Netgear R7000 WAN Throughput

[nexus024]

I am really interested in purchasing this router, but I have a concern that it can't handle a 1 Gbps connection. I recently got 1Gbps fiber and looking to purchase a router to handle that speed of a connection. I have read that it can't achieve speeds over 450 Mbps with ipv4 and NAT. However, this review of the R7000 shows throughput graphs of 900+ Mbps. So I am kind of confused at this point and don't want to spend $200 on a router advertised as gigabit and it not get this speed. Does anyone have this router on a gigabit connection that can confirm the speeds? Thanks!

[JAMESMTL · Accepted solution]

You may be interested in contacting the guy that posted this message on the ddwrt forum. He is claiming close to Gb speeds on stock. No idea of his setup or if he is using SPI or not.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=901721#901721

[kya]

I would go by the data on smallnetbuilder over the DDWRT Wiki. If you have 1Gbps fiber I would assume the ISP supports ipv6. What router(s) have you tried so far?

[nexus024]

I currently have a WNDR3700 and looking to upgrade to a router that supports 1 Gbps from the WAN -> LAN. Yes, I believe they support ipv6 but I have not used it. I have not tested any routers yet. I would like to find one here online doing some research into which one will support this speed.

[Retired_Member]

DD-WRT doesn't do HW acceleration so it can't handle Gigabit WAN/LAN speeds. It's not a limitation of the router but rather the firmware.

[nexus024]

This is fine. I just want to be sure the netgear stock firmware can handle it. As the link above suggests, even the netgear firmware maxes out at 450Mbps with ipv4 and NAT. I just need to verify if this is the case or not.

[Retired_Member]

Read the router test process linked in the Small Net Builder article.

NAT is enabled and he is using IPv4.

He got well over 900Mbps.

[nexus024]

Ok, this does look promising.

[JAMESMTL]

I really do suggestion you read the test methodology used at smallnetbuilder as you may be surprised that your experience does not match your expectations.

From testing procedure:
Upgraded to latest firmware
Reset to factory defaults
QoS features disabled (if present)
LAN client put into DMZ
SPI disabled (optionally, if router allows)
The last two points require some explanation. The LAN client is put into DMZ because it is the fastest and easiest way to allow WAN to LAN traffic and test results from the WAN IxChariot endpoint to traverse the router under test's NAT firewall. Alternatively, the specific ports used by IxChariot could be opened in the router under test's firewall. Note that since the router DMZ function is just a special case of port mapping, i.e. all ports and protocols opened to the specified LAN IP address, this does not affect router performance.

As this is not how most people use their router, I feel the testing results could be misleading. With Gb wan there is no need for qos however I doubt you would have one and only one computer and that it will be placed in the DMZ. I also suspect that most people will be running SPI as nat is not a firewall. I am a big fan of this router however I think real world thoroughput is closer to 600 Mbs from what I have read.

[nexus024]

I did read that from their test procedure, however they did say that SPI had little effect on throughput... "But we have found that disabling SPI is simpler and in most cases does not affect router throughput."

[JAMESMTL]

nexus024 wrote:
I did read that from their test procedure, however they did say that SPI had little effect on throughput... "But we have found that disabling SPI is simpler and in most cases does not affect router throughput."

Personally I would look for a few people who actually have gigabit internet service and get their direct feedback including how they configured their r7000. Here is one person's experiences with both stock and ddwrt thoroughput.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=898448&sid=d6e84b9bc5da9d2f14ddd970b6a2ca49#898448

[RogerSC]

nexus024 wrote:
I did read that from their test procedure, however they did say that SPI had little effect on throughput... "But we have found that disabling SPI is simpler and in most cases does not affect router throughput."

I agree, I don't think that having the client in the DMZ and turning off SPI firewall is the difference between 600Mbps and over 900Mbps, either. The person who does the tests on smallnetbuilder is an expert at configuring routers, he's configured and tested 100's of them.

On the other hand, talking to people who actually are using this router on a Gb. connection is a good idea, too. But keep in mind that not everyone who configures a router gets it optimized.

[nexus024]

Personally I would look for a few people who actually have gigabit internet service and get their direct feedback including how they configured their r7000.

That is exactly what I was hoping for in this forum. 😉

[nexus024]

So it looks like this router has a max throughput of 600 Mbps with ipv4 and NAT. The SPI firewall probably factors into the speed reduction too. This is somewhat disappointing news. 😞

[Retired_Member]

You're not going to find much of anything faster in the consumer router market. The R7000 tests as fast or faster than both the Asus RT-AC68U and Linksys WRT19000AC in terms of WAN/LAN bandwidth.

To get better than that, you'll likely have to move up to business-class devices.

[slidermike]

I agree with James 100%.
Most people use other features such as firewall, nat, QoS etc.. all of which will slow down wan/lan packet transfers.
Kong (who has been deeply involved in testing/using the r7000) also indicated in previous threads that even the powerful r7000 wont hit gig wan/lan speeds on stock firmware under "normal" configuration.

JAMESMTL wrote:
I also suspect that most people will be running SPI as nat is not a firewall. I am a big fan of this router however I think real world thoroughput is closer to 600 Mbs from what I have read.

[nexus024]

Do you all have any recommendations for a business class router that can handle a gigabit WAN link?

[JAMESMTL]

First can you wait 3-6 months before replacing your router? From some of the leaked specs, the upcoming ac3200 units will most likely be packing greater processing power into the units. Smallnetbuilder refers to a 5 core SOCs for the asus ac3200 unit and does not mention any CPU specs for the r8000. The SOC will obviously have to have enough power for twin ac1300 radios.

If you can't wait, can you get by with a simple router without wireless and use your existing router as an AP? I may be drawing a blank but I can't really think of any business class routers that support AC and can do real world gigabit wan-LAN nat routing (with SPI).

For wired only, the cisco rv320/325 might come close to gigabit but you may need to higher end gear to archive it. Those units are in your price range. It may be worth checking out their forums. Once again I would want to hear from people using it with gigabit wan.

Another option could possibly be something from Juniper's SRX line, the Zywall 310 (you need to divide their specs by 2), or,possibly something from MicroTik such as the ccr1109 and up. I suspect you will be nowhere close to your budget though.

Personally if I was you, I would wait it out a bit or jump on the r7000 and try and to sell it when the 3200s come out.

[nexus024]

That is a good idea. I could wait for the next router to come out, and limp along on the WNDR3700 until then.

[JAMESMTL · Accepted solution]

You may be interested in contacting the guy that posted this message on the ddwrt forum. He is claiming close to Gb speeds on stock. No idea of his setup or if he is using SPI or not.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=901721#901721

[nexus024]

Nice find! I will definitely send him a PM and find out. I'll post back here what he says if I get a response.

[FlavioT]

I'm using a R7000 with a symmetrical 1 Gbps connection and get ~950 Mbps real world IPv4-NAT throughput:

I have set "NAT Filtering" to "Open", maybe that disabled the SPI Firewall. DMZ is not necessary to get these speeds.

[sutedy]

FlavioT,



What is firmware version and settings for router?

[FlavioT]

sutedy wrote:
What is firmware version and settings for router?

I'm using the current FW V1.0.3.80_1.1.38, the only relevant change after the factory reset was to set NAT Filtering to Open. I did not enable QoS.

[dantheman61]

i am thinking about getting the r7000 and was wondering what speeds do you get with qos on?

[JamesGL]

Hi dantheman61,

The speed depends on the priority you have set. If its per device or per application. The higher the priority the more bandwidth the device or application receives.

Regards,

JamesGL
Community Team