Wireguard and NAS - which Asus Router?

[Krakadil]

Hey,

looking for new Router.
What I need:

- Wireguard with up to 40 Mbit/s
- NAS (just plug in 2.5 hard rive in USB and use it over Samba) with 100/80 MB/s
- don't care about Wifi (got one Router per room and up to 50 Mbit/s is enough)
- Merlin Support

I can get a AC86U dirty cheap but looks like NAS would be about 40 MB/s, AC88U looks like to be the same.
First I wanna get Xiaomi's AX9000 for 199€ but after AX3600 this not anymore a option (no firnware updates and can't even set IP for printer).

Is there any Asus Router or need I get the big boys (AX86U/88U)?

Regards

 

[L&LD]

I don't believe you'll find any consumer router that will do 100/80 MB/s over USB with a 2.5" HDD. Even with a wired connection between the router and the computer you're transferring to.

 

[Jeffrey Young]

Are we talking about the USB port on the Router itself? If so, I agree with @L&LD, especially if the port is in USB 2.0 mode.

I have never been a fan of using the Router as a NAS. Routers are Routers and NAS's are NAS's. I use a RasPi 4B as a Samba NAS. SSD 2.5" 4TB drive connected via USB 3.0. I have no problem getting 90MB write and 110 MB Read (on the local LAN - wired transfer).

For wireguard on the router, any HND router will do (AC86U, AX86U, etc.). I used to use wireguard on my AC86U. No issues at all except for when it came to entware updating the components. Entware upgrade would destroy my config files. I have since moved my wireguard VPN server to my Domain Controller, and just port forward to the DC.

 

[bbunge]

Routers do not make a good NAS. Get a Raspberry Pi 4B with 4 GB RAM and attach the USB drive to it. Makes a great little NAS. Or for a bit more a Synology one disk NAS.

 

[Krakadil]

Really? For now I use HP T620 and get full speed of GB port (about 120/110 MB/s with ~13W), with old AX56U I get about 40 MB/s write over 2.5 HDD/USB.

AC86U already got Wireguard support?

 

[Jeffrey Young]

Really? For now I use HP T620 and get full speed of GB port (about 120/110 MB/s with ~13W), with old AX56U I get about 40 MB/s write over 2.5 HDD/USB.

AC86U already got Wireguard support?

Kinda yes - kinda no. The recent 386.4 release has the kernel module and workspace tools, but you will need to put it together.

You can also use the wireguard-session-manager available in the Add-On-Forums. I think it can be installed now via AMTM (built into merlin).

EDIT:

Wireguard - Session Manager - Discussion (2nd) thread

This thread http://www.snbforums.com/threads/session-manager.70787/ has now expired. Thanks for the heads-up SNB Forum member @Ubimo

www.snbforums.com

 

[Yota]

Basically RT-AC86U can meet all your needs. Wireguard of more than 40 Mbit/s, I think it can exceed 60 Mbit/s.

The LAN USB 3.0 transmission speed exceeds 80 MB/s.

But please don't confuse AC86 and AC68, AC68 does seldom exceed 50 MB/s USB transmission speed.

Although I don't recommend using routers as NAS, SNB does use USB performance as one of its review indicators every time it reviews routers. You can see these specific test results here:

Charts - SmallNetBuilder

www.smallnetbuilder.com

In the test record, AC86U has 103.7 MB/s USB 3.0 read performance in NTFS.

 

[L&LD]

For the record, those speeds are using a 10,000 RPM Velociraptor as the HDD. Not to belittle the RAMdisk also in use too.

How We Test Router Storage Performance - SmallNetBuilder

Nobody is using that setup today, in any meaningful real use case. At least, not attached via USB to a router.

 

[Krakadil]

Kinda yes - kinda no. The recent 386.4 release has the kernel module and workspace tools, but you will need to put it together.

This is great! I thought "we will get it in future" but you can use it already

Basically RT-AC86U can meet all your needs. Wireguard of more than 40 Mbit/s, I think it can exceed 60 Mbit/s.

The LAN USB 3.0 transmission speed exceeds 80 MB/s.

I don't use it often, thats why I bought HP T620 and run it with OpenMediaVault (USB 3.0 + 2.5 inch HDD). It's a cheap 30€ setup but it works great, the problem is it took about 13W all the time even I don't use it.

I find this and was confused

"Die anderen drei bietet eine deutlich höhere Übertragungsrate. Hier ist gerade der ASUS RT-AC88U und RT-AC86U zu loben, welche lesend wie auch schreibend um die 100MB/s schaffen, was ein sehr ordentliches Tempo ist!"
https://techtest.org/welcher-ist-de...t-ac86u-gt-ac5300-und-blue-cave-im-vergleich/

Which means you will get 100 MB/s over USB, which would be great!

Nobody is using that setup today, in any meaningful real use case. At least, not attached via USB to a router.

Why not? With that speed it's really good if you ask me. I just use it some time and for small files.

 

[Tech9]

Really? For now I use HP T620 and get full speed of GB port

Much faster x86 hardware with more RAM. Asus home routers used as NAS run out of RAM and break basic router functions. Don't spend money for something not working properly. File share in Asuswrt is good to list it as available in specs. Light file share only, not NAS.

 

[L&LD]

Those high transfer speeds are between a RAMdisk and a very fast mechanical drive and with the highest speeds noted from a single, very large file, over the USB interface.

My point is that nobody will use such a setup in any meaningful real world way.

Conclusion; those speeds are not attainable in a normal setup with small files.

 

[Tech9]

The speeds are reachable with USB 3.0 enclosure with SSD inside, but the routers can't keep up. It starts fast and drops down to a crawl the moment the RAM gets full. Then the process repeats until something else crashes. Then whatever crashed eventually recovers, or never recovers and the router needs a reboot to start working again as a router. Even my test AX88U with 1GB RAM got crazy when I hit it hard with NAS-like transfers.

 

[Yota]

There is no point in arguing with members of this forum about why routers should not be used as NAS. We have many threads to fully explain our reasons, and this is almost a consensus of the SNB forums.

But what I can tell you is that AC86U can reach 100 MB/s under extreme conditions, and the performance will usually be around 80 MB/s, then how to choose is your business, because this is your router, not mine. Also, the RT-AC88U cannot achieve more than 50 MB/s USB transmission performance, this is because it uses 1.4 GHz dual-core CPU instead of 1.8 GHz dual-core CPU like AC86U.

Finally, I am pretty sure that when the router cannot meet your USB transmission needs, you will definitely choose to buy a NAS.