Hello, I’ve been using a Mulvad software VPN client on my Windows PC for several years and decided to try a hardware solution which the whole house could utilize. I purchased the hEX RB750Gr3 and successfully configured it for Mulvard. Everything works but the Wireguard performance is roughly 50% slower compared to my Windows client. Testing from my Windows PC, I consistently average 180Mbps using Fast.com bandwidth tests. When I perform the same test using the RB750Gr3 it consistently performs around 90Mbps. I’m making sure to use the same Mulvard peers for both tests.
Is this to be expected or have I configured something incorrectly?
Yes, it's expected. The hEX RB750Gr3 has a very old (more than 10 y.o.) dual-core (with 4 threads) 880MHz MMIPS CPU. WireGuard has no hardware acceleration, its implemented in software and the CPU must compute everything. Your PC CPU is probably at least 10x more powerful than the MT7621A CPU in the hEX.
Thank you!! I did not realize that the chipset was so old.. Is there a newer Mikrotik device which would be suitable for home use that has a modern processor?
Hex Refresh should perform a bit better but it has some quirks which are still not ironed out.
If only a router, I’d go with RB5009, hard to go wrong there.
A bit pricier then Hex but more powerful and certainly a lot more future proof.
If budget is an issue, you could also look at AX3 and/or AX2 (if needed you can disable wifi, AX3 being a little more performant then AX2 due to higher clock frequency).
