XR500 slow WAN Download speed

[saxtrain]

Hello, 

I'm hoping you can help tell me if I have a hardware issue with my XR500 or not.  The issue I'm having is that ever since I bought this router I haven't been able to achieve full download speeds(1Gbps)(my upload is only 50Mbps so no issue hitting that) on the WAN connection when compared to plugging my PC into the modem directly.  I'll explain my topology/devices first from WAN to my PC then discuss my test methodology, and how I came to this conclusion.

Network Topology:  WAN<CM1000 Cable Modem<OPNsense Firewall(packet inspection is off, no qos shaping, running on discrete Intel gigabit NICs i350 t2v2, with 16GB DDR4, SSD, and an i5-3570k quad core)<XR500 in router mode<My PC(windows 10 latest version, updated NIC drivers for Intel I-219-V)

Wiring: Everything is hardwired with CAT 8 shielded 24 AWG high quality cables(no bends or kinks in the cable runs)  The cable does run near some noisy(EMI) equipment which necessitated the extra shielding CAT 8 provides, and also helps to future proof.  All links auto negotiated to 1000/1000 duplex so no issue there.

 

How I determined the XR500 is the root cause: I used the process of elimination to discover the slow down is with the XR500.  For the following tests I also used brand new CAT 8 cable. First I plugged my PC directly into the CM1000 cable modem directly and took the average of 3 speed tests which were about 840Mbps.  Secondly I then plugged my PC directly into my firewall and received the same results.  Then when I plugged in through the XR500 the speed averages around 500Mbps.  This is how I determined the XR500 was the weak link here. So I started trying different settings in the XR500.

XR500 settings: In the XR500 settings First I disabled all Geofilter, QOS, bufferbloat, and high priority traffic and still received the same 500Mbps...  Second I disabled all logs which surprisingly gave a slight speed bump to 580Mbps.  Lastly on the XR500 I disabled all Wifi and my speeds were getting to around 700Mbps, still about ~140Mbps less then when I'm plugged right into the firewall or modem.  I then factory reset the XR500 and installed the latest firmware but I'm still experiencing the same issue, the speeds are just slower then when I'm directly hooked up to the modem. I also disabled IPv6 as my ISP doesn't support it anyway, this made no change.

Side notes: A couple other variables I'd like to point out.  When performing the below tests, my PC was the only device connected to the XR500.  No devices were connected to the wifi at the time of testing either.

Conclusions I made:

Turning off wifi(both 2.4 and 5ghz) provided the largest speed gains, secondly turning off all the logs had an improvement as well and got me much closer to what my speed should be.

Questions to the NetDuma Team: I have a few questions I need your help with as I'm really a fan of the DumaOS geofilter for games but hate that I'm sacrificing so much bandwidth just to use this router.

1.  Is there perhaps a beta firmware I could test to see if it improves my throughput?  I'd really like to also use the wifi on the XR500, I can do without the bufferbloat feature and QOS, that's not a problem for me, as my firewall already shapes only my uplink to eliminate bufferbloat with FQcodel.  This is very important for me to resolve for my business uses a lot of bandwidth.  I'd be happy to sign any NDA necessary, I just want to get this fixed.

2. Turning off wifi provided the largest speed gains, secondly turning off all the logs had an improvement as well.  Do you think perhaps the XR500 with it's dual core processor struggles to max out gigabit WAN connections?  Should I look into upgrading to a XR700 as it has a quad core processor?

3. Could my XR500 be defective?  If so what is the process for that?

 

Thanks and appreciate your time and consideration looking into my matter.  I've run out of ideas.

 

Best Regards,

SaxTrain

 

[e38BimmerFN]

What happens if you configure this:

Network Topology:  WAN<CM1000 Cable Modem<XR500 in router mode<My PC(windows 10 latest version, updated NIC drivers for Intel I-219-V)

 

I would power OFF the modem for 1 minute while you configure the XR router directly to the modem. I would factory reset the XR and setup from scratch. Disable ALL QoS and apply, then with your wire PC, speed test again. I use Ooklas installable speed test app. 

 

My XR450 speed tests at near 900Mpbs connected to a CM1100. XR450 has same HW as 500 sans the 2.4Ghz radio. 

[Netduma Fraser]

Hey, welcome to the forum!

The above suggestion would be definitely good to try. When you disable QoS do you do so by disabling it within the Anti-Bufferbloat 3 line menu? I assume you've also input the bandwidth speeds you expect also? Do you have other devices connected direct to the firewall as well that could be pulling bandwidth away from the XR? I wouldn't have thought wifi or logs would make a difference at all. There isn't any beta firmware available currently.

[jeffkdanies]

Suggest me the best Modem Router for Comcast. Check out best ways to root redmi note 4. I shifted in this new house and want to install the best modem router for comcast.

[Netduma Fraser]

1 hour ago, jeffkdanies said:

Suggest me the best Modem Router for Comcast. I shifted in this new house and want to install the best modem router for comcast.

Hey, welcome to the forum!

We don't have any specific recommendations but this topic may help you: https://forum.netduma.com/topic/20681-best-gaming-modems-opinions/