Decent range and high speed over wireguard

Hi.

Almost all my devices are connected using CAT6 gigabit ethernet. The exception is my phone and IOT devices (switches etc) and maybe a tablet in the future. So really nothing special going over the wifi part. As long as I can stream some YouTube and stuff, I'm fine.

My current router is horrible. I have a TP-Link Archer C1200 that I really want to get rid off.

For the phone/tablet/iot stuff, I do want to have a good range. My C1200 is so terrible that I get a bad signal standing 3 meters (9.84 feet) away from it with line of sight to the router. I want something that has a lot of range. I want something that connect to IOT devices in the front and back yard. That's about 30 meters (98.4 feet) in length total.

I read online that it's possible to use an OpenWRT router as a wireguard client, to route everything that's on the LAN/WLAN over the wireguard connection. This is something I would really like. The only issue is the speed. I want something that can handle higher speeds. I currently have a 500/50mbit connection but I do expect an upgrade to 600/60mbit soon. I'm using Mullvad which can easily handle the 500/50mbit connection (actually able to get a bit over that with the VPN on).

I noticed the Xiaomi Redmi Router AC2100
https://openwrt.org/toh/xiaomi/xiaomi_redmi_router_ac2100

Has anyone tested this besides the original poster? Could that be something?

From common consideration it is not clear, why exactly TP-Link doesn't work properly. I recommend you to try something to check, what exactly router doesn't work. BTW I don't like Xiaomi due to the fact, that installation of OpenWRT requires Xiaomi account etc.

My C1200 is so terrible that I get a bad signal standing 3 meters (9.84 feet) away from it with line of sight to the router.

It also stops working a few times a night. It was working fine when I bought it, which was over 2 years ago. It's getting worse and worse. And I can't even set a DNS server manually, so something as simple as a Pi-Hole doesn't even work.

I wasn't aware of the part where you have to register. I already have a Xiaomi account though, because of my dashcam (I don't understand why you need an account for it though). I just have no experience with that router for home use. The account isn't much of an issue if I put OpenWRT on it. I just have no idea if that has a good range and is fast enough over wireguard.

You usually need account to install OpenWRT. However for this router exploit is used. I recommend to see e.g. YouHua WR1200JS.

Can't find any place that sells that. No resellers in my country and I can't find it on aliexpress.

The mt7621 SOC in that Xiaomi router is gonna cap out at around 120 mbit/s over wireguard. It is not an option if you want to push 500 mbit/s over a wireguard connection.

Ah ok. And the MediaTek MT7621AT that ulmwind recommended? Can that handle that? I hope so because I ordered it before I saw your reply. If not, it might be able to serve as an AP

That's the SOC I was talking about unfortunately :frowning:

Edit: For reference, here are some Wireguard benchmarks: Comparative Throughput Testing Including NAT, SQM, WireGuard, and OpenVPN

As you can see, you really need a top-end mvebu device or x86 to push over 500 mbit/s over wireguard. A Raspberry Pi 4 might also be up for the task, but don't quote me on that.

Edit 2: Yes, seems like it is up to the task: https://www.reddit.com/r/WireGuard/comments/eeafds/wireguard_throughput_on_raspberry_pi_4/

See also https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/services/vpn/wireguard/wireguard_performance