I have a TP-Link Archer C7 v5 router, with the latest OpenWrt installed.
Recently I had a new 1Gbps fibre line installed. The supplied router, an Eero 6 reported speeds of over ~940Mbps. But when removing the Eero and connecting the TP-Link I'm unable to get anywhere need these speeds.
The system is completely hardwired, this is not about wireless performance. Here is a quick comparison of speedtests from a connected computer:
TP-Link
425.9Mbps download
213.2Mbps upload
Eero
747.6Mbps download
863.0Mbps upload
Any advice on what I could look into to check the difference in router performance.
Ah, I wasn't sure if the hardware was up to the task or not, because the advertised specification; gigabit ports etc mean to the likes of me that gigabit is available. If this is a hardware issue then fair enough, in which case, yes I'd appreciate some advice for a new router, there is one requirement that it supports mesh networking.
Of course not.
While the C7 V5 has got a single core Qualcomm Atheros QCA9563 running at 750MHz with 16MB Flash and 128MB RAM, the Eero 6 has got a unspecified quad-core SoC running at 1,2GHz with 4GB Flash and 512MB RAM.
@n1md4
So the Eero 6 is much more powerful than the C7, and i guess they're using some parts in the SoC with their firmware to speed up the troughput which isn't available in OpenWrt.
WRX36 (complicated to flash, but still very doable)
RT3200 / E8450 (mostly unavailable)
ASUS AX4200 (requires serial to flash)
WAX206 (very easy to flash)
if you can repurpose the Eero, and set it up as AP, you could get a cheap x86 box off ebay, for less than 50£.
That's not a bad idea! I have been looking at a dedicated router too, for example (and not limited to) the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite. I'll check out your links too.
I already have a separate modem, the Adtrans SDX621i, and I use a Pi-Hole for DNS and DHCP. Just thinking aloud before doing my own research ... does the modem do the routing? do I need a separate router ...
I'm really liking the look of this though, pretty affordable too. Something I'm not getting though, it's marketed as an AP but also has ethernet ports, is it a switch too or is it routing ...
Depending on what features you need a number of MT7621 devices have been enabled for 2Gbps hw accelerated routing.
You could, for example, buy a ZyXEL WSM20 (aka Multy M1) from Ebuyer for £33, or a 3 pack for £90. This would absolutely not be able to do gigabit SQM or VPN, but should do basic gigabit routing with the enhanced device tree on master.
It’s really about working out what best fits your needs and budget.
You called it! Enabled both software and hardware offloading and now get far faster speeds:
801.46Mbps download
859.56Mbps upload
Wireless is more than it was with offloading, but still less than I'd expect, given the hardware specification I thought it would be closer to 866Mbps. But the speeds I'm getting suggest the connection is running 802.11n instead of ac:
I thought about what you said of WiFi being CPU intensive, so I did some tests.
Putting the Eero into bridged mode and having WiFi enabled, but excluding the TP-Link I got WiFi speeds of around 500Mbs. When I put the TP-Link back in the equation and had the Eero on a stick (in bridge mode) for WiFi, speed reverted back to the 300Mbps range.
Two questions then:
i) Any idea why including the TP-Link reduced the speed of WiFi, even though the service was offloaded to the Eero.
ii) How is it possible to get close to the 1.3Gbps speed as supported by 802.11ac (assuming ideal conditions).