Openwrt Router Firmware

[xiaofan]

OpenWRT dual wan setup using mwan3

The documentation seems to be pretty complicated:
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/multiwan/mwan3
But the following video seems to be simple to follow -- dual wan load balancing.
In Singapore context you can ignore the PPPoE part, just set wanb to use DHCP.

 

[xiaofan]

Somehow I tried it on my dual networks setup and it does not really work as expected.

OpenWRT virtual router
wan -- eth0, from Singtel with one public IP
wanb -- eth2, from Asus RT-AX82U with private IP (192.168.50.x); Asus router has another public IP

Load balance is set as per the above video. Both wan and wanb are shown as online in the status page (Status -- Load Balancing).

1) Yes I can access both the OpenWRT router (LAN: 192.168.28.1) and Asus router (LAN: 192.168.50.1); iperf3 to both seem to work fine.

2) However load balancing does not seem to work. When I run SpeedTest, I can see only one wan port used. In the paticular test I can see only wanb is used.

3) If wanb is down, no internet access. Once wanb is up agin, I can have internet access.

So I think this experiment is a failure.

PS C:\work\speedtest\iperf3.10.1_64bit> .\iperf3.exe -c 192.168.50.6
Connecting to host 192.168.50.6, port 5201
[  5] local 192.168.28.120 port 52486 connected to 192.168.50.6 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  5]   0.00-1.01   sec  46.8 MBytes   390 Mbits/sec
[  5]   1.01-2.00   sec  48.2 MBytes   407 Mbits/sec
[  5]   2.00-3.00   sec  46.9 MBytes   392 Mbits/sec
[  5]   3.00-4.00   sec  45.4 MBytes   382 Mbits/sec
[  5]   4.00-5.00   sec  48.6 MBytes   408 Mbits/sec
[  5]   5.00-6.01   sec  44.9 MBytes   375 Mbits/sec
[  5]   6.01-7.00   sec  51.8 MBytes   436 Mbits/sec
[  5]   7.00-8.01   sec  49.1 MBytes   408 Mbits/sec
[  5]   8.01-9.00   sec  48.2 MBytes   408 Mbits/sec
[  5]   9.00-10.00  sec  48.6 MBytes   408 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  5]   0.00-10.00  sec   478 MBytes   401 Mbits/sec                  sender
[  5]   0.00-10.05  sec   478 MBytes   399 Mbits/sec                  receiver

iperf Done.
PS C:\work\speedtest\iperf3.10.1_64bit> .\iperf3.exe -c 192.168.28.1
Connecting to host 192.168.28.1, port 5201
[  5] local 192.168.28.120 port 52506 connected to 192.168.28.1 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  5]   0.00-1.00   sec  57.0 MBytes   476 Mbits/sec
[  5]   1.00-2.00   sec  47.8 MBytes   402 Mbits/sec
[  5]   2.00-3.00   sec  55.2 MBytes   463 Mbits/sec
[  5]   3.00-4.00   sec  49.4 MBytes   414 Mbits/sec
[  5]   4.00-5.00   sec  55.4 MBytes   465 Mbits/sec
[  5]   5.00-6.00   sec  55.6 MBytes   467 Mbits/sec
[  5]   6.00-7.01   sec  54.4 MBytes   455 Mbits/sec
[  5]   7.01-8.01   sec  56.8 MBytes   476 Mbits/sec
[  5]   8.01-9.00   sec  55.1 MBytes   464 Mbits/sec
[  5]   9.00-10.00  sec  50.8 MBytes   426 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  5]   0.00-10.00  sec   537 MBytes   451 Mbits/sec                  sender
[  5]   0.00-10.01  sec   537 MBytes   450 Mbits/sec                  receiver

iperf Done.

 

[xiaofan]

I tried again by following the video with Linksys WRT1900AC and it seems load balancing is working.

WAN -- from pfSense (192.168.28.x)
WANB -- from Asus RT-AX82U (192.168.50.x)
No IPv6 configured

The ratio is often not 1:1 though.

 

[xiaofan]

Singtel SpeedTest server (new server) is now pretty good and becomes my go-to Speedtest server now.

Using OpenWRT 21.02.1 on the Linksys EA7500 v2, client is an Acer laptop with Intel AX201 wifi adapter, close range. No fight to the Asus RT-AX82U but very decent wireless speed.

 

[xiaofan]

I encountered a strange error when trying to set up Dual WAN Load Balancing on OpenWRT 21.02.1 for my virtual OpenWRT instance under PVE 7.1.

root@OpenWrt:/etc/config# mwan3 restart
ip: invalid argument 'blackhole' to 'ip'
ip: invalid argument 'unreachable' to 'ip'
ip: invalid argument 'blackhole' to 'ip'
ip: invalid argument 'unreachable' to 'ip'
ip: invalid argument 'unreachable' to 'ip'
ip: invalid argument 'unreachable' to 'ip'
root@OpenWrt:/etc/config# mwan3 status
Interface status:
 interface wanb is error (4) and tracking is active
 interface wan is error (4) and tracking is active
 ...

The solution is to force reinstall ip-full package.

root@OpenWrt:/etc/config# opkg --force-reinstall install ip-full
No packages removed.
Installing ip-full (5.11.0-3) to root...
Downloading https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/21.02.1/packages/x86_64/base/ip-full_5.11.0-3_x86_64.ipk
Configuring ip-full.

root@OpenWrt:/etc/config# mwan3 restart

root@OpenWrt:/etc/config# mwan3 status
Interface status:
 interface wanb is online 00h:00m:05s, uptime 00h:22m:58s and tracking is active
 interface wan is online 00h:00m:05s, uptime 00h:23m:01s and tracking is active
 ...

 

[xiaofan]

I have again removed the adblock package as it is really CPU intensive because of the large filter list, 1 of the core is constantly going to near 100% (the other core is okay) -- average CPU usage is above 50%. This is on an OpenWRT VM (allocated 2-core and 2GB RAM) on an Intel J4105 mini PC running PVE 7.1 hypervisor.

Now I use another Pi-hole container as the LAN DNS server to block ads. Now the normal CPU usage goes down to 10% average.

 

[rubicon]

I'm using gli.net products too. brume and mudi which come with adguard.

 

[redglue23]

Fairly disappointing 2.4Ghz results on Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21. I know this is not a good comparison but I have tried to mimic same 2.4Ghz settings on both routers and firmware, the speedtest were duplicated at least thrice within 1 hr of both routers during off peak timing. Same laptop used, in exact same position for both routers/laptop.

• DIR-868L-DD-WRTv48540 - 2.4Ghz 90+/56+ (Rated AC1750)
• Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21 - 2.4Ghz 38+/56+ (Rated AC2600)

Note to self: Don't get caught up by too much marketing hype, it is perfectly ok to use a 2014 router in 2022 if it gives better real life performance.

Please give me some pointers, I may tinker with the Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21 later in the year. Feel abit burdened by the possibility that my relatives will laugh at my DIR-868L during 2023 CNY!

 

[xiaofan]

Fairly disappointing 2.4Ghz results on Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21. I know this is not a good comparison but I have tried to mimic same 2.4Ghz settings on both routers and firmware, the speedtest were duplicated at least thrice within 1 hr of both routers during off peak timing. Same laptop used, in exact same position for both routers/laptop.

• DIR-868L-DD-WRTv48540 - 2.4Ghz 90+/56+ (Rated AC1750)
• Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21 - 2.4Ghz 38+/56+ (Rated AC2600)

Note to self: Don't get caught up by too much marketing hype, it is perfectly ok to use a 2014 router in 2022 if it gives better real life performance.

Please give me some pointers, I may tinker with the Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21 later in the year. Feel abit burdened by the possibility that my relatives will laugh at my DIR-868L during 2023 CNY!

It is difficult to compare 2.4GHz performance of different routers as the 2.4GHz band is very much subjected to the environmental factor (too congested) . And it is not necessarily that AC2600 (4*4 AC) router will perform better than AC1750 (3*3 AC) in either 2.4GHz and 5GHz as the client usually support only 2*2 AC.

Personally I do not really care for 2.4GHz performance as only very few clients use 2.4GHz at home. For my main wireless AP (Asus RT-AX82U) I even disable 2.4GHz. I use another lower AP for the 2.4GHz clients. I got decent 5Ghz performance from the Linksys EA7500 v2 running OpenWRT FW with the 5GHz band.

Still you may want to compare the stock Linksys FW versus the OpenWRT FW to see if they are comparable or not.

Another thing is that you can get two units of Linksys EA7500v2 and form a mesh using OpenWRT. In that case the 4*4 AC may provide an advantage if you use wireless backhaul. Or if you use a single EA7500 v2 as the media bridge and if your main router is also 4*4 AC rated.

BTW, my 2014 WRT1900AC was used as a main router from April 2014 to Sept 2020. So yes you can continue using your old router if it is still working for your use case. In fact it is still working now and I have instaled OpenWRT FW on it. Its wireless performnace is a bit worse than the Linksys EA7500v2 but still usable.

 

[redglue23]

@xiaofan Many thanks for your pointers always.

Unfortunately there are 2 legacy 2.4G devices at home which are daily drivers, while yes, I can use another EA7500 as a glorified AC adaptor lan connected for the PC but I don't think I would like to clutter another router on the table. Besides, 2.4Ghz 90+/56+ is sufficient bandwidth for its use. The other 2.4G device does not have a lan port, so turning off 2.4G is not an option. So far (last 6 months), DIR-868L-DD-WRTv48540 2.4G has been very consistent and stable with low latency.

So between,

• DIR-868L-DD-WRTv48540 - 2.4Ghz 90+/56+ | 5Ghz 280+/120+
• Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21 - 2.4Ghz 38+/56+ | 5Ghz 427+/575+

I will take the DIR-868L-DD-WRTv48540 based on the overall device usage within the house.

I think the poor 2.4G performance for Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21 is a MT7621 driver issue? https://forum.openwrt.org/t/slow-speed-on-mt7620/116387
Hopefully new updated drivers will see an improved 2.4G performance in the future. I will check this thread often to follow your Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRT updates.

 

[twxian88]

Recently my unifi ap connected to my openwrt router assigned IP addresses to some devices but the IP addresses are not showing up in the DHCP of the openwrt router anyone knows what could be the issue here ? This happens randomly sometimes it appears in the openwrt DHCP table sometimes it does not and the device will not have internet connection.

 

[xiaofan]

Recently my unifi ap connected to my openwrt router assigned IP addresses to some devices but the IP addresses are not showing up in the DHCP of the openwrt router anyone knows what could be the issue here ? This happens randomly sometimes it appears in the openwrt DHCP table sometimes it does not and the device will not have internet connection.

Not so sure what happended here. But you can try the following.
1) Make sure you do not have other DHCP servers in the same network.
2) Netowrk --> DHCP and DNS --> General settings --> Enable Authoritative (This is the only DHCP in the local network)

 

[xiaofan]

The next major release -- OpenWRT 22.03 is on the way (now rc6)
https://openwrt.org/releases/22.03/start

 

[jkohlc2]

installed openwrt on my EA8100

realized it's more chim that I expected

wanted to setup DoH with NextDNS then I realize I have no idea how to do it using dnsmasq and dns https proxy, end up just enter the dns ip address and call it a day

 

[xiaofan]

installed openwrt on my EA8100

realized it's more chim that I expected

wanted to setup DoH with NextDNS then I realize I have no idea how to do it using dnsmasq and dns https proxy, end up just enter the dns ip address and call it a day

Google finds this one, not so sure if that works or not. I am not using NextDNS.
https://help.nextdns.io/t/h7hnqz2/openwrt-dns-over-https-device-names

 

[jkohlc2]

Google finds this one, not so sure if that works or not. I am not using NextDNS.
https://help.nextdns.io/t/h7hnqz2/openwrt-dns-over-https-device-names

saw this, was confused how they access the CLI

first time hearing about SSH

 

[redglue23]

installed openwrt on my EA8100

realized it's more chim that I expected

wanted to setup DoH with NextDNS then I realize I have no idea how to do it using dnsmasq and dns https proxy, end up just enter the dns ip address and call it a day

Bro, I assume you are on OpenWRT 22.03? Can trouble you to test your 2.4GHz upload/download using speedtest?

My 2.4GHz results were dismal, not sure if the new MT76 drivers will make the 2.4GHz performance better?

• Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21 - 2.4Ghz 38+/56+ | 5Ghz 427+/575+

 

[xiaofan]

OpenWRT 22.03.0 has been released. I have not tried it though.
https://openwrt.org/releases/22.03/notes-22.03.0

 

[jkohlc2]

Bro, I assume you are on OpenWRT 22.03? Can trouble you to test your 2.4GHz upload/download using speedtest?

My 2.4GHz results were dismal, not sure if the new MT76 drivers will make the 2.4GHz performance better?

• Linksys-EA7500v2-OpenWRTv21 - 2.4Ghz 38+/56+ | 5Ghz 427+/575+

nope, it's currently OpenWRT 21.02.3 on my EA8100

these are the results of 2.4GHz vs 5GHz done on my Oneplus 9, distance from router is about 2 meter

ISP is Viewqwest 1Gbps

seems like 2.4GHz speed is similar to yours

 

[xiaofan]

Just installed OpenWRT 22.03.0 on my Intel J4105 mini PC with PVE.

The good thing using the PVE is that I can easily switched between different router OS. I can also use various Linux VMs and LXC containers.

I have an AP (Singtel Mesh Router) connected to the mini PC LAN port for wireless connection.

Step 1: install OpenWRT (resize the image size to 1GB using tip from Step 2)
Ref: https://www.jwtechtips.top/how-to-install-openwrt-in-proxmox/

Step 2: expand firesystem
After the installations, one important step is to expand the firesystem.
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/installation/openwrt_x86
Step 3: finish basic set up and then install additional software packages
After that, I did some quick network setup and then installed a few software packages like adblock (not as good as Pi-hole), DDNS and DNS over https. I also install some network utilities like dig and tcpdump.

Step 4: restore previous settings if desired
I actually backup the settings from OpenWRT 21.02.1 and then restore the settings from OpenWRT 22.02.0. Therefore I can get DDNS working out of the box and no need to go through the settings again.

Step 5: setting up more advanced things like VPN and remore access
Next step I will try to set up wireguard and OpenVPN. Not so sure if I want to try ZeroTier or TailScale or not.

1. OpenWRT 21.02.1:

Hostname	OpenWrt
Model	QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)
Architecture	Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4105 CPU @ 1.50GHz
Target Platform	x86/64
Firmware Version	OpenWrt 21.02.1 r16325-88151b8303 / LuCI openwrt-21.02 branch git-22.245.77575-63bfee6
Kernel Version	5.4.154

2. OpenWRT 22.03.0

Hostname	OpenWrt
Model	QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)
Architecture	Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4105 CPU @ 1.50GHz
Target Platform	x86/64
Firmware Version	OpenWrt 22.03.0 r19685-512e76967f / LuCI openwrt-22.03 branch git-22.245.77528-487e58a
Kernel Version	5.10.138