet connection sharing.



Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[L&LD]

1. With the RT-AC86U and RMerlin firmware, you are guaranteed up to around 200Mbps over VPN with optimal settings. Depending on your ISP speeds (they both (up/down) need to be equal or greater than), the VPN server you're connecting to and the load that server has at that moment in time. In addition, you know that Asus and RMerlin will keep the router updated far longer than any other consumer brand. Not just for security, but also for new features too if/when they become available (while the hardware can still support them, of course).

2. If the XR500 has support in its SoC for, AES NI, enabled, and usable for VPN, it will still be less than the 1.8GHz dual-core RT-AC86U. And the security will be atrocious from the first day you buy it.

Some here have even mentioned that they can hit 250Mbps too with the RT-AC86U. Again, it will be the slowest link in the VPN chain you build/enable.

 

[jamesfps]

1. With the RT-AC86U and RMerlin firmware, you are guaranteed up to around 200Mbps over VPN with optimal settings. Depending on your ISP speeds (they both (up/down) need to be equal or greater than), the VPN server you're connecting to and the load that server has at that moment in time. In addition, you know that Asus and RMerlin will keep the router updated far longer than any other consumer brand. Not just for security, but also for new features too if/when they become available (while the hardware can still support them, of course).

2. If the XR500 has support in its SoC for, AES NI, enabled, and usable for VPN, it will still be less than the 1.8GHz dual-core RT-AC86U. And the security will be atrocious from the first day you buy it.

Some here have even mentioned that they can hit 250Mbps too with the RT-AC86U. Again, it will be the slowest link in the VPN chain you build/enable.

Hi L&LD

Thanks for your reply - I did not find anything regarding AES NI with the XR500, so i would have to assume it does not have this hardware acceleration capability.

In your opinion, how would the method of internet connection sharing the VPN from PC to Xbox via ethernet compare?

 

[L&LD]

If the PC was a recent i3, i5, or i7 or better with AES NI and it had two Ethernet LAN ports (or a LAN port plus a quality Wi-Fi 6) connection to an AX class router with at least 2x2:2 connection or better, then it should approach what the ISP speeds are (up to around 1Gbps). But keep in mind, that doesn't mean you'll achieve that depending again on the servers you're connecting to (both the VPN and the MS Xbox servers too).

So, for your immediate case, how capable is your PC with regards to LAN ports?

What is the maximum connection rate it can achieve to your router over wireless? What is the maximum transfer rate that the connection can maintain, wirelessly? Even if it is far above the capabilities of the RT-AC86U, the wired connection to the Xbox will still be 10x or lower latency, which is what is important in gaming, of course. And not just raw peak speeds.

When you can, you wire.

 

[jamesfps]

So the CPU my PC has is the Intel Core i7 7700K, and it supports AES NI

I had already made my mind up on getting the ac86u with Merlin firmware, but my questions were more just to get an idea of the XR500 VPN capabilities. Up until now, there is nothing to suggest that the XR500 can do the job, and it seems inferior to the ac86u in just about every department apart from a couple of unique gaming features.

I will be going with the ac86u - I appreciate your support!

 

[L&LD]

'Gaming features' is just marketing for 'we see you coming'. There is no such thing as a gaming router.

Does that PC have two LAN ports? Can you directly wire it to the router and to the Xbox? If you can, it will greatly exceed the VPN on the RT-AC86U. If you can't, the RT-AC86U should be the better bet.

That will make for a good test when you get it up and running as it should be.

Make sure you download the correct firmware for your router. Verify the MD5 hash before using it. Flash the router to this firmware (386.1 release final) and then do a full reset and minimal and manual configuration as described in the links below.

About | Asuswrt-Merlin (asuswrt-merlin.net)

Update/Reset Mini Guide

Control Channel Setup 2021

And for your old router, if it supports Media Bridge mode, and you have some distant wired capable devices to connect to your network, the following link will be useful too.

Media Bridge Mode

 

[jamesfps]

Yep, companies love to throw "gaming" in front of any products eg gaming headphones, but if you speak to anyone with knowledge in the audio community, they will tell you a proper pair of audiophile headphones are what you are after, and the gaming headphones are usually overly marketed garbage

I only have one LAN port on PC, but I do have a USB ethernet adapter so with that I will have two LAN ports.

My idea is modem (draytek vigor 130) --> ac86u --> Xbox (wired connection via moca adapter)

or alternatively modem ---> ac86u ---> PC via moca adapter ----> xbox (using the ethernet adapter)

I will try both options and see which one works better