Swap File AX88 Pro

[CaptainSTX]

Just curious has anyone running an AX88 Pro had their router utilize a swap file?

Been running mine since October and the swap file has never been utilized. Just to be sure the file was created correctly I reset up the swap file. All addons are function correctly. Running Merlin 388.8_4.

Memory Stats:

Free 349 MB

NVRAM 78/196

JFFS 8/45

Probably no need for the router to utilize the swap file but I am just curious what other user's experience has been.

 

[Tech9]

Been running mine since October and the swap file has never been utilized.

This is normal. The swap file is there mostly for compatibility with some of the custom scripts. Not used at all is a good thing. If the router actually starts actively swapping on a dead slow USB drive - it's going down sooner or later. I would remove two of the scripts in your signature. One is generating WAN traffic and taking RAM for no good reason (spdMerlin, may negatively affect network users) and the other is regularly causing WebUI issues (scMerlin, one of the common "something not working" cause after firmware update). More information here.

 

[CaptainSTX]

This is normal. The swap file is there mostly for compatibility with some of the custom scripts. Not used at all is a good thing. If the router actually starts actively swapping on a dead slow USB drive - it's going down sooner or later. I would remove two of the scripts in your signature. One is generating WAN traffic and taking RAM for no good reason (spdMerlin, may negatively affect network users) and the other is regularly causing WebUI issues (scMerlin, one of the common "something not working" cause after firmware update). More information here.

Thanks for your suggestions. SpdMerlin does use a fair amount of my monthly data allotment however in my two person household with just one heavy user I seldom approach my data cap. The AX86 Pro reliably tests on the router at 940 - 950 Mbps and the one open VPN client at 160 - 220 Mbps and during a test only one of the four cores approaches 50% utilization, so I really don't see any impact on my network during a speed tests which I have set up to run once an hour between 8AM and 5 PM.

The value I get from running spdMerlin is that lets me monitor the health of my router/network. For instance when I set Skynet up to block 22 countries it halved my download speeds. I then eliminated the country blocks and reset the router which restored my previous speeds.

 

[Tech9]

fair amount of my monthly data allotment however in my two person household

The AX86 Pro reliably tests on the router at 940 - 950 Mbps

If it reliably test Gigabit and it's consistent in your experience - why testing it every hour? Since residential lines are shared and not guaranteed it's a waste of bandwidth negatively affecting all the users on the same ISP connection, not your household only. Do you test power lines coming to your house every hour under 10kW load to make sure they hold? This action is also going to negatively affect all the households on the same transformer, but you don't do it just because it's going to increase your monthly bill. And this is the only reason why you approach shared services with different levels of responsibility.

The value I get from running spdMerlin is that lets me monitor the health of my router/network.

It doesn't, actually. It stress tests your ISP connection only and from the router upstream. You may still have internal network issues to clients and spdMerlin won't show you anything. A speed test Client -> Router -> Internet may reveal issues affecting the user experience on the Client.

 

[CaptainSTX]

If it reliably test Gigabit and it's consistent in your experience - why testing it every hour? Since residential lines are shared and not guaranteed it's a waste of bandwidth negatively affecting all the users on the same ISP connection, not your household only. Do you test power lines coming to your house every hour under 10kW load to make sure they hold? This action is also going to negatively affect all the households on the same transformer, but you don't do it just because it's going to increase your monthly bill. And this is the only reason why you approach shared services with different levels of responsibility.



It doesn't, actually. It stress tests your ISP connection only and from the router upstream. You may still have internal network issues to clients and spdMerlin won't show you anything. A speed test Client -> Router -> Internet may reveal issues affecting the user experience on the Client.

Your points are valid but since I'm testing in non prime streaming hours the impact on my neighbors is probably limited. I live in Florida so few if any of my neighbors work anymore so their need for video conferencing, data uploads, etc. is limited during the day. Most of my neighbors get by with whatever Xfinity's minimum speed package is. Hard to believe that using 10 gigs of data daily for speedtests is going to negatively effect neighbors. Bigger impact is if my wife and I decide to stream something different on two TVs on Netflix in 4K during evening hours. As for my LAN most of my data intensive devices are connected using Ethernet which minimizes the processing load on my router.

And since you mentioned it, I do monitor my electrical service using a Sense monitor which tells me at any time what appliances and devices are online and how much power they are consuming. It also tracks the voltage being provided and reports low and high voltage occurrences. I monitor my electrical system not because I'm totally anal but to determine power requirements if FPL is down because of a hurricane or other disaster and I need to bring my generator online.

 

[Tech9]

This testing of ISP line between 8AM-5PM is kind of pointless. I also have Gigabit ISP line and it always tests ~940Mbps between 8AM-5PM. In high traffic hours 7PM-11PM it may drop to 700, 600, sometimes 400Mbps. The only useful information for me - whoever I share the line with got home. Change in my user experience with or without speed test - zero.