Netgear R7000 - ddwrt VPN slow down

LordVader · 30 Jun 2017 at 16:14

I brought an netgear R7000 due to my SH3 having really poor wifi single at home.

Also brought it with intention to install dd-wrt and use openvpn to protect my whole network.

Installed dd-wrt all fine and openvpn with PIA but when i connect to PIA it kills my download speed (on virgin 200).

Download is max 40-50mb. As soon as i disable the vpn on the router it goes straight back upto max speed.

Cant understand why? Using the PIA client on windows normally i still can get max speed.

ANDARIAL · 30 Jun 2017 at 21:45

I `think`that openvpn is mainly single core optimised???
I read that somewhere that for full speed you need a pc based router setup like pfsense

LordVader · 1 Jul 2017 at 10:25

Is there any router you can buy that's fast enough for max VPN connection?

LordVader · 1 Jul 2017 at 13:00

Reading about looks like even with a dual core 1GHz just not fast enough to handle fast VPN connections....nor can i find anything that can run at full speed

Avalon · 1 Jul 2017 at 15:00

The router in question lacks a hardware FPU, it therefore has to do software FPU emulation for encryption and that sucks. This is why you don't run meaningful encryption on a router that lacks hardware acceleration. You have options, they basically involve using a better router that will support hardware acceleration (read not a consumer grade box) or build one, the other option is you use crappy encryption and increase speed that way. Your choice.

Rainmaker · 1 Jul 2017 at 16:39

You need something like this with pfSense installed as said above. The linked box (no endorsement, it's just one I've seen on pfSense forums before) has a Braswell CPU with a 1.6GHz/2GHz clockspeed and crucially it supports AES-NI. This means it can process OpenVPN encryption in hardware and should give you practically line speed if set up correctly. It has 2GB of RAM (ample for a router) and a 32GB SSD (again, overkill) included. You'd need to learn a little about setting up pfSense and OpenVPN but there are lots of guides around.

Edited to add: That case is ugly, but it's fanless and the whole box is only 10 watts maximum. The company (Qotom) do a lower, slimmer router case with 4 Intel NICs so if you contact them I'm sure they'd be able to oblige with a custom box. They sell a dizzying array of case/config options so I'm sure it's doable. You only need the two NICs btw. One for WAN in (from the SuperHub) and one for LAN out to a switch. I have a similar setup which goes SH3 > pfSense box > gigabit PoE switch | Ubiquiti Unifi UAC Pro | wired clients. Rock solid.

ANDARIAL · 1 Jul 2017 at 16:55

Ouch at the shipping though :eek:

Rainmaker · 1 Jul 2017 at 17:07

ANDARIAL said:
Ouch at the shipping though

Haha I didn't see that, I just grabbed the first one I saw. There are dozens of others so feel free to dig around. Even at £160 inc it's cheap for a fast capable router with a decent amount of RAM and an SSD. It's in a metal case also so it'll last years. I'm currently sat in Mallorca on holiday so I've given everything I can be bothered to. As you were.

lmfy2k · 1 Jul 2017 at 17:10

I've Been after a small pfsense box too that's a decent price... Still looking!

Pfsense hardware they sell s bit over my budget

ANDARIAL · 1 Jul 2017 at 17:10

Enjoy your holiday m8
Looked at similar small pcs a while back but looked a bit too complicated for me,ended up with a netgear 6400 running ddwrt and using openvpn client
I only have a max 3.5 meg line so easily copes with the speed lol