[taylorkh]

My first experience with DD-WRT is with a Linksys WRT54GL router. The install and configuration went fine and I am running the OpenVPN firmware. My VPN (and Usenet) provider supplied a startup script to configure the VPN connection as the recommended firmware version for this router (dd-wrt.v24-12548_NEWD_openvpn.bin) provides very limited configuration tools for the VPN.

I installed the script, rebooted the router and successfully connected to the VPN tunnel. However, when I accessed the Usenet server I found that my download speed was about 25 - 30% of what I achieve without using the VPN. I also noticed that the router CPU was pegged at 100%. If I navigated the router's web interface I observed that the NNTP traffic speed dropped noticeably. CPU usage stayed at 100%. It is my conclusion that I am limited by CPU power since navigation the web interface stole some CUP cycles and further impeded the VPN traffic.

Bottom line - I think I need to procure a more powerful router. Am I correct in my thinking? Any recommendations?

TIA,

Ken

[Per Yngve Berg]

Get a Dual Core CPU Router like Netgear R7000 or Asus RT-ac68U.

The encryption/decryption of the VPN tunnel takes a lot of CPU.

[taylorkh]

Thanks Per Yngve Berg,

You are quite correct. Encrypting the large amount of NNTP traffic seems to be overwhelming the poor little processor in the WRT54GL. I looked at the routers which you recommended. $$$ Ouch! I really do not need to tunnel the NNTP traffic through the VPN as I am connecting to port 443 on the Usenet server and encrypting the traffic on the PC using stunnel.

I think I may connect the DD-WRT router and the dedicated NNTP download PC to my old Netgear router. I can then tunnel all other traffic from my other PCs through the VPN and let the NNTP traffic bypass the VPN.

Or I might install the VPN on just a couple of my PCs with which I am most concerned and allow the NNTP PC free access.

Or I might setup a little micro-PC as a Linux gateway to the VPN

Or I might purchase a high $ server (I have seen some in the price range of the two models you list which are already installed with DD-WRT ready to go)

Or... see what other responses I get to my question

Thanks again,

Ken

[Per Yngve Berg]

Use a Static Route to route the Usenet server out the wan port.

[taylorkh]

Thanks again Per Yngve Berg,

A static route sounds like what I need. I see the option to create on under Setup; Advance Networking. However, I have no idea how to configure this. I can guess that the Destination LAN NET would be the Usenet server. How do I point only NNTP traffic to this destination? Or am I off base - do I need to setup the static route on the Usenet download PC?

I would appreciate any advise you could provide.

Ken

[Per Yngve Berg]

Do you have other traffic to this server or can you route all traffic outside the vpn?

If so use a Policy Based Routing.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Policy_Based_Routing

[taylorkh]

I am sorry if I have been unclear. I am not running the Usenet server. I am just a leacher . I have a Dell Inspiron Micro PC (which only draws about 5 watts) which I use for Usenet and other large downloads - Linux ISO files etc. - rather than my regular desktop which draws a 150 + watts. I have 4 other PCs on my home network.

As I cannot run downloads at a decent speed through my underpowered DD-WRT router when using the VPN, I would like to connect the micro PC directly to the Internet (or just the Usenet server) bypassing the VPN. All other PCs would connect through the VPN.

I have managed to connect the old Netgear (non DD-WRT, non VPN) router to the Internet and then connect the Linksys uplink port to a regular port on the Netgear. I then can connect my network to the Linksys. This allows my network to connect through the VPN.

I next connected the micro PC to the Netgear. This allows the micro PC to connect directly to the Internet without the VPN. The problem I have with this configuration is that I normally run the micro PC headless and connect to it with x11vnc or vncserver remote access. I currently cannot reach the micro PC from other PCs on my network as I have not yet managed to get the proper configuration to communicate from the 192.168.0.x LAN back to the micro which is on 192.168.1.x - the network of the Netgear router. I have played with static routing but so far without success.

Ken

[Per Yngve Berg]

What I meant was if the other PCs in the network need to access the Usenet server over the VPN?

You should only need a route.

Destination Lan Net is the ip of the Usenet Server
Netmask=255.255.255.255

Iterface=WAN (VLAN2)
Gateway will be the ip of your isp's router you are connected to.

[mwbuss8]

What are your speeds with and without the VPN? The routers previously suggested are expensive, but you can get something considerably more powerful than your 54gl for <$50. It won't match the high end devices, but if you're getting 25-30% with your current setup, I suspect those high end devices are overkill. I'm not especially familiar with broadcom routers, but for Atheros, the tl-wr1043nd v2 comes to mind. It has a 720mhz processor and 64mb ram. I setup an Archer c7 v2 for a friend, which has the same processor, but 128mb ram, and he regularly streams Netflix in HD over his VPN. The c7 is ~$100, which is why I suggested the 1043. I have both and love them.