Slow VPN connection with GL-MT300A

mike-s · 2016-12-23T01:21:06.000Z

Hi,

I have a GL-MT300A, but I do not think it has a CPU with enough power for providing a VPN connection over 40Mbps fibre,

When I do not use VPN I typical see download rates around 4MBps.

When I enable VPN (NordVPN) on the router the download rates drop to about ~1.6MBps.

If I disable VPN on the router and connect using the NordVPN app within Windows I get download rates between 3.5MBps and 4.0MBps

I really like this mini router, and would like to purchase a similar one that will be able to cope with the throughput.

I can see the GL-AR300M has an Atheros 9531 @650MHz, but I am not sure how that CPU compares with the MTK7620A @580MHz. I guess the other option might be the AR300M.

Please can someone advise me which of the other products will allow the higher data rates over VPN.

Many thanks,

Mike

rangerz · 2016-12-23T04:23:15.000Z

Mike, Please confirm that you are mixing Mbps and MBps and have properly converted.

If so then your 1.6MBps is 12.8Mbps and I will suggest in line for a device of this class. I have an MTK720 device and get about the same results. Results vary widely based upon what combination of wired and wireless I use and of course my connection, which is generally slower than yours while on the road.

Devices in this class (most consumer routers) lack the hardware encryption (AES) you will get in most any modern PC. This coupled with a much slower CPU and lower RAM leave us OpenVPN speeds that are usable for video in most cases, but not speed demons.

It may be helpful to others going forward if you detail how you are connecting, what ISP you have and which firmware you are on. Not getting your ISP’s max speed probably means you are connecting wirelessly (repeater?) on at least one side.

You may want to search this forum for “vpn speed”. there was a post at one time where some were reporting speed results. Also so this post in particular: 404 Page not found - GL.iNet

mike-s · 2016-12-23T07:41:01.000Z

Hi RangerZ,

Thankyou for your reply.

I will attempt to clarify what I am seeing using the results using speedtest.net to remove confusion between MBps and Mbps.

Device/Connection Info

Router: GL-MT300A
Firmware Version: 2.24
ISP: Sky Fibre Broadband
PC Connection: Wired LAN only.

Speedtest.net result (No VPN)

Ping: 22ms
Download: 35.57 Mbps
Upload 9.27 Mbps

Speedtest.net result (NordVPN app on Win10 PC only - Using VPN server United Kingdom #32 UDP)

Ping: 21ms
Download: 30.95 Mbps
Upload 8.69 Mbps

Speedtest.net result (NordVPN connection using uk32.nordvpn.com.udp1194.ovpn config file on Router)

Ping: 22ms
Download: 11.39 Mbps
Upload 8.76 Mbps

I hope that is clearer.

I suspect the problem is the GL-MT300A cannot perform the mathematical calculations to encode/decode the encryption fast enough (as you mentioned), and is the reason for the download rate being lower by about 1/3.

The download rates I am getting are usuable, but I would prefer to purchase a device that is capable of providing the higher throughput as seen when using the NordVPN app (or at least nearly as good).

I am really just wondering whether anyone who has a GL-AR300M or a AR300M with fast internet connections can tell me how well they perform so I can decide whether to purchase one of them.

Best regards,

Mike

rangerz · 2016-12-23T08:18:10.000Z

Great answer Mike

Here is another post in the same thread with some comps from another provider across all the platforms.

gl-inet.com

404 Page not found

We bring secure network hardwares and softwares to homes, office buildings and industrial facilities, inspiring a smarter lifestyle for the world.

The AR300 performs the best, but still not in line with your PC.

To get the performance I think you want you really need to step up to something like this.

PC Engines apu2 system boards which will run you closer to low $200 US or build a Small Form Factor PC. You will also need to build your own firmware, though there is some support for the APU2 in dev. I recall a thread on one of the high end consumer boxes (no clue which) that reported VPN at better than 30 .

If you do not need wireless and not married to OpenWrt\LEDE there is this new toy: Blog No real feedback on it yet that I can find.

This is in the PIA forum: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/discussion/2845/openvpn-router-speeds

mike-s · 2016-12-23T09:10:45.000Z

Thankyou for the follow-up RangerZ,

I can see some interesting alternatives in the links that you have provided, and I will read up a bit more.

I would be satisfied if I can get the download rate upto about 20-25Mbps. If the AR300 can manage this then that might be the best option, otherwise, it looks like I will have to spend quite a bit more for an alterative. I’ll think about this more about this more after the Christmas break.

EDIT;

I just found the speed test results in the link that you provided:

MT300A: 14.82Mbps download, 10.58Mbps upload.
MT300N: 10.59Mbps upload, 8.07 Mbps download

AR150: 11.02Mbps download, 8.85Mbps upload

AR300: 17.17Mbps download, 13.21Mbps upload

It looks like there will not be much of an improvement by going to the AR300. Although, I am not sure if that is referring to the GL-AR300M or GL-AR300 (or if there is much difference between the two).

Thank you for your help and have a great Christmas!

Kind regards,

Mike

alzhao · 2016-12-26T12:55:54.000Z

For these mini routers without hardware crypt acceleration, the speeds seems a cap.

Nord app is fast is not because of the app, it is because of your PC’s powerful CPU. There are just not in the same computation level.