Advice for Wireguard router

[Tommyrepka]

Now wireguard has been rolled out to several ASUS routers I was looking at a few options. I'm in a relatively small apartment and have a powerline to a blackspot area so I'm not too concerned with coverage.

My ISP router is now becoming erratic and as I'd like to run wireguard on my router I was looking at these options:

TUF AX3000 V2
TUF AX5400
Potentially AX86S.

Unfortunately the maximum internet speed in my area is atrocious - around 70mbps so anything else would be overkill at the moment. Considering some of the limitations of the above are the TUFs likely to struggle with running wireguard to any kind of decent speed (relative to my native speed) and I should just plump for the AX86S? Or as my current line is so slow anyway would they be perfectly suitable for streaming.

 

[RMerlin]

I haven't benchmarked that particular router, but I would expect Wireguard to be able to get close to your line speed on even the TUF-AX3000 V2.

 

[Tech9]

If this TUF AX3000 V2 is similar to RT-AX3000 V2 - it has actually faster CPU (quad-core 1.7GHz) than TUF AX5400 (tri-core 1.5GHz).

 

[jsz]

If this TUF AX3000 V2 is similar to RT-AX3000 V2 - it has actually faster CPU (quad-core 1.7GHz) than TUF AX5400 (tri-core 1.5GHz).

Don't really think the core count matters.

The original tri core model didn't factor the A7 BCM43684 in marketing, but yes it's faster and likely has throughput improvements similar to the dedicated BCM6715. Just obviously a weaker 2x2 + 2x2 design.

 

[Tech9]

Core clock frequency counts. The 2x2 radio is not obviously weaker.

 

[jsz]

Core clock frequency counts. The 2x2 radio is not obviously weaker.

Sure. It's a 200mhz advantage over Gen 1 SoC hardware (A7). A53 as a main CPU is another step up.

I meant in terms of general radio performance. Was more or less nodding to the BCM6715 being superior as a dedicated radio over the BCM6756 SoC. IE: likely similar throughput advantages with a better 4x4 radio.

Im sure the 6756 has improvements to make it faster than BCM43684 (Especially disabled as 2x4) , but that likely wont translate at distance vs 4x4 HW. Whether that matters for wiregaurd performance is another story.

 

[Tech9]

but that likely wont translate at distance.

Without knowing what amplifiers are used and what sensitivity the new radio has - I can't comment on performance at distance. Some commercial access points have >100dBm receive sensitivity, including 2x2 radio design. Direct comparison AX58U to AX58U V2 only can show which one is better.

Whether that matters for wiregaurd performance is another story.

On 70Mbps ISP all the routers above will have similar performance. I would get AX86S for better ARMv8 + AES CPU and better appearance.

 

[jsz]

Good point. Some AX58U v1 variants have Skyworks amps, some don't.. and they share same FCC code regardless.

v1: https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/MSQ-RTAXJ300/4760847
v2: https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/MSQ-RTAX5000/5654587


Aside from clock speed, its just RNG, granted I will generally weigh heavier on a 4x4 Radio. Just my bias.

 

[Tech9]

Asus won’t give you the same performance as higher marketed models even if the same hardware is used. AX58U has software limitations to ensure you only get what you pay for. I was planning to turn an available AX58U into AX82U, but given the fact I can’t share the process the project was abandoned and AX58U donated as is.

 

[HeeroYuy]

Does anyone else have this strange behavior: After activating WireGuard in the router settings (GT-AXE16000 with merlin FW 388.1_0_rog), my speedtest server is sending alarm notifications because the threshold isn't reached. I have a 1 GBit/s downstream and in general 950 MBit/s can be achieved.

But at the moment where WireGuard is activated (just activated but without any active tunnel), my downstream drops to 400-600 MBit/s!!! (see 12:30-13:12)
I can see it even during a single speedtest. WireGuard gets activated and in the same moment, the speed drops - and rises after deactivating WireGuard.

I wanted to test WireGuard for the better performance. But if that means that I have to give up 1/3 of my speed.... very bad deal
I will stick to openVPN. It's slow but not such a bitchy tool.

 

[Tech9]

merlin FW 388.1

Read carefully the very first post in 388.1 release thread:

Release - Asuswrt-Merlin 388.1 is now available for all supported Wifi 6 models

Asuswrt-Merlin 388.1 is now available for all Wifi 6 (AX) models. This release marks the merge with the new 388 code base from Asus. I don't want to list every 388-specific changes made by Asus, so I recommend checking Asus' own changelogs for more details. I will highlight the most important...

www.snbforums.com

 

[HeeroYuy]

Read carefully the very first post in 388.1 release thread:

Release - Asuswrt-Merlin 388.1 is now available for all supported Wifi 6 models

Asuswrt-Merlin 388.1 is now available for all Wifi 6 (AX) models. This release marks the merge with the new 388 code base from Asus. I don't want to list every 388-specific changes made by Asus, so I recommend checking Asus' own changelogs for more details. I will highlight the most important...

www.snbforums.com

oooh... damn, okay. My fault, didn't read that at all.
But why is it so? That's really bad. But hey, I use openVPN only for syncing with internal services that aren't time relevant or must transport big files. So it's fine I guess.

 

[tiomiguel]

what is wireguard speed in TUF AX3000 V2 any user can give this data?

 

[Tech9]

It will be similar to your RT-AX82U with the same limitations - no flow cache bypass in firmware, when WireGuard is active the whole network behind the router will slow down. You continue wasting your time and money on entry-level router models.

 

[tiomiguel]

OK. RT-AX59U / TUF AX4200 are entry level?

 

[tiomiguel]

I have just posted a similar question. I am going to upgrado the RT-AX82U, and RT-AX59U / TUF AX4200 are powerfull devices. Ihave just read your post, and you say TUF3000V2 is not a great improvement in WIREGUARD. That is what I had to Know. RT-AX59U / TUF AX4200 are???

 

[mikezilla2]

It will be similar to your RT-AX82U with the same limitations - no flow cache bypass in firmware, when WireGuard is active the whole network behind the router will slow down. You continue wasting your time and money on entry-level router models.

What AX or BE models are up to the Task ?

 

[Tech9]

From current Asus models - RT-AX86U Pro or better. They have what is needed CPU for speed and flow cache bypass implemented/supported in firmware to avoid the whole network (WAN-LAN throughput) slowdown when WireGuard is used. ARMv8 CPU models also have AES instruction set support and speed up OpenVPN encryption. The mentioned model can do about 200Mbps.

 

[mikezilla2]

From current Asus models - RT-AX86U Pro or better. They have what is needed CPU for speed and flow cache bypass implemented/supported in firmware to avoid the whole network (WAN-LAN throughput) slowdown when WireGuard is used. ARMv8 CPU models also have AES instruction set support and speed up OpenVPN encryption. The mentioned model can do about 200Mbps.

AX88/BE88?

 

[Tech9]

Yes, RT-AX88U Pro and RT-BE88U included. The latter has the fastest currently available 2.6GHz ARMv8 CPU. I believe it can do about Gigabit on WireGuard and 300Mbps on OpenVPN. There was a thread with some Broadcom BCM4916 tests results recently.