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Optimal settings ASUS RT-AC5300 with Merlin 386.3.2

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Johan1974NL

Occasional Visitor
Hello,

I have setup my router RT-AC5300 with Merlin Firmware and wireless works but it seems a bit slow.
25mbps up / 18Mbps down
Are there any guides with optimal settings to speed up my connection?
Are there logifles where i can find potential issues in my connection.

Thanks!

Johan
 
Welcome to the forums @Johan1974NL.

What firmware version did you flash, specifically? Is the RT-AC5300 a new router? After flashing the RMerlin firmware you want to use, did you do a full reset to factory defaults followed by a minimal and manual configuration to secure the router and connect it to your ISP? Without using any old, saved backup config file?

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global


After the router has been fully reset using the link above,

Fully Reset / Best Practice Setup / More


What are your ISP speeds, up/down? What client device(s) are you using to test with?
 
Hello,

I have the following speeds measured with https://www.speedtest.net/

Without VPN
Download 137.76 Mbps
Upload 31.26 Mbps

With VPN
Download 40.23 Mbps
Upload 30.16 Mbps

I am testing with my laptop on a wifi connection.
Is this as expected or can it be quicker?

VPN = IPVanish
Provider = KPN
 
There's no way to determine if those numbers make sense w/o having a baseline to compare it to. What do you normally get from your ISP? What do you normally get from your VPN provider when NOT using the router?

I will say that given the specs of that router (1.4GHz), 40Mbps download seems quite low. I would have expected better. But that *assumes* the VPN provider is NOT the limiting factor. As I said, w/ nothing to compare it to, it's hard to say what should be expected.
 
Looks like you're getting expected results to me.

Can you try connecting to a different IPVanish server?

That is about the only thing you can change.
 
The router is directly connected to my IP Modem so that is the normal speed i get from the provider.

I was expecting VPN would reduce your speed but i was hoping for a little more.
 
As an additional data point, can you turn off your VPN and run and share the results from the ookla speedtest from the router's GUI?
 
Sure, i get the following on my WAN

122.47 Mbps Download
31.28 Mbps Upload
 
Sure, i get the following on my WAN

122.47 Mbps Download
31.28 Mbps Upload

Looks good. I'll second @L&LD 's assessment that it seems like your wifi is more/less maxing out your ISP's delivered bandwidth. Now if you're trying to optimize your network for intra-LAN transfers/bandwidth that's a whole different can of worms to look into, but your wifi<->internet seems to be in a good place
 
Ok tanks guys,

There are so many options, just wanted to be sure i did not miss anything like a hidden button for full speed ahead :cool::cool:

Greetings,

JOhan
 
@Johan1974NL I have the same router...different VPN provider...those numbers mirror mine when the VPN is on fairly closely . My down speeds range from 20Mbps to 100Mbps with an average of about 40Mbps depending on the time of day and which server I connect to. With VPN off I get around 320Mbps consistently from my ISP which is where it should be. One major limiting factor is the routers CPU I believe.
 
Thanks for the feedback, i was hoping a bit more with this router.
 
Thanks for the feedback, i was hoping a bit more with this router.
Get your router completely configured as L&LD instructs in his procedures. I have gigaspeed and lose 10% on my VPN (ExpressVPN) so it is your configuration as a total that is slowing down. Not the router as it is an animal.
 
You have... what speeds on VPN? :rolleyes:
Around 900+ Megabit per second (112 Megabyte per second) (write them both so that all the confusion can be taken out). I have fibre to the home, my DNS is google (also forced in my VPN settings), Cat7 cabling in the house and not to forget to mention: the above speeds are not possible during weekends or in evening peak hours. The distance between your router and the node of your VPN provider and the amount of hops you have to take to get there influence highly. On average I am sure that my VPN provider is slower, but this is what I see most times when I test the speed (what I do not do very often). I have tested multiple VPN providers but ExpressVPN has proven to work the best for my situation. (configuration is double NAT router behind ISP provided peace of crap. VPN is essential for us as we are in an area where internet is only accessible via a governmental operated superproxy.) (Make sure NAT acceleration (under LAN/Switch Control) is on Auto).
 
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This is not possible. RT-AC5300 with BCM4709 CPU can't process even 100Mbps OpenVPN. Your data goes around the tunnel, perhaps IPv6 leak.
L2TP, I do not use openvpn as that is blocked by the Gvt Proxy, no IPv6 either. If I do DNS test or IP check I do not notice any kind of leak. How can I check if I have a leak?
 
Are you sure this tunnel is encrypted? I don't see L2TP/IPsec client support in Asuswrt-Merlin.

OpenVPN can run on port 443, harder to block. L2TP uses ports 500/4500, it's visible and much easier to block.
 
Last edited:
IPv6 disabled prevents IPv6 leaks, but your speeds and on-router L2TP is a bit concerning. The CPU won't be able to process 900Mbps IPsec either.
It is no IPsec but L2TP.
 

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