Using the 2.5G ports for an AP connection

[Smokindog]

I have a RT-BE96U as my main router and have added a GT-AXE16000 as a wired AP using CAT6 cabling and the 2.5G ports on each device. Both devices indicate the connection is 2.5G (see below) but that typically is just an indication of the PHY connection. Is there a tool built in to ASUSWRT to perform a point to point test for actual link bandwidth? Both devices run the 3.0.0.6 variant of ASUSWRT.

If I hover over the circled ports on the RT-BE96U and GT-AXE16000 it indicates a 2.5G connection!

TIA

 

[ColinTaylor]

iperf3 might be built in. I'm not sure whether that's a Merlin-only thing though. If it's there you could try that via SSH, but it might suffer from CPU-limiting.

 

[lgkahn]

Turn on ssh on both of the routers..
ssh in and run iperf3 to the other router.. ie


On the one you want to test run iperf3 -S temporarilty (server)

Here is one of mine connected through fiber 2.5 gig to the upstairs router at 10g port

admin@GT-AXE16000downstairs:/tmp/home/root# iperf3 -c 192.168.11.1 -P 4
Connecting to host 192.168.11.1, port 5201
[ 4] local 192.168.11.4 port 35640 connected to 192.168.11.1 port 5201
[ 6] local 192.168.11.4 port 35642 connected to 192.168.11.1 port 5201
[ 8] local 192.168.11.4 port 35644 connected to 192.168.11.1 port 5201
[ 10] local 192.168.11.4 port 35646 connected to 192.168.11.1 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr Cwnd
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 69.2 MBytes 578 Mbits/sec 24 355 KBytes
[ 6] 0.00-1.00 sec 98.1 MBytes 819 Mbits/sec 3 419 KBytes
[ 8] 0.00-1.00 sec 61.9 MBytes 517 Mbits/sec 24 204 KBytes
[ 10] 0.00-1.00 sec 58.9 MBytes 492 Mbits/sec 33 218 KBytes
[SUM] 0.00-1.00 sec 288 MBytes 2.41 Gbits/sec 84
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 71.9 MBytes 604 Mbits/sec 35 305 KBytes
[ 6] 1.00-2.00 sec 102 MBytes 859 Mbits/sec 4 452 KBytes
[ 8] 1.00-2.00 sec 55.6 MBytes 467 Mbits/sec 10 314 KBytes
[ 10] 1.00-2.00 sec 51.0 MBytes 429 Mbits/sec 19 168 KBytes
[SUM] 1.00-2.00 sec 281 MBytes 2.36 Gbits/sec 68
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 4] 2.00-3.01 sec 46.0 MBytes 385 Mbits/sec 13 178 KBytes
[ 6] 2.00-3.01 sec 90.3 MBytes 755 Mbits/sec 20 368 KBytes
[ 8] 2.00-3.01 sec 83.5 MBytes 698 Mbits/sec 24 372 KBytes
[ 10] 2.00-3.01 sec 61.0 MBytes 510 Mbits/sec 6 247 KBytes
[SUM] 2.00-3.01 sec 281 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec 63
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 4] 3.01-4.00 sec 56.1 MBytes 472 Mbits/sec 18 197 KBytes
[ 6] 3.01-4.00 sec 85.9 MBytes 723 Mbits/sec 10 305 KBytes
[ 8] 3.01-4.00 sec 70.8 MBytes 596 Mbits/sec 6 344 KBytes
[ 10] 3.01-4.00 sec 67.4 MBytes 567 Mbits/sec 18 342 KBytes
[SUM] 3.01-4.00 sec 280 MBytes 2.36 Gbits/sec 52
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 66.0 MBytes 552 Mbits/sec 1 294 KBytes
[ 6] 4.00-5.00 sec 73.7 MBytes 617 Mbits/sec 18 298 KBytes
[ 8] 4.00-5.00 sec 62.3 MBytes 521 Mbits/sec 8 260 KBytes
[ 10] 4.00-5.00 sec 79.4 MBytes 664 Mbits/sec 20 313 KBytes
[SUM] 4.00-5.00 sec 281 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec 47
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 4] 5.00-6.01 sec 59.3 MBytes 497 Mbits/sec 19 209 KBytes
[ 6] 5.00-6.01 sec 75.6 MBytes 634 Mbits/sec 8 373 KBytes
[ 8] 5.00-6.01 sec 76.7 MBytes 643 Mbits/sec 9 324 KBytes
[ 10] 5.00-6.01 sec 68.7 MBytes 576 Mbits/sec 13 286 KBytes
[SUM] 5.00-6.01 sec 280 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec 49
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 4] 6.01-7.00 sec 52.4 MBytes 440 Mbits/sec 11 230 KBytes
[ 6] 6.01-7.00 sec 74.0 MBytes 621 Mbits/sec 33 331 KBytes
[ 8] 6.01-7.00 sec 67.8 MBytes 569 Mbits/sec 17 298 KBytes
[ 10] 6.01-7.00 sec 86.1 MBytes 722 Mbits/sec 6 335 KBytes
[SUM] 6.01-7.00 sec 280 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec 67
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 4] 7.00-8.00 sec 55.3 MBytes 466 Mbits/sec 14 253 KBytes
[ 6] 7.00-8.00 sec 64.5 MBytes 543 Mbits/sec 14 235 KBytes
[ 8] 7.00-8.00 sec 65.2 MBytes 549 Mbits/sec 25 202 KBytes
[ 10] 7.00-8.00 sec 95.1 MBytes 801 Mbits/sec 9 390 KBytes
[SUM] 7.00-8.00 sec 280 MBytes 2.36 Gbits/sec 62
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 67.1 MBytes 562 Mbits/sec 23 247 KBytes
[ 6] 8.00-9.00 sec 57.7 MBytes 484 Mbits/sec 18 250 KBytes
[ 8] 8.00-9.00 sec 62.3 MBytes 523 Mbits/sec 9 205 KBytes
[ 10] 8.00-9.00 sec 93.4 MBytes 784 Mbits/sec 9 315 KBytes
[SUM] 8.00-9.00 sec 280 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec 59
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ 4] 9.00-10.01 sec 80.2 MBytes 670 Mbits/sec 11 307 KBytes
[ 6] 9.00-10.01 sec 56.2 MBytes 469 Mbits/sec 5 262 KBytes
[ 8] 9.00-10.01 sec 71.0 MBytes 592 Mbits/sec 1 280 KBytes
[ 10] 9.00-10.01 sec 74.3 MBytes 621 Mbits/sec 2 280 KBytes
[SUM] 9.00-10.01 sec 282 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec 19
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
[ 4] 0.00-10.01 sec 623 MBytes 523 Mbits/sec 169 sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.01 sec 621 MBytes 521 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.01 sec 778 MBytes 652 Mbits/sec 133 sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.01 sec 775 MBytes 650 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.01 sec 677 MBytes 568 Mbits/sec 133 sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.01 sec 675 MBytes 566 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.01 sec 735 MBytes 616 Mbits/sec 135 sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.01 sec 733 MBytes 614 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.01 sec 2.75 GBytes 2.36 Gbits/sec 570 sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.01 sec 2.74 GBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec receiver

iperf Done.
admin@GT-AXE16000downstairs:/tmp/home/root#

 

[Smokindog]

iperf3 might be built in. I'm not sure whether that's a Merlin-only thing though. If it's there you could try that via SSH, but it might suffer from CPU-limiting.

Don't know why I didn't think to look for that, THANK YOU! It is there in ASUSWRT (at least 3.0.0.6) and the base tests in each direction were good.

 

[Smokindog]

For people wanting to take advantage of the 2.5G ports but "only have CAT 5E" wiring, fear no more (or at least fear less). I got the same throughput when I swapped to the CAT5E port in my office and it even goes through a telco punch down in my wiring closet with a rat tail connect to the RT-BE86U. SAME NUMBERS, both direction to the RT-BE96U! Good thing running the CAT6 wasn't that much effort and it IS a homerun at least!.

@CollinTaylor got me curious about the CPU loading. I also have a GT-AXE11000 which is a lower speed CPU (1.8 vs 2GHz), less memory and one less radio 3.0.0.4 version of the GT-AXE16000.

After seeing that the CAT 5E run worked for the GT-AXE16000 (prolly 100ish feet) I connected my GT-AXE11000 CAT5E termination to the other 10GW/L port on the RT-BE96U and validated the PHY between the RT-BE96U and the GT-AXE110000 was 2.5G

I then ran a series of iperf tests between GT-AXE11000 and the GT-AXE16000 with the RT-BE96U as the switch in the middle.

With the GT-AXE16000 as the server I got the same 2.35GB ish numbers. With the GT-AXE11000 as the server it dropped to just over 2GBish. I ran the tests with a single thread, 2 threads, and 4 threads over 30 seconds. No statistically significant changes were observed.

So as theorized, the 1.8GHz processor in the GT-AXE11000 appears to get challenged vs the 2.0GHz version in the GT-AXE16000

The GT-AXE16000 were on sale at less than $250 out the door last weekend on the ASUS site. I lost a 24 port Gb switch and an RT-AX88U in our thunder storms a couple weeks ago.

 

[TheLostSwede]

@Smokindog the whole point of NBASE-T is that it works over CAT 5e and doesn't need CAT 6.

2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And no, it's not the SoC that's being "challenged" all the network stuff is offloaded from the SoC.

 

[Smokindog]

UPDATE on GT-AXE11000 2.5G performance -

My friend has 2 GT-AXE11000, one main and one AP with CAT6 between the rooms. When I was over there a couple days ago I repeated the iperf tests I ran above on his pair of AXE11000's. I maxed out at about 1.3G. Ran both directions, 1, 2, and 4 threads .... 1.3G was it.

Just to be sure I brought his AP next to the main router and connected with the short CAT6 that comes with the router (also tried a brand new 3 ft CAT5E). No change, 1.3G is the max between the 2 GT-AXE11000. Network is configure IPV4 only and it mattered not if I used the IPV4 switch in iperf. I was kind of expected the 2Gb ish I reported above when using my BE96 or AXE16000 with the AXE11000.

Anyway, it's a data point if you want to use it!!

 

[jksmurf]

UPDATE on GT-AXE11000 2.5G performance -

My friend has 2 GT-AXE11000, one main and one AP with CAT6 between the rooms. When I was over there a couple days ago I repeated the iperf tests I ran above on his pair of AXE11000's. I maxed out at about 1.3G. Ran both directions, 1, 2, and 4 threads .... 1.3G was it.

Just to be sure I brought his AP next to the main router and connected with the short CAT6 that comes with the router (also tried a brand new 3 ft CAT5E). No change, 1.3G is the max between the 2 GT-AXE11000. Network is configure IPV4 only and it mattered not if I used the IPV4 switch in iperf. I was kind of expected the 2Gb ish I reported above when using my BE96 or AXE16000 with the AXE11000.

Anyway, it's a data point if you want to use it!!

May be way off base here but maybe worth having a look at this:

Solved - GT-AX6000 2.5G LAN Port - only negotiating at 1G on switch

Does the BE86U or BE88U do any better? Probably not. They have broken bwdpi engine to begin with.

www.snbforums.com

k.

 

[visortgw]

I actually have 10 Gbps from GT-BE98 Pro to GT-AXE16000 and 2.5 Gbps to (2) GT-AX6000 AiMesh nodes via managed switch using Cat 6 wired through walls/punchdown block and Cat 6 or better patch cables. Works like a champ!