USB to 2.5Gbe adapter on AX88U

[jsmiddleton4]

There is a third option which right now is way too pricey to even consider. However prices will drop now that unmanaged 2.5gb switches are becoming more common. A managed, and it only needs to be fairly simple "managed", 2.5gb switch. Link port 1 and 2 of the AX86U to 2 ports on the simply managed 2.5gb switch. Won't be 2.5gb, probably not even 2gb through put. BUT it sure should be faster than 1gb.

Would pump the LAN side of things up......

I'd need a 2.5gb switch anyway if I went all in.

 

[Asgard]

There is a third option which right now is way too pricey to even consider. However prices will drop now that unmanaged 2.5gb switches are becoming more common. A managed, and it only needs to be fairly simple "managed", 2.5gb switch. Link port 1 and 2 of the AX86U to 2 ports on the simply managed 2.5gb switch. Won't be 2.5gb, probably not even 2gb through put. BUT it sure should be faster than 1gb.

Would pump the LAN side of things up......

I'd need a 2.5gb switch anyway if I went all in.

Thank you!
I will give it a try, at least I can have 2.5GB on my LAN for the NAS & Plex Media server.

 

[ricka47]

Thank you!
I will give it a try, at least I can have 2.5GB on my LAN for the NAS & Plex Media server.

Please let us know which one that you get and how it worked if you can - thanks! It's frustrating to see over 1.4 GB coming into the router but I can't get that to my PC due to this limitation. But, at the prices of managed switches, I don't think it is worth it.

 

[Asgard]

For the moment I will try to setup my 2.5GB LAN Network and will try the setup with adapter once my IPS launches the 2.5/10G connections.
Anyways, I am a little bit dissapointed, got an answer from Asus Support that those USB 3.0 Gen1 ports are mostly for 3/4G modems only, not for adapters, but this is really stupid as USB 3.0 Gen1 is able to deliver 5Gbps speeds and the chipset is a matter of KBs maybe to load it in their standard firmware, they even have such 2.5G adapter USB-C2500, clearly they won't to this move as they might compromise the sales of next gen routers

This Friday im gonna get the 8 x 2.5G Multiport and I will try to have the AiMesh nodes on Ethernet cable, I am not really sure if I will be able to use the Ethernet Backhaul option having a switch in between the main router and the AiMesh nodes.

Wish me luck

Cheers guys, will keep you updated.

Marius

 

[L&LD]

No, it's not 'really stupid' for Asus. They want to have something to be able to sell you in a few years' time that seems like an upgrade over what we have today.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

Right now there's no managed 2.5gbe switches that are in any price range that makes them a reasonable option.

The other way to address this is build a small m-itx quad core celeron based PC, put in 2 2.5gbe network cards, a 2.5gbe switch, hang some AP's, and run pfsense. Would not be all that expensive as quad core celerons cheap and more powerful as is than these routers.

Since already own the AX86U could use it in AP mode.

The cost+performance=value equation gets way out of whack though. We're not talking the difference between 1gb and 10gb........

 

[jsmiddleton4]

"Asus Support that those USB 3.0 Gen1 ports are mostly for 3/4G modems only, not for adapters, but this is really stupid as USB 3.0 Gen1 is able to deliver 5Gbps speeds"

That's why someone who is skilled at digging into the firmware could be a possible solution. Can that be addressed? The hardware is capable. Something in the code is throttling it.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

I am also of the opinion the USB portion of these Realtek USB adapters are part of the throttling. Interesting read:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PFSENSE/comments/nqg714

 

[ricka47]

Makes sense. I've tried three different adapters with two different chipsets and the results are consistent. My speeds are cut in half with all of them.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

"three different adapters with two different chipsets"

I tested the Marvel, Sabrent 5g adapter, on my PC Gen 2 3.2 USB port. It was not throttled. The Realtek based ones were. The USB portion of the router completely out of the picture.

If it is the case the Realtek 2.5gb adapters are throttled to less than 500mbs because of the USB part it'll kill their sales at some point. People will figure it out.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

I find it hard to believe that Asustor stated one being USB 3.2 Gen 2 has an issue. The one I tried I'm not even sure it was the new generation. I'm going to test another on my PC and make sure its the Gen 2 adapter. The USB portion of the AX86U for USB modem is the limiting factor in the router.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

The Asustor adapter arrived. This time its labeled with just the Gen 2 3.2 label. The first one I think was not Gen 2/3.2.

It is not throttled.

I've been playing with pfsense in my quest to maximize my ISP speed/through put. Free "legacy" PC, Dell mini-tower 390 i5. Out of pocket for 4gb mem stick, DDR3 so it was just over 10 bucks, and 3 Intel based PCI-E 2.5gb NIC's. Hit 90 bucks. I know, total higher than any USB adapter hooked to USB/Modem thing.

Put the AX86U in AP mode. Its wifi is excellent.

Used the Asustor on a NUC that has only 1 gb.

Took a day to configure, figure what needs to be set, etc., but up and running. Still need to tweak IPV6.

Here's the test a few minutes ago. Not too bad hey?

THIS is what I was going for. This is off a client across the house in one of two home offices.

 

[John_]

AX86U with MB8611 modem.
Speed tests from Internet Speed tab

Testing Sabrent USB Type-A 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter 10/100/1000/2500 NT-S25G as the Internet connection vs the 2.5 Gigabit port on the AX86U.

Time Down Up
2021/10/31 11:45 1364.29 43.01 AX86
2021/10/31 11:32 602.89 42.71 Sabrent 2.5
2021/10/31 11:32 652.90 32.48 Sabrent 2.5
2021/10/31 11:06 1382.06 43.44 AX86

It seems like the Sabrent was acting like a 1 Gb connection rather than a 2.5.
Was there possibly a setting I missed when testing the Sabrent?

 

[SMS786]

Funny thing was I had to configure nothing except change it from the wan port to USB port. Disconnect the modem, change the wan port setting, plug the modem into the adapter, reboot the modem, plug it into the USB port and done. The adapter may show as 2.5gb because the modem connects to it at that speed. I'm pretty sure because the 88u thinks it's an LTE USB adapter it must not need a driver like it would for ethernet, it expects a modem and can see it through the adapter. Made me real happy to be able to get full bandwidth into the router, it cost enough and has performed well. Most everything I own connects to the WiFi at well over 1G... we'll see if Xfinity throttles me.

Ingenious work-around!

Quick question: did you have to change the USB mode setting on the router to 3.0 or were you able to keep it at 2.0 for the adapter to work?

 

[Caley]

"Asus Support that those USB 3.0 Gen1 ports are mostly for 3/4G modems only, not for adapters, but this is really stupid as USB 3.0 Gen1 is able to deliver 5Gbps speeds"

That's why someone who is skilled at digging into the firmware could be a possible solution. Can that be addressed? The hardware is capable. Something in the code is throttling it.

Y'all see this? This guy compiled his own USB driver for the Realtek RTL8156B chipset on an AX88u...

Towards 2.5GbE (NBASE-T) on ASUS RT-AX88U with RTL8156B and Asuswrt-Merlin 384.19

The lack of integrated 2.5GbE port makes ASUS RT-AX88U less powerful in my mind, especially when taking its processor BCM49408, which natively supports 2.5GbE, into account. The game however has changed, after I managed to finally reveal the full potential of AX88U with Realtek’s USB-based...

wu.renjie.im

 

[ColinTaylor]

Y'all see this?

Yes. Most of the discussions in this thread and others like have been based of that post.

 

[Caley]

Yes. Most of the discussions in this thread and others like have been based of that post.

I could have sworn the last time I checked that page he didn't have binaries posted and it was still a work in progress...

 

[ColinTaylor]

I could have sworn the last time I checked that page he didn't have binaries posted and it was still a work in progress...

Just checked and it's the same web page and binaries that were there in January 2021.

 

[Starrbuck]

I'm trying out the Plugable on my GT-AX11000 (Merlin 385.5_2). I can get about 1.7Gbps up and 1.7Gbps down on my 2 gig service. Using the 2.5g port as WAN, I can get 2.3 both ways. Also the ping is up by +5 or so. My guess would be 1.7 is the best the adapter can do. Also it is spamming the logs with these twice a second:

Apr  2 11:48:12 kernel: cdc_ncm 2-1:2.0 usb0: 2500 mbit/s downlink 2500 mbit/s uplink
Apr  2 11:48:13 kernel: cdc_ncm 2-1:2.0 usb0: network connection: connected

EDIT: I believe this is CPU-bound. During a speedtest it pegs one core to 100%.
EDIT2: I also tested the $70 Sabrent NT-SS5G and the speeds are WORSE than the Plugable.
EDIT3: Also, 1.7Gbps is the best-case scenario. More often than not, downloads were 1.2-1.5Gbps. I guess this is an option, but I would not recommend it for 2 gig service like mine. You'd be leaving too much potential speed on the table.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

“You'd be leaving too much potential speed on the table”

Right. The router will report the 2.5gb is working but the actual throughput is throttled by its hardware be it the CPU or the USB chip/circuit.

Once got PFSense PC based router up and running with multiple 2.5gb cards I only needed the 2.5gb LAN on the AX86U.