Setting up a Router & PC to a WAN port for Router bandwidth testing

[videobruce]

I need to test the bandwidth capability of a Router for troubleshooting reasons. It appears the Router is chocking on higher bandwidth downloads as this was suggested for me to try this. I never had need to do this before and have little idea other than the basic re-cabling connections.

Situation;
Two Towers, both running Win 7 Pro; I'll call the WAN side PC A, the LAN side PC B
MB's have the same AMD 970 chipset, one tower has a AMD FX8350, the other has a AMD FX6300
Router is a TP-Link TL-WDM3600 (Gigabyte) running openwrt firmware
Both are in the same room (for convenience) with 6' Cat5 (or 5e) cables.

Other than setting 'Network Properties' of the PC B to Auto, what addresses do I set PC A to?
What and where do I change in the Router as to addresses and DHCP settings?
Should this be a DHCP Client or a Static address?
What else do I have to address oin the Router?

Lastly; am I accessing each PC via a web browser or just by 'Explorer' like I would normally?

 

[Bill_Bright]

Two Towers, both running Win 7 Pro; I'll call the WAN side PC A, the LAN side PC B

I don't understand your WAN vs LAN designations.

Everything on your side of the router is your LAN. Everything on the ISP side of the router is the WAN. The WAN side includes your gateway device (typically the modem), your ISP's network, and eventually the Internet.

It does not matter if your PCs are assigned IP addresses via DHCP or static. Once assigned, they are good to go. No other settings are needed.

Make sure you connect your PCs via Ethernet to avoid any latency issues caused by wifi interference.

Then use Speedtest.net and Testmy.net to verify your speeds meet or exceed the speeds guaranteed by the contract with your ISP.

 

[videobruce]

I want to move one PC to the WAN side to test throughput of the Router at speeds greater than what my ISP offers. A performance test.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Okay but understand the WAN side of your router connects directly to your modem. So if you want to compare with and without your router, you will need to disconnect your router from your modem, then connect your PC directly to the modem in its place. You will need to reboot your computer to pick up the IP assignment from the modem (instead of the router).

 

[videobruce]

Why are you asking about the Modem, it is NOT part of the test! I'm just testing the router.

PC - Router - PC

 

[Bill_Bright]

PC - Router - PC

No. Home routers don't connect that way. They go PC > Router > Modem.

You have to have something to compare it with, right?

So you connect your PC through the router and run speedtest (I recommend at least 3 times to get an average).

Then you bypass the router and connect directly to the modem and run speedtest again. Then compare the results and that will tell you if your router is affecting your network performance.

 

[BiggieShady]

Why are you asking about the Modem, it is NOT part of the test! I'm just testing the router.

They go PC > Router > Modem.

Most home devices distributed to subscribers by ISPs are router + modem combo and people + tech support are simply calling them router ... that's where confusion is coming from

 

[videobruce]

Will someone please just tell me what settings for the Host PC & the Router?

 

[eidairaman1]

Are you on dsl or cable or do you have fiber to the home?

I wonder if your router has a Built-In-Test. In situations like this it could be the routers individual port, the cable or the computer itself, certain Protective software on pcs can slow the download rate too.

Try swapping cables and ports.

Most home devices distributed to subscribers by ISPs are router + modem combo and people + tech support are simply calling them router ... that's where confusion is coming from

They are called gateways.



OP you may need software to make the router think it is a modem per se.

 

[flmatter]

It appears the Router is chocking on higher bandwidth downloads as this was suggested for me to try this. I never had need to do this before and have little idea other than the basic re-cabling connections.

DO you mean it is slowing down? What is your download speed? What were you trying to download? When? I think you meant to type in TL-WDR3600 not WDM. What are your issues extactly? When you are doing a large download your speeds are not constant, they speed up and slow down depending on connection, where you are downloading from, network loads, etc..... What was suggested for you to try? Have you performed any speedtest.net yet?

http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-9_TL-WDR3600.html is this it?

 

[videobruce]

I have been troubleshooting this for weeks.
Yes, thats the Router. The stock & what I'm running F/W works fine, dd-wrt does not when it use to. The only thing left is a component failure that dd-wrt's F/W triggers.

 

[Kursah]

+1, @videobruce can you provide more details about what issues you're facing? Also run speedtest.net (beta.speedtest.net for the HTML5 version), Google speed test, Charter speed test, Netflix speed test, etc. though I prefer speedof.me anymore as it provides a more realistic workload to bandwidth testing.

Okay but understand the WAN side of your router connects directly to your modem. So if you want to compare with and without your router, you will need to disconnect your router from your modem, then connect your PC directly to the modem in its place. You will need to reboot your computer to pick up the IP assignment from the modem (instead of the router).

Why are you asking about the Modem, it is NOT part of the test! I'm just testing the router.

There's a reason we cover the things we do here, experience being the primary one. That is something far more worth appreciating and understanding more-so than questioning and trying to skip over.

Bill is telling you that you need to disconnect your modem from the WAN port to connect another PC to your WAN port. Without knowing if you have done it, many of us make sure the steps taken are very clear to achieving the goal of the user asking for help.

Another thing you might have to do is see if you can disable RFC1918 block features on the WAN-side if you are able to in OpenWRT. On my PFSense it is quite easy to do, a checkbox on the WAN. Essentially it filters out any LAN addresses from accessing WAN. You also may need to create some NAT Firewall rules to allow LAN traffic to pass both directions over the WAN port, or disable NAT Firewall altogether.

I would go about this by having the WAN and PC1 on one subnet, say 192.168.2.1 for WAN and 192.168.2.2 for PC one connected to WAN. Then for LAN you need to setup your default subnet, 192.168.1.1 for example, and PC2 to 192.168.1.2. Then from there you can either disable your NAT firewall and possibly need to add a route for traffic from 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.2.0 (or 0.0), or set PC2 in the DMZ so that it is exposed away from the NAT firewall and you shouldn't have to set routes. At that point you can run some bandwidth tests between utilities and file shares to see what your throughput is in different situations.

Depending on what kind of speed test and data load you're trying to accomplish there's some choices here. I always start with some basic file tests, usually large single files as those require less seeking and processing of the endpoints and will show more of the actual bandwidth abilities. But also depending on your PC's, if everything is gigabit or mixed 10/100 and gigabit then the slowest point will hold everything else back if it is relied on during testing.

Will someone please just tell me what settings for the Host PC & the Router?

If it were that easy, you'd already have the answer you seek. Unfortunately with the router you have, and what OpenWRT brings to the table, we need to make sure that we advise you properly to do this in a way that can be undone, and also that you comprehend what needs to be done as this could be a great learning experience.

A quick Google search of "testing router throughput wan to lan" came up with this link I feel you'll find resonates what I suggested and provides screenshots and links to make the process easier.

 

[eidairaman1]

DO you mean it is slowing down? What is your download speed? What were you trying to download? When? I think you meant to type in TL-WDR3600 not WDM. What are your issues extactly? When you are doing a large download your speeds are not constant, they speed up and slow down depending on connection, where you are downloading from, network loads, etc..... What was suggested for you to try? Have you performed any speedtest.net yet?

http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-9_TL-WDR3600.html is this it?

The way network traffic works is if your connection is faster than say example-TPU's, your connection will drop in speed to match tpus, if tpus is faster tpus will drop to your speed. Now bear in mind there are so many things that can happen between the modem, inside tp/coax wiring, demarcationpoint/nid, burried/areial- tp/coax drop, terminal/tap, burried cable to crossbox/street cabinet, burried cable to Central Office or Coax Distribution. Issues like bridge taps, metallic faults, shorts, corrosion, wet lines, kinked/damaged cabling, bad port cards in the cabinet or at the CO can be causes of all sorts of weirdness

 

[Bill_Bright]

Most home devices distributed to subscribers by ISPs are router + modem combo and people + tech support are simply calling them router ... that's where confusion is coming from

First, the OP has confirmed he is using a WDR3600 which does not have an integrated modem. So the steps I showed in my post #6 above apply.

I am aware most ISPs are providing these "residential gateway" integrated devices to new subscribers. But many have been subscribers for years and still use separates - either as originally provided by their ISPs, or when they buy their network devices on their own (as I have done).

And regardless if integrated or not, internally, the router, WAP (wireless access point), and 4-port Ethernet switch, and modem (if included) are all discrete network devices that just happen to share a mainboard, case and power supply. To see if the router (integrated or separate) is causing latency issues, bandwidth needs to be tested with the router in-line and then removed, then compare results.

 

[videobruce]

Thanks for the speedtest link, I never heard of that site. Too bad it doesn't work in Opera Classic, it gave me a 12Mbps d/l result, why or how I don't know.
Yes, I do know I have to disconnect the Modem judging by what I stated in my OP; " WAN side PC A, the LAN side PC B".

The intention of this thread was only how to do the test (settings), not to troubleshoot the Router. This is such a 'weird' problem especially since it was initially intermittent, caused by something completely different (Streaming by a separate device), but with the same end result that I figured it was the ISP and/or the Modem which it wasn't and isn't.
I posted those screens shots in the OP purposely using what I thought would be the settings that would need changing.

I would go about this by having the WAN and PC1 on one subnet, say 192.168.2.1 for WAN and 192.168.2.2 for PC one connected to WAN. Then for LAN you need to setup your default subnet, 192.168.1.1 for example, and PC2 to 192.168.1.2. Then from there you can either disable your NAT firewall and possibly need to add a route for traffic from 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.2.0 (or 0.0), or set PC2 in the DMZ so that it is exposed away from the NAT firewall and you shouldn't have to set routes.

That might need some clarification.

 

[Bill_Bright]

The intention of this thread was only how to do the test (settings), not to troubleshoot the Router.

I was not giving advice on troubleshooting the router. I was giving advice on how to determine if the router is even the source of your problem. It may not be.

 

[erocker]

So, what is the rated bandwidth for the router? I'm having difficulty finding the specs.

 

[flmatter]

http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-9_TL-WDR3600.html post #10

300/300 2.4/5 edit opps 600 total not 300/600


@videobruce how many devices are connected to this router? and are currently in operation as you try to download something or work?

 

[Kursah]

I would go about this by having the WAN and PC1 on one subnet, say 192.168.2.1 for WAN and 192.168.2.2 for PC one connected to WAN. Then for LAN you need to setup your default subnet, 192.168.1.1 for example, and PC2 to 192.168.1.2. Then from there you can either disable your NAT firewall and possibly need to add a route for traffic from 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.2.0 (or 0.0), or set PC2 in the DMZ so that it is exposed away from the NAT firewall and you shouldn't have to set routes.

That might need some clarification.

A quick Google search of "testing router throughput wan to lan" came up with this link I feel you'll find resonates what I suggested and provides screenshots and links to make the process easier.

That link has more clarification, instruction and screenshots you should check out.

To clarify what I said a little, you setup two LAN subnets for this test, one for the WAN-side and one for the LAN-side of the router. Also, there's no real reason to have or use DHCP here aside from configuring the LAN-side IP address of the router. I would also recommend you set everything statically to prevent DHCP from changing any addresses, which it likely wouldn't but has the potential to depending on variables at play.

So in this example you could use 192.168.2.0 subnet for the WAN-side.

• Router WAN port set static to 192.168.2.1
• PC1 NIC port set static to 192.168.2.2

Then use 192.168.1.0 for the LAN-side.

• Set router LAN to static to 192.168.1.1 (usually in DHCP settings on a home-grade router).
• Set PC2 NIC port static to 192.168.1.2
• In router, go to DMZ, set IP address of device to be in DMZ to 192.168.1.2
• Setting DMZ will allow bypassing of the NAT Firewall, or you can set up firewall and routing rules to push traffic between subnets. Honestly the easiest thing to do here is placing PC2 in the DMZ on the router.
  • At this point, if you ensure all devices have ICMP (ping) inbound enabled (Windows Firewall look for ICMPv4 File and Print on inbound, make sure enabled...Windows is known to have this enabled on some devices and disabled on others), you should be able to ping all devices from any other device. This will let you know that network subnet traversal is working correctly.

Once done there, pick your methods for performing bandwidth testing.

 

[erocker]

I dunno why in the heck I was looking for a Netgear... Did you make sure to let your ISP know you got a new router?

 

[videobruce]

Attached are screen shots of the d/l tests I ran to max out the connection with f/w that didn't cause the problem.
It got so bad with the other f/w's versions (3 not just 1) just starting the d/l's caused the bottleneck then loss of Internet .

 

[Jetster]

Why not just do a speed tast and see if your getting what you pay for?
Another thing is your Modem can hold you back if it doesn't have enough channels

 

[videobruce]

I was not giving advice on troubleshooting the router. I was giving advice on how to determine if the router is even the source of your problem. It may not be.

Sorry, I'm just frustrated. I already have narrowed down everything else since only one scenario produces the issue. That is until flmatter brought up something that NO ONE ANYWHERE including myself thought of. Other clients connected.

They are;
a ATA (VoIP adapter, but no usuage at any of the times,
Two DVR's (TiVo's), but only regular communication with their servers, low data transfers Guide data etc, not Streaming or anything such as that,
my wifes toy cell phone, but most times not in use,
the other PC, but it's always off, same goes for the Laptop.

I know anything is possible, but that is really a long shot, but I'll try to try that, but hesitant to do so since switching back and forth is a chore as it is restoring things.

Why not just do a speed tast and see if your getting what you pay for?
Another thing is your Modem can hold you back if it doesn't have enough channels

I have numerous times, one is in the previous post just above yours, but that isn't the problem.

 

[Bill_Bright]

That is until flmatter brought up something that NO ONE ANYWHERE including myself thought of. Other clients connected.

Well, not to take anything away from flmatter, but I did think of this. In my first post I suggested you connect your PC directly to the modem. Since you can only connect 1 computer/client to the modem at once (unless you use a switch), that would eliminate all other clients from the equation and isolate the scenario to just your PC.

Had you followed my suggestion and the problem occurred when directly connected to your modem too, I would have then suggested trying another computer. But unfortunately, we started going around in circles at that point because you did not want to follow that advice.

 

[flmatter]

@Bill_Bright no worries I figured he already tested it directly because he said he has been testing for weeks. Too many clients eating up bandwidth and/or causing heat issues with the router. Test direct to see if it replicates. But you are right we were too far down that bunny hole by that point.