spdMerlin Not seeing max bandwidth on AC86U

[Viktor Jaep]

Hi All... Not sure if this is a spdMerlin, general Merlin firmware, RT-AC86U, or other issue. However, when I run a speed test from the UI itself, I'm only seeing about 1/2 the bandwidth (or less) I should be at. I have a 1GB connection through Xfinity... if I hook up a laptop directly to my modem, I get nearly 1GB speeds. When the AC86U is hooked up to it, I see results ranging from 350Mbps to 530Mbps when it runs its regularly scheduled tests through spdMerlin. I have it testing only my WAN connection, and is picking up all local servers. I'm seeing similar results using the firmware built-in speed test, but when I have a laptop hooked directly into the router via ethernet cable I'm seeing advertised speeds. I'm not using any wifi connections when doing any of these tests.

I have QoS disabled... For HW Acceleration, my runner = enabled, and flow cache = enabled.

Does anyone else have similar issues? Is there anything I can do to increase this bandwidth to get closer to the advertised range? Or am I looking at needing the AX86U?

 

[Tech9]

However, when I run a speed test from the UI itself, I'm only seeing about 1/2 the bandwidth (or less) I should be at.

Router CPU limitation. Run speedtests on a wired client. It will be the same with AX86U. Both routers have the same type CPU cores.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Router CPU limitation. Run speedtests on a wired client. It will be the same with AX86U, both routers have the same cores.

Thanks @Tech9 ... would the AX86U help in this case get closer to the max?

 

[Tech9]

Both routers can handle Gigabit, both will show lower speed in spdMerlin. GUI test is CPU limited and not accurate.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Both routers can handle Gigabit, both will show lower speed in spdMerlin. GUI test is CPU limited and not accurate.

Gotcha... thanks!

 

[Tech9]

AX86U is a newer and better router, but you don't need to upgrade, if you are happy with AC86U. Test real throughput to wired client, the GUI test is a gimmick. I wouldn't run spdMerlin at all. It hammers your ISP connection on regular intervals and creates unnecessary traffic. It may affect your network performance as a result. You don't need to speedtest your ISP every hour anyway.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

AX86U is a newer and better router, but you don't need to upgrade, if you are happy with AC86U. Test real throughput to wired client, the GUI test is a gimmick. I wouldn't run spdMerlin at all. It hammers your ISP connection on regular intervals and creates unnecessary traffic. It may affect your network performance as a result. You don't need to speedtest your ISP every hour anyway.

I'm extremely pleased with the AC86U... was just hoping that it wasn't hitting some sort of a cap, and paying for more bandwidth than it could handle. I agree with hammering the ISP... I only run tests every 6 hrs, because it is nice to see trends, but if it's not even really accurate, then I'm not quite sure what real purpose it has.

 

[Tech9]

It will be consistently accurate for slower ISP's under 350Mbps. For faster ISP's it hits the CPU limitations. The same is valid for Oookla built-in speedtest in Asuswrt. What you see with AC86U will be the same with AX86U. Routing is single core only and the cores are the same ARMv8 1.8GHz.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

It will be consistently accurate for slower ISP's under 350Mbps. For faster ISP's it hits the CPU limitations. The same is valid for Oookla built-in speedtest in Asuswrt. What you see with AC86U will be the same with AX86U. Routing is single core only and the cores are the same ARMv8 1.8GHz.

Thanks for all the great info on this, @Tech9!