GT-AC5300 Upgrade Options

[Telenice]

Hi all, I've currently got a GT-AC5300 which has served me well for around 2 years. I've got 1Gbps fibre at home and up to now I haven't really felt the need for WiFi 6 but I'm at a point where I'm happy to spend money for the upgrade, and looking at the latest 388 software with Wireguard support is something I'd be interested in. I was looking at the RT-AX86U as it seems to be the best all rounder but it's also been out for ~2 years and I'm seeing talks of an RT-AX86U Pro releasing, and even though the upgrades in this would be negligible I'd kick myself if I paid full price for the older version if the new one came out not long after at the same price point. The GT-AX6000 is also not much more than the RT-AX86U (about £30 more in the UK) would this be a better buy? I know the beta firmware software isn't available for this router as of yet but is it likely to come? Not interested in Merlin firmware so this isn't a dealbreaker if the router doesn't support it. If there are any recommendations I'd be happy to hear them.

 

[RMerlin]

You won't be able to use Wireguard on a 1 Gbps Internet connection.

 

[Telenice]

You won't be able to use Wireguard on a 1 Gbps Internet connection.

I don't understand what you mean? I'm referring to Wireguard client/server to either connect to my VPS running a Wireguard server or host a Wireguard server to connect to my LAN outside of the home. I'm currently using OpenVPN for both of these circumstances but would entertain using Wireguard if the option is there.

 

[Tech9]

I've currently got a GT-AC5300

This router is an HND model with the same cores as AX86U and is perhaps getting 388 code as well. It can do >500Mbps to common 2-stream AC client and simultaneously to 2x clients on both 5GHz bands. It's plenty fast already and upgrading to AX may not improve much the user experience.

I don't understand what you mean?

With NAT acceleration disabled home routers are not Gigabit capable anymore. WAN-LAN throughput will be limited by the CPU, under 400Mbps.

 

[Telenice]

This router is an HND model with the same cores as AX86U and is perhaps getting 388 code as well. It can do >500Mbps to common 2-stream AC client and simultaneously to 2x clients on both 5GHz bands. It's plenty fast already and upgrading to AX may not improve much the user experience.



With NAT acceleration disabled home routers are not Gigabit capable anymore. WAN-LAN throughput will be limited by the CPU, under 400Mbps.

Is this speed limitation limited to VPN being enabled? I can get 1Gbps wired without VPN, although I've never actually speed tested the VPN but only getting about 150Mbps download on multiple VPN's connected via UDP.

 

[Tech9]

Is this speed limitation limited to VPN being enabled?

This is something I'm trying to find out. Available VPN Fusion in 388 code allows specific devices routed through VPN only. If the VPN connection is using Wireguard and it's active, there is a chance the entire network performance will be impacted, including devices routed straight through WAN. @RMerlin perhaps knows if Flow Cache is re-enabled automatically when the Wireguard client is turned off.

about 150Mbps download

Your router can do >200Mbps on OpenVPN, but it depends on the server you connect to. Most commercial VPN servers won't give you high speeds. I've seen 350-400Mbps to local NordVPN server (x86 CPU firewall, not home router), but not always and server load dependent.

 

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin perhaps knows if Flow Cache is re-enabled automatically when the Wireguard client is turned off

I have yet to see the 388 source code. I don't know.