Openwrt Router Firmware

[TanKianW]

Routers like EA7500v2 and EA8100v1 has the MT7621 SoC, which may be old but is still very good as OpenWRT supports hardware offloading for gigabit connections.

Bufferbloat is another issue though, MT7621's SoC is only powerful enough to run SQM like Cake and fq_codel at less than 150Mbps.

If I remember correctly (correct me if I am wrong), the MT7621 SoC has no problem with HW offload for devices on the same subnet. But the moment you tag (implement vlans), you immediately will not see 1G (around 600-700). Coz its HW is not spec’ed for such offload which goes through another process of tagging. Personally i think the SoC has started to show its age in modern network implementation / deployment. Unless new SW updates has already work around that issue or your home network is pretty linear.​

 

[xiaofan]

If I remember correctly (correct me if I am wrong), the MT7621 SoC has no problem with HW offload for devices on the same subnet. But the moment you tag (implement vlans), you immediately will not see 1G (around 600-700). Coz its HW is not spec’ed for such offload which goes through another process of tagging. Personally i think the SoC has started to show its age in modern network implementation / deployment. Unless new SW updates has already work around that issue or your home network is pretty linear.​

I have not checked with the VLAN performance myself.

However, the comment here seems to say it may work.
> DHCP connection over 802.1q VLAN - 1Gb/s with 0% sirq.
https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/8837#issuecomment-1040427382

In any case, I think Linksys EA7500 v2 and Linksys EA8100 v1 are probably only suitable for simple use cases without using SQM and VLANs. They can be good AP or media bridge as well (with OpenWRT or with stock Linksys FW).

 

[xiaofan]

I did not test wired speed of OpenWRT 22.03 for my WRT1900AC V1 until today. It can not reach 1Gbps speed.

From the following video I came to know DSA has significantly impact the wired speed of WRT1900AC V1 (probably also other WRT AC serices wireless router running OpenWRT 21.02 and 22.03). He has to go back to 19.07 in order to gain back gigabit line speed.


My speedtest results are in line with the video.

1) with packet steering ON, sofware flow offloading and hardware flow offloading ON

2) 1) with packet steering OFF, sofware flow offloading and hardware flow offloading ON

 

[xiaofan]

1) with packet steering ON, sofware flow offloading and hardware flow offloading ON

OOkla wired speedtest result:

Bufferbloat test result: B
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=353119e7-f671-4c8e-a17d-e765c4f597cd

2) with packet steering ON, sofware flow offloading and hardware flow offloading OFF
OOKla wired Speedtest result:

Bufferbloat wired test result: B
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=a8455fbe-07f4-446c-9161-736893f3e44d

 

[xiaofan]

Wireless speedtest 3m away, with packet steering ON, sofware flow offloading and hardware flow offloading ON.

Wireless bufferbloat test result: B
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=a5cb0c56-f442-4e60-b33c-ea2cc2b6e4ce

 

[xiaofan]

I mentioned that the last release of OpenWRT for Linksys WRT AC series was 22.03.2 based on outdated OpenWRT web site pages. The website pages have been updated and now I can see that there is 23.05 release for them.
https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/23.05.0/targets/mvebu/cortexa9/

There is also an alternative build here.
https://divested.dev/unofficial-openwrt-builds/mvebu-linksys/

 

[TanKianW]

Had a recent check back (a bit of catch-up after quite a while) on the DSA framework on OpenWRT and realised.....it is pretty similar (at least to me) to MikroTik ROS br-lan settings for their CRS (CCR) switches. It should not be too big an obstacle or learning curve for users coming from ROS or from OpenWRT to ROS. Worth a read for those interested.​

OpenWRT: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/dsa/dsa-mini-tutorial

ROS Bridging: https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/Bridging+and+Switching

 

[xiaofan]

I did not test wired speed of OpenWRT 22.03 for my WRT1900AC V1 until today. It can not reach 1Gbps speed.

From the following video I came to know DSA has significantly impact the wired speed of WRT1900AC V1 (probably also other WRT AC serices wireless router running OpenWRT 21.02 and 22.03). He has to go back to 19.07 in order to gain back gigabit line speed.


My speedtest results are in line with the video.

1) with packet steering ON, sofware flow offloading and hardware flow offloading ON

2) 1) with packet steering OFF, sofware flow offloading and hardware flow offloading ON

It is better with 23.05.0 version.

But Software/HW offloading is not working. Once I enable it, LAN client can not access internet. Very strange.

Packet Steering ON, SW offloading OFF.

Bufferbload test result is B. But the speed is slow: 630.9Mbps download and 596.9Mbps upload.
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=fe420399-8446-4d26-b3a0-47541d13b8d3

 

[xiaofan]

Wireless speed seems to be better as well.

Acer 2021 model, Winodws 11 laptop with Intel AX201 wireless adapter, 3m away from the Linksys WRT1900AC.

Wireless bufferbloat result is also B. Download: 501.4Mbps; Upload: 493.0Mbps.
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=0da45403-c676-44dc-8d4d-ac2c77a020a3

 

[xiaofan]

Hmm, I can see the 5GHz wireless is not stable. It will disappear after a while. I did not test the 2.4GHz WiFi.

I will treat 23.05.0 as not stable for now and reboot back to 22.03.5 version.

The wireless speed is a bit slower but at least it is stable.

 

[xiaofan]

I did not test wired speed of OpenWRT 22.03 for my WRT1900AC V1 until today. It can not reach 1Gbps speed.

From the following video I came to know DSA has significantly impact the wired speed of WRT1900AC V1 (probably also other WRT AC serices wireless router running OpenWRT 21.02 and 22.03). He has to go back to 19.07 in order to gain back gigabit line speed.


My speedtest results are in line with the video.

1) with packet steering ON, sofware flow offloading and hardware flow offloading ON

2) 1) with packet steering OFF, sofware flow offloading and hardware flow offloading ON

Going back to 22.03.5, I find it is faster to disable SW offloading.

Wired BufferBloat test result is still B.
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=87fcaa56-8d12-4da1-9c38-e36817237ce5

 

[segafan]

Hi All!

I have been using this OpenWrt for a while but frankly I only used the stock settings..
Q: You all got any settings to share? To max out performance.
I used OpenWrt on my APs as an extension.... Previously I had disabled "WMM" but my WiFi suddenly slow like turtle. So once re-enabled WMM back, the speed is back to normal. So want to know what kind of settings you all use to max out the performance..

--

Current setup:
DB BOX: [M1 Modem] --> Asus RT-AC86U [Main Router, ASUSWRT-Merlin FW386.12, NEXTDNS as default, WPA2-Personal]

Living Room: TP-LINK TL-SG105 Unmanaged Switch -> Wired to Smart TV [CONTROLD DNS], Sound Bar, Apple TV [CONTROLD DNS]

"Dumb" APs [WiFi on WPA2-PSK/WPA3-SAE Mixed Mode]
BR1: TP-LINK RE650V1, connected to LAN port [OpenWrt 23.05.0, all others stock settings]
BR2: TP-LINK RE650V1, connected to LAN port [OpenWrt 23.05.0, all others stock settings]
MBR: TP-LINK RE650V1, connected to LAN port [OpenWrt 23.05.0, all others stock settings]
Store Room: TP-LINK RE350 V1, connected to LAN port [OpenWrt 22.03.5, all others stock settings]

Next project:
Trying to make my house have a single WiFi channel; connect to the same WiFi but backbone is the LAN?
Like Mesh idea = don't care I am in which room, no need to go to other WiFi. Currently I have 4x different WiFi SSIDs serving for each room lol!

Any tips or pointers for my this idea? Am not a network person, just know one or two tinkering..
Current lead/ info: https://forum.openwrt.org/t/seamless-wifi-multiple-access-points/1993
[But info seems quite old and no screenshots to follow]

Many thanks!!!

 

[loganrunning]

Next project:
Trying to make my house have a single WiFi channel; connect to the same WiFi but backbone is the LAN?
Like Mesh idea = don't care I am in which room, no need to go to other WiFi. Currently I have 4x different WiFi SSIDs serving for each room lol!

Any tips or pointers for my this idea? Am not a network person, just know one or two tinkering..
Current lead/ info: https://forum.openwrt.org/t/seamless-wifi-multiple-access-points/1993
[But info seems quite old and no screenshots to follow]

Many thanks!!!

for me, i ttried aimesh 1.0 (not the current ver2). went back to using wired backhaul APs.
due to bomb shelter and structural walls, i need 2 APs.
i set them at minimum power, and (to avoid interference) different channels from each other. also taking into account neighbours channel useage. all set to a single ssid.

roaming (ie decision when to move to the next AP), even with mesh, depends primarily on the clients. some will move over easily and quickly, some will hold on......

you can "encourage" them to switch over to the stronger AP by "kicking" them off when the signal level drops, but if the client insists on re-connecting to the weaker AP, then that's that.

this is generally not a problem since the speed and/or latency sensitive clients are all on wired connection. wifi is for the casual use eg streaming or casual web browsing (like now ) . streaming usually has enough buffer to tide over the handover.

this has worked for me. YMMV. cheers

 

[hwzlite]

Next project:
Trying to make my house have a single WiFi channel; connect to the same WiFi but backbone is the LAN?
Like Mesh idea = don't care I am in which room, no need to go to other WiFi. Currently I have 4x different WiFi SSIDs serving for each room lol!

Trust me make 2 Wifi channels to keep/future-proofing your sanity: Segmenting fast modern ferrari devices connect exclusively to 5GHz SSID and slow rojak, guest, IOT devices all dump to 2.4GHz SSID.

ref: https://dongknows.com/airtime-fairness-explained/

 

[xiaofan]

Hi All!

I have been using this OpenWrt for a while but frankly I only used the stock settings..
Q: You all got any settings to share? To max out performance.
I used OpenWrt on my APs as an extension.... Previously I had disabled "WMM" but my WiFi suddenly slow like turtle. So once re-enabled WMM back, the speed is back to normal. So want to know what kind of settings you all use to max out the performance..

--

Current setup:
DB BOX: [M1 Modem] --> Asus RT-AC86U [Main Router, ASUSWRT-Merlin FW386.12, NEXTDNS as default, WPA2-Personal]

Living Room: TP-LINK TL-SG105 Unmanaged Switch -> Wired to Smart TV [CONTROLD DNS], Sound Bar, Apple TV [CONTROLD DNS]

"Dumb" APs [WiFi on WPA2-PSK/WPA3-SAE Mixed Mode]
BR1: TP-LINK RE650V1, connected to LAN port [OpenWrt 23.05.0, all others stock settings]
BR2: TP-LINK RE650V1, connected to LAN port [OpenWrt 23.05.0, all others stock settings]
MBR: TP-LINK RE650V1, connected to LAN port [OpenWrt 23.05.0, all others stock settings]
Store Room: TP-LINK RE350 V1, connected to LAN port [OpenWrt 22.03.5, all others stock settings]

Next project:
Trying to make my house have a single WiFi channel; connect to the same WiFi but backbone is the LAN?
Like Mesh idea = don't care I am in which room, no need to go to other WiFi. Currently I have 4x different WiFi SSIDs serving for each room lol!

Any tips or pointers for my this idea? Am not a network person, just know one or two tinkering..
Current lead/ info: https://forum.openwrt.org/t/seamless-wifi-multiple-access-points/1993
[But info seems quite old and no screenshots to follow]

Many thanks!!!

Since you are using Wired Backhaul, 802.11s does not really apply.
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/mesh/80211s

Disclaim: I have never tried the following myself. YMMV.

You can try to follow the video guide below. Take note 802.11r is not aways working. You may need to adjust the tranmission power (reduce TX power in your case sine you got too many APs).

Video Guide:


1) Use the same SSID and same password (set the country code to SG first)
2) Try to use non-overlapping channel as much as possible (not always possible)
3) Enable 802.11r and set the same mobility domain
4) Enable WMM mode

Another video guide:

 

[xiaofan]

For people who do not have LAN ports in the rooms, you can try 802.11s wireless mesh (wireless backhaul). Disclaime: I have never tried this myself. YMMV.
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/mesh/80211s

Video guide:



VLAN over the wireless mesh (more advanced topic)

 

[xiaofan]

From the other thread.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...0-12th-gen-alder-lake.6958302/#post-150023590

Thx bro @xiaofan for the detailed NAT routing speed test
Btw any chance that you also documented their Proxmox CPU usage during all the above test, especially on OpenWRT?

Just did the test and the CPU usage is really low at average of less than 20% using Proxmox 8.0 and OpenWRT 23.05.0 VM (allocated two virtual CPU and 4GB of RAM).

Using htop under the PVE host shows one of the CPU core may go as high as 32% but the average is low. I tested multiple times. BTW, I have two LXC containers running at the same time as well.

Proxmox 8.0 and OpenWRT 23.05.0 with N100 mini PC (two Intel I226-V NICs).
NAT routing speed test.

iperf3 test server -- on the WAN side, using the PVE 8.0 host itself
iperf3 test client -- on the LAN side, Acer Swift 3 2021 model with external Ugreen USB 3.0 to 2.5G adapter

Download -- 2.37 Gbits/sec single stream
Upload --> 2.12 Gbits/sec single stream

PS C:\work\speedtest\iperf-3.15-win64> .\iperf3 -c 192.168.50.4
Connecting to host 192.168.50.4, port 5201
[  5] local 192.168.60.197 port 53390 connected to 192.168.50.4 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  5]   0.00-1.00   sec   252 MBytes  2.12 Gbits/sec

[  5]   1.00-2.00   sec   254 MBytes  2.13 Gbits/sec

[  5]   2.00-3.00   sec   253 MBytes  2.12 Gbits/sec

[  5]   3.00-4.00   sec   255 MBytes  2.14 Gbits/sec

[  5]   4.00-5.00   sec   254 MBytes  2.13 Gbits/sec

[  5]   5.00-6.00   sec   255 MBytes  2.14 Gbits/sec

[  5]   6.00-7.00   sec   253 MBytes  2.12 Gbits/sec

[  5]   7.00-8.00   sec   253 MBytes  2.12 Gbits/sec

[  5]   8.00-9.00   sec   250 MBytes  2.10 Gbits/sec

[  5]   9.00-10.00  sec   250 MBytes  2.10 Gbits/sec

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  2.47 GBytes  2.12 Gbits/sec                  sender
[  5]   0.00-10.01  sec  2.47 GBytes  2.12 Gbits/sec                  receiver

iperf Done.
PS C:\work\speedtest\iperf-3.15-win64> .\iperf3 -c 192.168.50.4 -R
Connecting to host 192.168.50.4, port 5201
Reverse mode, remote host 192.168.50.4 is sending
[  5] local 192.168.60.197 port 53404 connected to 192.168.50.4 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  5]   0.00-1.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec

[  5]   1.00-2.00   sec   280 MBytes  2.35 Gbits/sec

[  5]   2.00-3.00   sec   282 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec

[  5]   3.00-4.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec

[  5]   4.00-5.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec

[  5]   5.00-6.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec

[  5]   6.00-7.00   sec   282 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec

[  5]   7.00-8.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec

[  5]   8.00-9.00   sec   280 MBytes  2.35 Gbits/sec

[  5]   9.00-10.00  sec   282 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
[  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  2.76 GBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec    0             sender
[  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  2.76 GBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec                  receiver

iperf Done.

 

[xiaofan]

Chinese Youtube Reviewer of typical mini PCs with quad 2.5G Intel NICs (I225-V or I226-V). The reviewer usually carry out benchmarks under Windows and OpenWRT (but not virtualized, just bare metal). Under Virtualization, maybe the power will be a bit higher and then the performance may drop.

OpenWRT encryption performance comparison of Intel CPUs (mostly low power CPUs), from the above Youtube channel.

Core i3-N305 with 4 x 2.5G ports


N100 with 4 x 2.5G poirts:


N6005 with 4 x 2.5G Ports: higher full load power but still at about 20W.


N5105 with 4 x 2.5G Ports:

 

[xiaofan]

How to setup a dumb AP?

The following is a generic method. I just tried it on Linksys EA7500 v2 and it seems to work fine.
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/dumbap

 

[newsera]

@xiaofan , what's ur recommendation of Linksys WRT32X? OpenWRT or DD-WRT or the stock Linksys firmware? Have you tested it before? I got one today to play around!