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    AES-NI Active But No Significant Increase In Speed Test

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved OpenVPN
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    • S
      SteveITS Galactic Empire @Poindexter
      last edited by

      @Poindexter I recall a thread discussing this topic in recent months but can't seem to find it. Perhaps not in this subforum? I believe it was stated that OpenVPN will use AES-NI regardless of the setting in pfSense.

      OpenVPN uses only one core so check top and see if one core is pegged.

      Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
      When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
      Upvote ๐Ÿ‘ helpful posts!

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      • P
        Poindexter @SteveITS
        last edited by

        This post is deleted!
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        • P
          Poindexter @SteveITS
          last edited by

          @SteveITS

          Nothing real obvious during a speed test through the VPN:

          last pid: 36473; load averages: 0.37, 0.25, 0.20 up 0+07:26:08 15:02:54
          57 processes: 2 running, 55 sleeping
          CPU 0: 12.5% user, 0.0% nice, 12.5% system, 0.0% interrupt, 74.9% idle
          CPU 1: 0.0% user, 0.0% nice, 3.9% system, 0.0% interrupt, 96.1% idle
          CPU 2: 15.3% user, 0.0% nice, 12.5% system, 0.0% interrupt, 72.2% idle
          CPU 3: 0.0% user, 0.0% nice, 3.1% system, 0.0% interrupt, 96.9% idle
          Mem: 49M Active, 117M Inact, 489M Wired, 15G Free
          ARC: 190M Total, 32M MFU, 155M MRU, 32K Anon, 693K Header, 2956K Other
          54M Compressed, 138M Uncompressed, 2.55:1 Ratio
          Swap: 1024M Total, 1024M Free

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          • Bob.DigB
            Bob.Dig LAYER 8
            last edited by

            Install the official client and check some servers if they are able to provide more speed.

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            • P
              Poindexter @Bob.Dig
              last edited by

              @Bob-Dig I am using the same server to test before and after VPN. The difference is massive and enabling AES-NI made no significant difference. Maybe I am overlooking your point.

              When I ran the official client the speed did look better but it showed my real IP rather than my VPN IP. I am not sure if the official client is avoiding the VPN somehow.

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              • S
                SteveITS Galactic Empire @Poindexter
                last edited by

                @Poindexter If you're testing through the third party VPN to the Internet then you're at the mercy of their inbound and outbound connections, and how busy they are. Did they tell you to expect 1 Gbps? I would guess at 4 am it would be faster...

                Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                Upvote ๐Ÿ‘ helpful posts!

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                • Dobby_D
                  Dobby_
                  last edited by

                  @Poindexter said in AES-NI Active But No Significant Increase In Speed Test:

                  I have AES-NI showing active but I see no significant speed increase over inactive. Without VPN running I get approx. 820.83 Down and 939.14 Up. With VPN and AES-NI I only get approx. 361.92 Down and 174.86 Up.

                  You could try out to use AES-GCM-128 instead
                  of the AES-CBC.

                  #~. @Dobby

                  Turris Omnia - 4 Ports - 2 GB RAM / TurrisOS 7 Release (Btrfs)
                  PC Engines APU4D4 - 4 Ports - 4 GB RAM / pfSense CE 2.7.2 Release (ZFS)
                  PC Engines APU6B4 - 4 Ports - 4 GB RAM / pfSense+ (Plus) 24.03_1 Release (ZFS)

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                  • P
                    Poindexter @Dobby_
                    last edited by

                    @Dobby_

                    I wasn't sure if I could change the encryption since the available options were provided by Nord:

                    Nord VPN server protocol file says:
                    client
                    dev tun
                    proto udp
                    remote 185.247.70.187 1194
                    resolv-retry infinite
                    remote-random
                    nobind
                    tun-mtu 1500
                    tun-mtu-extra 32
                    mssfix 1450
                    persist-key
                    persist-tun
                    ping 15
                    ping-restart 0
                    ping-timer-rem
                    reneg-sec 0
                    comp-lzo no
                    verify-x509-name CN=us8118.nordvpn.com
                    remote-cert-tls server
                    auth-user-pass
                    verb 3
                    pull
                    fast-io
                    cipher AES-256-CBC
                    auth SHA512

                    Dobby_D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Dobby_D
                      Dobby_ @Poindexter
                      last edited by

                      @Poindexter said in AES-NI Active But No Significant Increase In Speed Test:

                      I wasn't sure if I could change the encryption since the available options were provided by Nord:

                      Oh I was not really knowing that. I thought you
                      were creating an account and choose there the
                      method and algorithm.

                      #~. @Dobby

                      Turris Omnia - 4 Ports - 2 GB RAM / TurrisOS 7 Release (Btrfs)
                      PC Engines APU4D4 - 4 Ports - 4 GB RAM / pfSense CE 2.7.2 Release (ZFS)
                      PC Engines APU6B4 - 4 Ports - 4 GB RAM / pfSense+ (Plus) 24.03_1 Release (ZFS)

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                      • P
                        Poindexter @Dobby_
                        last edited by

                        @Dobby_ I tried AES-128-GCM and it is faster!

                        AES-128-GCM 651.97 Down 234.10 Up
                        vs.
                        AES-256-CBC 361.92 Down and 174.86 Up

                        There is a pretty good difference in usage between the cores but I am still uncertain if AES-NI is working. Thoughts?

                        last pid: 93570; load averages: 0.35, 0.27, 0.18 up 0+09:20:49 16:57:35
                        58 processes: 2 running, 56 sleeping
                        CPU 0: 1.5% user, 0.0% nice, 6.9% system, 0.4% interrupt, 91.2% idle
                        CPU 1: 0.4% user, 0.0% nice, 1.9% system, 0.0% interrupt, 97.7% idle
                        CPU 2: 8.8% user, 0.0% nice, 30.8% system, 0.0% interrupt, 60.4% idle
                        CPU 3: 0.0% user, 0.0% nice, 5.8% system, 0.0% interrupt, 94.2% idle
                        Mem: 56M Active, 119M Inact, 534M Wired, 15G Free

                        Dobby_D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • Dobby_D
                          Dobby_ @Poindexter
                          last edited by

                          @Poindexter

                          There is a pretty good difference in usage between the cores but I am still uncertain if AES-NI is working. Thoughts?

                          The most peoples will be sitting in a thinking trap.
                          AES-NI is speeding up the entire software and it
                          will be used by and not your entire task such VPN.

                          But, the AES-GCM is benefitting too from the
                          AES-NI directly like you can see by your numbers.

                          #~. @Dobby

                          Turris Omnia - 4 Ports - 2 GB RAM / TurrisOS 7 Release (Btrfs)
                          PC Engines APU4D4 - 4 Ports - 4 GB RAM / pfSense CE 2.7.2 Release (ZFS)
                          PC Engines APU6B4 - 4 Ports - 4 GB RAM / pfSense+ (Plus) 24.03_1 Release (ZFS)

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                          • P
                            Poindexter @Dobby_
                            last edited by

                            @Dobby_ I believe you. Thank you and @SteveITS for the assistance. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to help.

                            I will check speeds again later tonight to see maximum throughput.

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