Hardware NAT acceleration in DD-WRT?

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BL
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:18    Post subject: Hardware NAT acceleration in DD-WRT? Reply with quote
Hi, forum and developers (like Kong etc.)!

What are the chances of hardware NAT acceleration being implemented (at all or anytime soon) in DD-WRT?

From several tests I've done with WNDR3700v1, RT-AC66U & RT-N66U I've come to the conclusion that the only firmware which can deliver (and not loose any WAN speed) is Merlin/ASUS builds.

So right now I'm using Merlins build even though I hate the ASUS GUI and features so I don't loose any speed... Crying or Very sad
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:34    Post subject: Re: Hardware NAT acceleration in DD-WRT? Reply with quote
BL wrote:
Hi, forum and developers (like Kong etc.)!

What are the chances of hardware NAT acceleration being implemented (at all or anytime soon) in DD-WRT?

From several tests I've done with WNDR3700v1, RT-AC66U & RT-N66U I've come to the conclusion that the only firmware which can deliver (and not loose any WAN speed) is Merlin/ASUS builds.

So right now I'm using Merlins build even though I hate the ASUS GUI and features so I don't loose any speed... Crying or Very sad


Kong was working on this but disabled it until it runs fine for everyone. IIRC it's only for Netgear models though.
BL
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:40    Post subject: Reply with quote
For me it's a "deal-breaker" (and I don't think I'm alone) so I really hope it's possible to implement on current ASUS models as well as future models of various kinds (different models/makes).
slidermike
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 12:37    Post subject: Reply with quote
I believe Tomato offers ctf in the current builds.
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BL
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 12:52    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well, if they have solved it with Tomato it should be possible with DD-WRT at least I guess?
slidermike
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 12:56    Post subject: Reply with quote
BL,
the topic of ctf has been discussed quite a bit a couple of months ago.
It has to do with the kernel & when Broadcom gives updated ones to BrainSlayer.

Do a forum search and try "ctf" I believe that would be the easiest way to find the discussion so you can get caught up.

Since I have only used kong firmware on my r7000 I do not know if BS put ctf in the firmware for your router.

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earthmind
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 12:58    Post subject: Reply with quote
BL wrote:
Well, if they have solved it with Tomato it should be possible with DD-WRT at least I guess?


Correct me if I'm wrong. I thought newer Tomato builds on the old kernel (>114) and all builds on new kernel dropped support for BCM_NAT
slidermike
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 13:02    Post subject: Reply with quote
I am 90% sure that on tomato 117 (latest at the time I was looking at the feature) it was able to do ctf for the r7000.

Again, I do not know if this works for the asus router or not.

I prefer dd-wrt so my experience with tomato is limited.

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BL
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 19:29    Post subject: Reply with quote
SliderMike; I too prefer DD-WRT, that is why I'm so interested in this question and why I posted.

Hopefully BrainSlayer and other developers already knows the need for this and is working on it or will do so when Broadcom (and other chip manufacturers) release the necessary hardware information, meantime I'll (sadly) be on ASUS Merlin.
slidermike
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 19:46    Post subject: Reply with quote
You could try loading one of kongs firmware (not the latest as it been disabled) for your router.
Kong had ddtb (ddwrt turbo I think it was called) enabled in a couple of the recent builds.

If you experience issues with it, just flash back to asus merlin.

Some users said it worked fine, others complained about this or that.
I never noticed a problem while I was running the firmware.
I don't have that sort of wan speed to tax non-ctf firmware.

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slidermike
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 19:52    Post subject: Reply with quote
I was going over kongs read me's and I keep forgetting you don't have the r7000.
I do not see ddtb for your line of routers.

Best to keep with asus merlin or stock IMO from what I can see.

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BL
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Joined: 01 Feb 2007
Posts: 46
Location: EU

PostPosted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:28    Post subject: Reply with quote
SliderMike; thanks for your suggestions!

When I was running VDSL2 recently everything was fine, as soon as the fiber was installed I got problems (the WNDR3700 I got couldn't communicate with the fiber modem and the RT-N66U & RT-AC66U lost most of the fiber speed/performance).

But right now, when using Merlin on the RT-AC66U the communication with the modem works and no speed is lost (actually not a single Megabit (which is impressive in itself I think)).

So again, developers of DD-WRT; hope that you can solve the problem with hardware NAT acceleration / ctf soon so me and others in the same situation can go back to our beloved DD-WRT! Wink
petersk
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 27, 2015 17:56    Post subject: Command to re-enable it if one wants to try... Reply with quote
I'm using dd-wrt.v24-28366_NEWD-2_K3.x_mega-WNDR4500 and I was wondering how one could re-enable the Hardware NAT if one wants to give it a try. Googled around for it, but don't see anyone explaining how to turn it on..

Kurt
jwh7
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 27, 2015 21:29    Post subject: Re: Command to re-enable it if one wants to try... Reply with quote
petersk wrote:
I was wondering how one could re-enable the Hardware NAT if one wants to give it a try.
You can't...it was only an experimental addition (by Kong I think, briefly) a year or two ago. You have to use OEM s/w for hardware NAT.
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BrainSlayer
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2015 0:51    Post subject: Reply with quote
ctf is impossible since its incompatible with any kernel different from broadcoms. the ctf driver is also only provided as binary. (even if i have a nda with broadcom and own all sourcecodes for wireless drivers. no vendor in this world got ever the ctf sourcecode)
but this is no hw nat acceleration. ctf is a software hotpath to accelerate bridged networks. but not nat.

hw nat acceleration might bring some benefits, but some really poor problems.
hw nat acceleration does not take care about any special firewall settings.
it all. it will break alot of iptables specific rules.

current cpu's are fast enough anyway to handle any sort of traffic.

some devices like newer broadcom devices do also offer complete wireless offloading, since chipsets own a own cpu with a own micro os. so the main cpu isnt that busy with handling the wireless stack etc.

so the answer is. some devices/architectures do support hw offloading features which are supported.
but broadcom ctf is no hw acceleratin or hw offloading. its a kernel hack to override the network stack and bypass the complete network stack to make it faster. but bypassing means it bypasses really everything, also features you will miss at the end.

we played with a own ctf like driver one year ago, but it was never finished and had the same troubles with filtering like described here

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