I have looked at the discussions with similar topics here and on other boards but the solutions do not seem to work or are not applicable to my situation.
I have pfSense running on a small box with two gigabit ports. I have the OPT1 and OPT2 gig links running to a gig switch and a Nighthawk R7000P, that I am simply using for my WiFi AP. It is running the newest version of DD-WRT available for it and the WAN is disabled so it will simply act as the WiFi adapter. QoS is disabled and the only option that ever shows (regardless of WAN settings) on the setup page for SFE is On/Off (no CTF&FA) options. SFE is on.
My service is over 500Gbps down (tests push and occasionally surpass 600). My pfSense tests correct speeds. My computer attached to my switch on the pfSense box tests correct speeds. But anything on my Wifi barely pushes 120 max on 5GHz, sitting right next to the router. I did a speed test in DD-WRT and the Wifi Speed is 500+ but the Internet Speed is testing around 100-120. So the bottleneck is apparently on that link. I do not believe it is the pfSense box because the other link works fine to the switch. I am assuming it is a configuration issue with the router that is limiting the Internet speed.
I also just replaced the cable with a brand new Cat6, just to rule that out.
I have read DD-WRT sometimes has this issue with these routers, and the suggestions are stock firmware or some Merlin-based variant for the Nighthawk. But I have used DD-WRT forever and like it so I would prefer getting this working if I can.
Those suggestions you have read for stock or Merlin are to increase WAN to LAN routing speeds, since those may have better CTF(Cut Through Forwarding) and FA(Flow Acceleration) implementations than can be possible with later Kernels given much less development time for drivers. That's not applicable here since you are using it as an AP.
The problem is... R7000P is an abomination because its 5GHz radio is attached via USB like R8000, so uses the unreliable Dongle Host Driver + as you'd expect that would require more CPU power just to shepherd the packets through USB over to and from the LAN. And unlike BCM43602 on R8000 none of its radios features its own 320MHz ARM CPU and 960kB of SRAM to fully offload/hardware-accelerate Wifi, further increasing CPU usage because that all has to be done in software using the main CPU. 1GHz of dual-core ARM only goes so far.
7000P is perfectly serviceable on 2.4GHz, but buggy and slow on 5GHz. Even on stock. At least R8000 has a 2nd 5GHz radio attached via PCIe.
So the Speedchecker test in DD-WRT - the Internet Speed *should* reflect something near my service down speed, correct? Because a speed test on my phone is showing ~120Mbps, which aligns with the Internet speed of Speedchecker. Whereas a speed test on my PC wired to the switch shows the full 500Mbps+. So regardless of the 2.4G vs 5G on the 7000P, shouldn't that link still be getting over 120 to the router? Like the bottleneck is not the Wifi but the link from my router to the AP.
Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 15574 Location: Texas, USA
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2024 22:00 Post subject:
tk101 wrote:
It is running the newest version of DD-WRT available for it and the WAN is disabled so it will simply act as the WiFi adapter. QoS is disabled and the only option that ever shows (regardless of WAN settings) on the setup page for SFE is On/Off (no CTF&FA) options. SFE is on.
You are not running the current release. The router database does not have the current release nor is it the source of downloading
anything unless a device wiki or other in-house, NON-THIRD PARTY source of information says to use it, regardless of what the main
website says. You completely ignored the disclaimer and didn't look further, apparently. SFE should be OFF for wired AP mode, and
that is probably why you are having issues. Some further reading for you:
You are not running the current release. The router database does not have the current release nor is it the source of downloading
anything unless a device wiki or other in-house, NON-THIRD PARTY source of information says to use it, regardless of what the main
website says. You completely ignored the disclaimer and didn't look further, apparently.
Just because my profile says I'm new to the forum in no way means that I am new to DD-WRT, the disclaimer, the resources, or doing my research. Also, I never stated what version I am using, so I am not sure how you would know. So thanks for making assumptions and addressing me with your condescending statement. At least it didn't take long to learn the attitude of the "GURUs" around here to someone asking for support. That way I know I can just look elsewhere for further assistance from people without a god complex.
Don't worry about following up. I'll resolve my issue on my own, thanks.
Just because my profile says I'm new to the forum in no way means that I am new to DD-WRT, the disclaimer, the resources, or doing my research. Also, I never stated what version I am using, so I am not sure how you would know. So thanks for making assumptions and addressing me with your condescending statement. At least it didn't take long to learn the attitude of the "GURUs" around here to someone asking for support. That way I know I can just look elsewhere for further assistance from people without a god complex.
Wow, not sure who is condescending here, but pretty sure it's not KP. He assumed maybe correctly, maybe not, like anyone who regularly visits this forum, that you followed the router database suggestion, which is quite far from the most recent version. Easy mistake to make, if it was a mistake. You still have never stated the version you are running. This makes a huge difference! IT IS A NORMAL QUESTION on this forum (if you had taken the time to read the forum, you would have known this). He also gave you very good links to follow and read.
Good luck _________________ - Linksys EA8500: I-Gateway, WAP/VAP 5ghz only. Features: WDS-AP, VLANs, Samba, WG, Entware - r59429
- Linksys EA8500: 802.11s Secondary w/VLAN Trunk over 5ghz - r59171
- Linksys MX4300: 802.11s Primary w/VLAN Trunk over 5ghz. 2.4ghz WAP/VAP only - r59171
- Linksys MX4300 (WAP/VAP (7)) Multiple VLANs over single trunk port. Entware/Samba r59451
- Linksys MR7350: WDS Station for extended Ethernet r59451
- Linksys Velop WHW03v1 x2: OpenWRT w/GRETAP tunnel for VLANs on VAPs
- OSes: Fedora 40, 10 RPis (2,3,4,5), 23 ESP8266s: Straight from Amiga to Linux in '95, never having owned a Windows PC.
Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 15574 Location: Texas, USA
Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2024 5:45 Post subject:
This is how I came to the conclusion:
tk101 wrote:
...the only option that ever shows (regardless of WAN settings) on the setup page for SFE is On/Off (no CTF&FA) options.
If you were on the latest release, you'd have CTF, CTF+FA. How do I know? I have a R7000P in inventory and used it to navigate some of the reports in the forum.
Joined: 18 Mar 2014 Posts: 13562 Location: Netherlands
Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2024 8:02 Post subject:
BFG-9000 wrote:
Those suggestions you have read for stock or Merlin are to increase WAN to LAN routing speeds, since those may have better CTF(Cut Through Forwarding) and FA(Flow Acceleration) implementations than can be possible with later Kernels given much less development time for drivers. That's not applicable here since you are using it as an AP.
The problem is... R7000P is an abomination because its 5GHz radio is attached via USB like R8000, so uses the unreliable Dongle Host Driver + as you'd expect that would require more CPU power just to shepherd the packets through USB over to and from the LAN. And unlike BCM43602 on R8000 none of its radios features its own 320MHz ARM CPU and 960kB of SRAM to fully offload/hardware-accelerate Wifi, further increasing CPU usage because that all has to be done in software using the main CPU. 1GHz of dual-core ARM only goes so far.
7000P is perfectly serviceable on 2.4GHz, but buggy and slow on 5GHz. Even on stock. At least R8000 has a 2nd 5GHz radio attached via PCIe.
@BFG-9000 the current CTF , CTF&FA implementation is actually very good it gives you near gig speed LAN<>WAN see: https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Hardware scroll down to the bottom.
