AX88U and improvements for Wireguard VPN.....

[Vimes]

Hi

My AX88U continues to serve me well, except when being used as a VPN client....

Now that we have moved to a FTTP connection, full fibre, and have started with a 500Mb connection it is proving too much to expect the venerable, but good, router to be able to cope when used as a VPN client. Switching from OpenVPN to Wireguard improved things but this is wha twe will see in terms of throughput without the VPN running through the router....

when I use the VPN Wireguard client....

Does anyone have experience to know if using a router like the BE88U has more processing capabilities in terms of sustained performance when applying a Wireguard VPN client, and if so what are its limits...?

Unless that is somewhat pushing the limits of what is to be expected from these routers, without building a box with pfsense..?

I am using Windscribe as the VPN.

Thanks

 

[CaptainSTX]

I have an AX88Pro on which I run WG clients. Download speed from ISP tests at 2.1 Gig when running speed test on router. Often when testing speed of WG clients on router download speed tests in excess of 600 Mbps to both close and intermediate distant servers .

 

[Vimes]

Thanks, good to know. I see the BE88U increases the speed, not sure of the type or revision changes, if any, of the CPU from 2Ghz to 2.6Ghz. Not sure if it improved the VPN client capabilities in what its sustained capable download would be, over that of the AX88UPro.

Then again, albeit I am only reading what Google informed me, the AX88U and the Pro is rated at 2Ghz, yet your test shows almost double the throughput of what mine could achieve.

Using Windscribe's desktop app or browser extension, not the router, and the same server for VPN is maxing out my 500Mb connection. The router being the limiting factor, if used.

 

[Ripshod]

Wireguard on an RT-BE88U will saturate your 500Mbit connection.
Mine:

 

[elorimer]

There are reports here that the max WG speed is 300-350 for an ax88.

Mine is on a 600/20 connection, and I connected as a WG client to my AX86 Pro on a 1g/400 connection. Speedtests on both are about that, with some overprovisioning. I did a speedtest from the AX88 over the WG client to the AX86 Pro to the ISP for the AX86. Both have HW acceleration enabled. So in theory my maximum download on the 88 would be limited by the 400 upload speed on the 86. The download to the AX88 topped out at 340mb/s with two of its cores maxing out at around 60%. The AX86 at the same time had one core at 80% and another at 60%. The other two cores on each were much lighter. The 88 has 1.8ghz quad cores and the 86 2.0ghz quad cores, so it looks like there is a bit more headroom on the processing side. Other factors may be limiting though. But that is consistent with the other reports.

I would start by seeing if there is a limit on your server side. Windscribe has shifted over to a new WG implementation to address bottlenecks, so maybe not.

 

[Ripshod]

I remember when I had the AX88U my WG connection to Nord would run between 300-350, so the gain on my BE88U (to the same nord servers) is clear.
The trick to speed gain is to use wireguard servers and Ookla servers as close as you can get to your home. The ping for the chart I gave earlier is 4ms.

 

[Vimes]

Wireguard on an RT-BE88U will saturate your 500Mbit connection.
Mine:
View attachment 69028

Is that with a maxed out 500Mb connection or are you limited any other way..? I'm hopeful that the BE88U will be more capable than maxing out a 500Mb connection, noting that @CaptainSTX can get around 600Mb on a AX88U, the previous "gen" router.

The VPN servers I use are as clsoe to my location as possible. Using the same server shows the difference in overall sustained speed, the max being around 330Mb for the std AX88U.

Thanks

 

[Ripshod]

Is that with a maxed out 500Mb connection or are you limited any other way.

That's with a maxed out 500Mbit connection, yes. No other limiting factors.
I've dug out an old screenshot of the same nord wireguard speedtest on my old AX88U. Exact same settings and server, just new hardware.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Is that with a maxed out 500Mb connection or are you limited any other way..? I'm hopeful that the BE88U will be more capable than maxing out a 500Mb connection, noting that @CaptainSTX can get around 600Mb on a AX88U, the previous "gen" router.

The VPN servers I use are as clsoe to my location as possible. Using the same server shows the difference in overall sustained speed, the max being around 330Mb for the std AX88U.

Thanks

NOTE: I stated and I do have AX88 Pro which has a quad processor 2000Mhz.

 

[Vimes]

NOTE: I stated and I do have AX88 Pro which has a quad processor 2000Mhz.

Yes, I know. I replied directly after you posted and commented on that

I find it useful to note that on your setup, using the Pro version, that you can get such a good improvement over what I am able to do with the non pro. Both using a quad core 2Ghz processor, but that does not mean they are the same, nor anything else as to what contributes to making that difference.