CPU usage super high

[gisuck 13]

Seems like the load average is extremely high here. I've been noticing my IPTV glitching out all evening, and streaming YouTube or Twitch isn't working well. About to do a reset, but seems like a bug here. Anyway to do a system debug to get top info as to what is using all the CPU?

[gisuck 13]

After reboot, the load averages are way down, but still seems to be high. Asking for close to 6 CPUs.

[Netduma Alex 749]

Yeah that does seem high, but i'll be honest i'm not actually certain what the expected load average is... On my XR500 in the office here, it's 4.5...

This might be one for Netgear, but it sounds like something's really hogging the CPU on your router.

Which features on the router are you using? QoS? Geo-Filter? Hybrid-VPN? I'd like to narrow down what could have caused it. Hopefully it was just a one off fluke.

[gisuck 13]

Just Geo-filter and QoS in that list. I'm not even using your DHCP/DNSMasq. I have a pi-hole installed on my network for that.

[Netduma Alex 749]

Okay that's interesting... If it happens again, could you try disabling QoS before you restart so we can see if that lowers the CPU usage?

You can disable QoS by opening the anti-bufferbloat side menu and ticking the Disable QoS box.

[gisuck 13]

So, while I'm not experiencing connection issues, I am noticing CPU load averages are creeping up again. Load avg is closing in on 14. I've disabled QoS but it doesn't appear to resolve the issue. I'll wait 30 mins to be sure, but is there anything else you would like me to try?

[Netduma Alex 749]

How many devices do you have in your network?

[gisuck 13]

At any given time, at least 18.

Registered...  45ish

[Netduma Fraser 7,535]

Could you have a look at the actual CPU graph please when the load average is high and see what it is doing please? The load average could be high because there are a lot of tasks that are being processed/waiting to be processed, especially with how many devices you're using. While I agree 200+ is high, if the CPU usage graph itself is not maxing out then it shouldn't be a cause for concern.

The issues that you mentioned could be due to the fact that you have IPv6 enabled which in its current state will mean QoS isn't running as effectively as it should. If you disable this and then use your normal QoS/Anti-Bufferbloat settings to eliminate local congestion then the issue should be resolved.

[gisuck 13]

I'll have to do some testing, but disabling IPv6 might not be possible.  Last year when this happened, it goofed up the IPTV, but it was a fairly new offering at the time. They might have isolated the issue. CPU graph is normalish, I guess? Typically hovering between 40%-60%. Wish there was a quick way to get the process list for you so you can do some debugging.

 

[gisuck 13]

... this is interesting, with QoS disabled the load average is still high, but it isn't in a race condition. It was at the same numbers as yesterday. Just turned it back on now and I'll check it again 24 hours later. Your theories on the QoS might be right.

[Netduma Fraser 7,535]

Let us know, thanks for the update! The CPU usage itself sounds fine.

[gisuck 13]

This is definitely weird. CPU usage is low, but load averages is super high again.

[Netduma Fraser 7,535]

As I said before, the load average may be high but that's fine as long as the CPU Usage isn't running flat out constantly, they'll just be some background processes waiting to run.