Zenarmor throughput with N100 / i226v

[dss]

So, frustratingly there's no PL1/PL2 options in the BIOS  :( I've seen Linux scripts that allow software configuration of this, but I can't find a FreeBSD equivalent.

I've been doing a little more reading about PL1/PL2 settings and from what I understand, typically the default TAU values are maybe half a minute or even closer to 1 minute. What I'm seeing on my router is that the 2.5G throughput is only maintained for 7-8 seconds. That leaves me a little doubtful it's due to PL1 kicking in?

Also I noticed that when running Zenarmour in bypass mode, there is a still an eastpect process running and it's single threaded. After Stopping Zenarmour that process disappears. I'm still not getting the full 2.5G even when Zenarmour is stopped though. What's the intended difference between Bypass and Stopped modes?

[meyergru]

For their N5105 line, these options existed: my unit was from HUNSN (CWWK rebranded), so I flashed the BIOS from CWWK.

You can ask their support if they have a more open version. Also, if you have the BIOS file, you can modify it with tools available on the internet to enable such options. This is risky, though.

[almodovaris]

Some advice if you want to flash third party BIOS:

- buy an EEPROM programmer;
- check if it supports your chip;
- backup original BIOS (save it to the cloud).

[dss]

Just to add, some really odd things going on with my N100 CWWK box...

When under load the core temperatures actually drop according the OPNsense monitoring. At idle it's around 34-36°C. Under load it initially hits 41°C for a few seconds then drops to 30°C.

I can see from the following command that CPU frequency starts at 2923mhz, then drops to 800mhz or even down to 400mhz under load.

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$ sysctl -a | grep dev.cpu.*.freq:
dev.cpu.3.freq: 402
dev.cpu.2.freq: 402
dev.cpu.1.freq: 402
dev.cpu.0.freq: 402


So something is definitely applying a throttle. Perhaps it is that PL1 is configured way to low, but I can't even see what the value of that is in my set up.

I've also spotted that Zenarmour's eastpect process disappears and then reappears when under load. The Zenarmour dashboard still reports it as 'running' when this happens.

When Zenarmour's eastpect process is running and the CPU's drop down below 800mhz, my throughput is severely  limited (e.g. 300-500 mbps). This is a problem for my internet connection which is 1Gbps symmetrical.

For now I'm going to turn off Zenarmour until I've worked out what the issue is with the hardware.

[dss]

I've given up trying to get this 6-port CWWK N100 box to perform. No one seems to have a BIOS for it that opens up the PL1/PL2 settings. I'm going to return it to the original supplier.

I've now taken a chance and purchased a 4-port CWWK N100 box from a different supplier. I used Hunsn on Amazon as I'd seen other people get good results with this. Hunsn label it as an RJ35 model but it would appear to be just a CWWK rebadge like Topton and others do.

With this box I'm getting full throughput even with Zenarmour enabled. The CPU runs at around 2900mhz for the duration of the load test, unlike my previous box which dropped to 400-800mhz under load. Temps get up to about 45°C which is ok. Also the BIOS is much more open on this RJ35 unit. I'm not sure if all 4-port CWWK rebadges offer this level of BIOS control or if it's a BIOS Hunsn load to open it up.

This is the performance with Zenarmour enabled using the native netmap driver and hooked up on a 2.5GbE networking...

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iperf3 -c [IP] -t 60

[  5]   0.00-60.00  sec  16.1 GBytes  2.30 Gbits/sec  842             sender
[  5]   0.00-60.00  sec  16.1 GBytes  2.30 Gbits/sec                  receiver

iperf3 -c [IP] -t 60 -R

[  5]   0.00-60.00  sec  15.9 GBytes  2.27 Gbits/sec  4968             sender
[  5]   0.00-60.00  sec  15.9 GBytes  2.27 Gbits/sec                  receiver



So I think this is similar to what @athurdent was getting.

With the emulated netmap driver the performance does drop off quite a bit to around 1.5 Gbits/sec. Also there are strange messages in the dmesg logs about the netmap driver dropping in and out when using the emulated netmap driver.