Which router for NordVPN

[RMerlin]

Asuswrt's OpenVPN implementation does not support IPv6, only IPv4. So when using an OpenVPN tunnel with a dual stack provider, all your IPv6 traffic will still directly go through your ISP and not through your VPN tunnel, which is why it will be able to run at your ISP's rated speed. For OpenVPN, the RT-AC87U can hit around 20-30 Mbps with AES-256-CBC, or about 40-60 Mbps with AES-128-CBC (speed might vary a bit based on other factors).

 

[RMerlin]

I do not recommend changing the WAN DNS as recommended by NordVPN, because that means you will use those DNS even when not using the VPN. Leave that to Automatic, and make sure the DNS settings on the OpenVPN page is set to Exclusive. That way, WAN-routed clients will use the ISP DNS, and VPN-routed clients will use the NordVPN DNS.

 

[GrandM1961]

Whilst not 100% accurate, can you post the output of

curl --interface tun1X -o /dev/null http://speedtest.wdc01.softlayer.com/downloads/test500.zip

where X is the VPN Client ID e.g. 1 thru 5

If you can perform the test several times i.e. morning/evening etc. this may provide substantiating evidence of your VPN speed.

the website seems to be offline, so I can't do a speedtest with that one

 

[ColinTaylor]

Try:

curl --interface tun1X -o /dev/null http://speedtest.tele2.net/500MB.zip

 

[GrandM1961]

Try:

curl --interface tun1X -o /dev/null http://speedtest.tele2.net/500MB.zip

Thnx that did work and a big thnx to @RMerlin for the advice and which I have done, and now the speeds are as everybody says. here is the result:

% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current

Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed

100 100M 100 100M 0 0 4256k 0 0:00:24 0:00:24 --:--:-- 4153k

 

[ColinTaylor]

100 100M 100 100M 0 0 4256k 0 0:00:24 0:00:24 --:--:-- 4153k

Thanks.

So 4153 kB/s = 33 Mbps

 

[Val D.]

Thnx that did work and a big thnx to @RMerlin for the advice and which I have done, and now the speeds are as everybody says.

See, no need to be aggressive.
Now you can use your VPN properly, just not with 500/500 speeds. Before your traffic was going through WAN and you were thinking you are protected. Hopefully you didn’t sell a lot of guns and drugs in this period.

 

[GrandM1961]

I do not recommend changing the WAN DNS as recommended by NordVPN, because that means you will use those DNS even when not using the VPN. Leave that to Automatic, and make sure the DNS settings on the OpenVPN page is set to Exclusive. That way, WAN-routed clients will use the ISP DNS, and VPN-routed clients will use the NordVPN DNS.

Thanks Merlin for the advice, but I have one question, how come when I disable the VPN in the router and use the app on my Mac I do get close to my ISP speeds?

 

[ColinTaylor]

but I have one question, how come when I disable the VPN in the router and use the app on my Mac I do get close to my ISP speeds?

Because the encryption is being done by the CPU in your Mac instead of the CPU in the router.

 

[GrandM1961]

Because the encryption is being done by the CPU in your Mac instead of the CPU in the router.

What router would be than a better choice or aren't there any other routers that can do this??

 

[Val D.]

What router would be than a better choice or aren't there any other routers that can do this??

No router can do 500/500. You need a custom build pfSense box with i5 or above x86 CPU. And this speed is not guaranteed by any VPN server.

 

[ColinTaylor]

What router would be than a better choice or aren't there any other routers that can do this??

As @Val D. said previously the RT-AC86U can do ~200Mbps.

No router can do 500/500. You need a custom build pfSense box with i5 or above x86 CPU. And this speed is not guaranteed by any VPN server.

I don't know whether NordVPN can supply 500Mbps. The most I've ever seen from them is 200Mbps.

 

[Val D.]

I do not recommend changing the WAN DNS as recommended by NordVPN

Yes and I don’t even use their DNS at all. The server is on the other side of the world and slow.

I don't know whether NordVPN can supply 500Mbps. The most I've ever seen from them is 200Mbps.

Yes and only on a local server. I’ve seen about 260Mbps using a PC. This is not a bad deal actually for few $ a month service.

 

[GrandM1961]

See, no need to be aggressive.
Now you can use your VPN properly, just not with 500/500 speeds. Before your traffic was going through WAN and you were thinking you are protected. Hopefully you didn’t sell a lot of guns and drugs in this period.

Instead of saying this can't be done or your comparison with a car, and your downright remarks. you could have helped to figure this thing out like ColinTaylor did, but no still you making remarks. well once a ..... always an ......

 

[Val D.]

Instead of saying this can't be done

Yes, it can’t be done. And we know why. Now you also know why. Thanks for the compliments and in your face things.

Have a good day and safe VPN-ing.

 

[Grisu]

Instead of saying this can't be done or your comparison with a car, and your downright remarks. you could have helped to figure this thing out like ColinTaylor did, but no still you making remarks. well once a ..... always an ......

We couldnt help at the beginning, as you didnt accept that you are wrong with your VPN speeds and refused everything we tried to say.
First you have to believe that there may be something wrong with your config, then we may be able to tell you how to verify.
There are so many possibilities what can go wrong, there is not the one and only point where it can fail, it was much luck to find it with first hint.

And believe me, most of the replies (not mine) has been from experts like Merlin, you still give them the feeling that you only trust in him an no one else!
These are just the thoughts of an "external" reader, I never used VPN, but read a lot here and know whats possible or far away to be real.

 

[Dave Parker]

I really enjoyed reading all of the above, most is above my paygrade, but I learend a bit. I do know this, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

 

[Val D.]

The thing is someone may decide to get the underpowered RT-AC87U based on incorrect information provided. This thread is about best routers for VPN and RT-AC87U is definitely not one of them.

 

[OzarkEdge]

The thing is someone may decide to get the underpowered RT-AC87U based on incorrect information provided. This thread is about best routers for VPN and RT-AC87U is definitely not one of them.

True! @GrandM1961 joined this discussion by offering the OP bad advice. When corrected, he protested instead of seeking to discover what might be broken with his VPN install. That approach is the long way around to effective troubleshooting... and learning something new.

OE

 

[Val D.]

I don't know if I dare ask a question here it seems to be getting a bit hot and heavy but I am intrigued by the speeds being achieved here.I have an rt ac 88 u with Merlin firmware 13 and I use express VPN ( open) .My plan is 50 mbs on HFC and whilst I get very close to the max speed (46 mbs) while not through the VPN but only about 10 mbs while using the VPN. Is this normal for express VPN compared to Nord ? I use a Roku device to stream and that is how I am measuring both speeds although I have checked it on speed.net and Okla. I think it's called.if it's not normal what am I doing wrong?

Your RT-AC88U has the same type of CPU as RT-AC87U, but a bit faster version (C0 1.4GHz vs A0 1.0GHz). In theory you should be able to reach about 40-50Mbps OpenVPN speeds with AES-256 encryption on a local VPN server. Real world speed depends on how far is the server you connect to, how busy this server is at the moment, what else is using your Internet connection in the same time, what else is your router doing in the same time, etc.

As an experiment try this:
- in OpenVPN Client -> upload a local ExpressVPN server file
- in OpenVPN Client -> Accept DNS Configuration select Disabled
- in WAN -> Connect to DNS Server automatically select No
- in WAN -> enter Cloudflare DNS servers 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
- disable AiProtection, QoS, Traffic Monitoring, App Analysis, etc.
- stop temporarily all other traffic on your Internet connection and LAN
- test what VPN speed you can get on Speedtest.net
Don't forget to hit Apply after every change.

You have no much of a choice though if the goal is to use a VPN server in another country with specific DNS in order to avoid some restrictions.