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two servers by five clients

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royarcher

Very Senior Member
I have recently flashed my rt ac 88 u with merlin firmware and can't help but be curious as to why there are two servers with five clients each. I mainly use a VPN to stream US content.What are the uses/ benefits of two servers?.I have also noticed that you can have all five clients running at the same time. I must admit that I am baffled,surely you can only be connected,or need to be connected,to the one client /location at any given time so what is the purpose of having all five running at the same time ?And what is the purpose of having two servers?
 
There aren't two servers with five clients each, there are two VPN servers and 5 VPN clients.

Having two servers is sometimes useful because you can run them on different ports. So if you are in a remote location and one of the ports is being blocked you can try using the other. It may also useful if you need to remotely reconfigure the VPN servers. You can make changes to just one of them initially and if you mess it up you can still use the second server to get back in and correct your mistake.

Having multiple VPN clients can be useful if some of them are unreliable (quite common in my experience). So if one or more of them are unavailable you can easily switch to another one. You could also configure them to exit in different countries for geo-blocking reasons. Combined with policy routing, different devices can be routed through different VPN clients.
 
There aren't two servers with five clients each, there are two VPN servers and 5 VPN clients.

Having two servers is sometimes useful because you can run them on different ports. So if you are in a remote location and one of the ports is being blocked you can try using the other. It may also useful if you need to remotely reconfigure the VPN servers. You can make changes to just one of them initially and if you mess it up you can still use the second server to get back in and correct your mistake.

Having multiple VPN clients can be useful if some of them are unreliable (quite common in my experience). So if one or more of them are unavailable you can easily switch to another one. You could also configure them to exit in different countries for geo-blocking reasons. Combined with policy routing, different devices can be routed through different VPN clients.
Ok so if I understand you correctly you wouldn't have all five locations running at the same time but just have them there ready to swap for various reasons
 
Ok so if I understand you correctly you wouldn't have all five locations running at the same time but just have them there ready to swap for various reasons
Some people have some esoteric requirements :rolleyes:. For example; They might want all the traffic to go through one VPN by default but switch to another one if it goes offline, apart from their Roku which is going via a different country.
 
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So people have some esoteric requirements :rolleyes:. For example; They might want all the traffic to go through one VPN by default but switch to another one if goes offline, apart from their Roku which is going via a different country.
Ok cool thanks for your help I was quite curious I do like the merlin firmware before when I changed locations because of my pppoe connection I would have to wait while the router rebooted then export the certificate again but not with merlin firmware it's pretty instantaneous
 
Ok so if I understand you correctly you wouldn't have all five locations running at the same time but just have them there ready to swap for various reasons
There are several posts where multiple concurrent VPN Clients are required Multiple VPN clients active for different devices but there is a trade-off in performance i.e. certainly for non-HND routers, five concurrent VPN Clients simultaneously streaming (HD) content may not be possible.
 
There are several posts where multiple concurrent VPN Clients are required Multiple VPN clients active for different devices but there is a trade-off in performance i.e. certainly for non-HND routers, five concurrent VPN Clients simultaneously streaming (HD) content may not be possible.
I'm sure it properly isn't in Australia with our pathetic speeds compared to other countries that get triple figure download speeds
Thanks for the link ill take my phone to bed for a bit of light reading
 
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There are several posts where multiple concurrent VPN Clients are required Multiple VPN clients active for different devices but there is a trade-off in performance i.e. certainly for non-HND routers, five concurrent VPN Clients simultaneously streaming (HD) content may not be possible.
Man I followed that link through to some pretty complex code it never fails to amaze me the guys that write this stuff are just so intense cool stuff.Maybe one day I'll put on my big boy pants and try and implement some of these work around codes but I'm going to have to start feeling a lot more comfortable with the idea first
 
I'm sure it properly isn't in Australia with our pathetic speeds compared to other countries that get triple figure download speeds
Thanks for the link ill take my phone to bed for a bit of light reading
The VPN speeds on the RT-AC88U are very slow when compared to HND CPU routers. I've had up to two HD TVs streaming at the same time over the VPN Client tunnel with no issues on a 200/100 Mbps fiber line.

I have been using 5 OpenVPN Clients running concurrently on an RT-AC88U while developing x3mRouting. The project can help eliminate the need to manually swap VPN Clients.

The higher the encryption level, the harder the CPU has to work. I sometimes encounter low speeds on my Fire TV in hotel WIFI while traveling. For streaming traffic, the no encryption setting works fine and helps resolve buffering issues. AES-128-GCM cipher should give you the best performance when using encryption.

Many variables to OpenVPN performance: CPU, encryption level, distance to server and ISP bandwidth.

However, as snbforums.com member @sfx2000 noted in this thread, OpenSSL is only one part of OpenVPN performance, it doesn’t take into account the OpenVPN application, or the HMAC, which is a specific type of message authentication code (MAC) involving a cryptographic hash function and a secret cryptographic key. According to @sfx2000, these metrics are more relevant for real-world expectations of what an end-point can do; it is up to one’s internet connection after that.

Code:
openvpn --genkey --secret /tmp/secret
time openvpn --test-crypto --secret /tmp/secret --verb 0 --tun-mtu 20000 --cipher aes-128-gcm
Tue Jun  4 21:02:21 2019 disabling NCP mode (--ncp-disable) because not in P2MP client or server mode
real    0m 24.15s
user    0m 23.66s
sys     0m 0.34s

Comparing two routers:
( 3200 / execution_time_seconds ) = Projected Maximum OpenVPN Performance in Mbps

Asuswrt-Merlin RT-AX88U @ 1.88 GHz HND

Code:
AES-128-GCM: 3200/2.71 = 1181 Mbps
AES-128-CBC: 3200/3.21 = 996 Mbps

Asuswrt-Merlin RT-AC88U @ 1.4 GHz ARM
Code:
AES-128-GCM: 3200/24.15 = 132.51 Mbps
AES-128-CBC: 3200/20.58 = 155.49 Mbps

And the winner is....RT-AX88U!
 
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The VPN speeds on the RT-AC88U are very slow when compared to HND CPU routers. I've had up to two HD TVs streaming at the same time over the VPN Client tunnel with no issues on a 200/100 Mbps fiber line.

I have been using 5 OpenVPN Clients running concurrently on an RT-AC88U while developing x3mRouting. The project can help eliminate the need to manually swap VPN Clients.

The higher the encryption level, the harder the CPU has to work. I sometimes encounter low speeds on my Fire TV in hotel WIFI while traveling. For streaming traffic, the no encryption setting works fine and helps resolve buffering issues. AES-128-GCM cipher should give you the best performance when using encryption.

Many variables to OpenVPN performance: CPU, encryption level, distance to server and ISP bandwidth.



Code:
openvpn --genkey --secret /tmp/secret
time openvpn --test-crypto --secret /tmp/secret --verb 0 --tun-mtu 20000 --cipher aes-128-gcm
Tue Jun  4 21:02:21 2019 disabling NCP mode (--ncp-disable) because not in P2MP client or server mode
real    0m 24.15s
user    0m 23.66s
sys     0m 0.34s

Comparing two routers:
( 3200 / execution_time_seconds ) = Projected Maximum OpenVPN Performance in Mbps

Asuswrt-Merlin RT-AX88U @ 1.88 GHz HND

Code:
AES-128-GCM: 3200/2.71 = 1181 Mbps
AES-128-CBC: 3200/3.21 = 996 Mbps

Asuswrt-Merlin RT-AC88U @ 1.4 GHz ARM
Code:
AES-128-GCM: 3200/24.15 = 132.51 Mbps
AES-128-CBC: 3200/20.58 = 155.49 Mbps

And the winner is....RT-AX88U!
 
I do like the Rx 88 U I have had my eye on it for a while I just need to sneak it in past my wife, shouldn't be hard though looks the same just with yellow stripes instead of red but it does look good performance wise
 
Ps
The VPN speeds on the RT-AC88U are very slow when compared to HND CPU routers. I've had up to two HD TVs streaming at the same time over the VPN Client tunnel with no issues on a 200/100 Mbps fiber line.

I have been using 5 OpenVPN Clients running concurrently on an RT-AC88U while developing x3mRouting. The project can help eliminate the need to manually swap VPN Clients.

The higher the encryption level, the harder the CPU has to work. I sometimes encounter low speeds on my Fire TV in hotel WIFI while traveling. For streaming traffic, the no encryption setting works fine and helps resolve buffering issues. AES-128-GCM cipher should give you the best performance when using encryption l Ps thanks for the tip I'll lower the cypher and give it a burl
 
I do like the Rx 88 U I have had my eye on it for a while I just need to sneak it in past my wife, shouldn't be hard though looks the same just with yellow stripes instead of red but it does look good performance wise
Same problem here. "What? You're buying another router again? Why do you need another router?"
 
Same problem here. "What? You're buying another router again? Why do you need another router?"
LOL I didn't actually buy the tp 1600 (no two) TPG sent it out when i complained about the modem its since gone back to TPG. Why? Why not it sounds like a great bit of hardware . Ill probably keep both rx for the family room rt for the bedroom
 
I followed your link x3MRouting I'm sure this stuff is easy for you gurus, but for me to enter the code would take a lot of trial and error . Another reason to get the rx I can practise on the rt then and if I stuff it up I can just factory reset and try again until I get it . This way my better half won't kill me for her missing her favs on Amazon due to my tinkering
 
I followed your link x3MRouting I'm sure this stuff is easy for you gurus, but for me to enter the code would take a lot of trial and error . Another reason to get the rx I can practise on the rt then and if I stuff it up I can just factory reset and try again until I get it . This way my better half won't kill me for her missing her favs on Amazon due to my tinkering
Same concern here. Converting the PC to a pfSense appliance freed up an RT-AC88U for development and testing. Despite the lower speeds on the AC88U, I am able to stream with no buffering issues.

You can google search for "basic linux commands" for some references to help you navigate and manage files. Find a good SSH/SFTP or WinSCP Client. Many opensource programs available.
 
p
I followed your link x3MRouting I'm sure this stuff is easy for you gurus, but for me to enter the code would take a lot of trial and error . Another reason to get the rx I can practise on the rt then and if I stuff it up I can just factory reset and try again until I get it . This way my better half won't kill me for her missing her favs on Amazon due to my tinkering
s i can come u
Same concern here. Converting the PC to a pfSense appliance freed up an RT-AC88U for development and testing. Despite the lower speeds on the AC88U, I am able to stream with no buffering issues.

You can google search for "basic linux commands" for some references to help you navigate and manage files. Find a good SSH/SFTP or WinSCP Client. Many opensource programs available.



Thanks for the tips i will do . Up until recently, i have had no issues streaming on two TVs via Rokus using the same VPN on the rt ac 88 u, in fact, i still can most of the time it just takes much longer to connect especially Amazon, Hulu and US Netflix not so much
 
ma
The VPN speeds on the RT-AC88U are very slow when compared to HND CPU routers. I've had up to two HD TVs streaming at the same time over the VPN Client tunnel with no issues on a 200/100 Mbps fiber line.

I have been using 5 OpenVPN Clients running concurrently on an RT-AC88U while developing x3mRouting. The project can help eliminate the need to manually swap VPN Clients.

The higher the encryption level, the harder the CPU has to work. I sometimes encounter low speeds on my Fire TV in hotel WIFI while traveling. For streaming traffic, the no encryption setting works fine and helps resolve buffering issues. AES-128-GCM cipher should give you the best performance when using encryption.

Many variables to OpenVPN performance: CPU, encryption level, distance to server and ISP bandwidth.



Code:
openvpn --genkey --secret /tmp/secret
time openvpn --test-crypto --secret /tmp/secret --verb 0 --tun-mtu 20000 --cipher aes-128-gcm
Tue Jun  4 21:02:21 2019 disabling NCP mode (--ncp-disable) because not in P2MP client or server mode
real    0m 24.15s
user    0m 23.66s
sys     0m 0.34s

Comparing two routers:
( 3200 / execution_time_seconds ) = Projected Maximum OpenVPN Performance in Mbps

Asuswrt-Merlin RT-AX88U @ 1.88 GHz HND

Code:
AES-128-GCM: 3200/2.71 = 1181 Mbps
AES-128-CBC: 3200/3.21 = 996 Mbps

Asuswrt-Merlin RT-AC88U @ 1.4 GHz ARM
Code:
AES-128-GCM: 3200/24.15 = 132.51 Mbps
AES-128-CBC: 3200/20.58 = 155.49 Mbps

And the winner is....RT-AX88U!

man the ax leaves the ac in the dust !!!!!
 

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