OpenVPN performance

#9

Well, then my work is done, since we got someone who understands how it works.

But i would disagree with just one thing. Existing of PiVPN also means that there could be patches in OpenVPN that adds optimization for Raspberry Pi.

#10

This is science. I don’t mean to be harsh, but I really don’t like all this BS that is spread around toy for masses.

Find patches and find its explanation. Until then, they don’t exists.

#11

No, you have the point there, while i’m just speculate. I will test PiVPN on my RockPi in the following days.

While I’m at it @Talkabout may you try Debian and say are results same or not?

#12

Hi @Dante4,

I have tried all the available distributions (armbian ubuntu/debian, ubuntu bionic server), in all cases results are the same. I am not able to get the speed above 3MB/s.

Thanks for your effort!

Bye

#13

Also tried Armbian with kernel 5.4.y ? And searched forum for more info … someone should know something about this.

#14

Yes, I tried Armbian with kernel 5.4 and 4.4, there is no change in behavior. Searching the net was not successful, I have not found anybody with exact this problem on RockPI 4. There are some posts about general performance tweaks like using a specific and isolated CPU core. I have tried all of them, no success. I have also tried several tweaks in the OpenVPN client configuration file (sndbuf/rcvbuf…) but still no change. That is why I think the limiting factor is not OpenVPN, especially because the crypto tests were showing very promising numbers. Even without hardware crypto RockPI should give higher numbers than a Raspberry PI, but it is not. That is why I was hoping to find a solution in this forum…

Bye

#15

There are many RK3399 devices out there. They are (in theory) identical in this.

Module represented for hw crypto acceleration is build as module. Perhaps you need to load module manually?


… but still OVPN has to know somehow to use that.

On some RK3399 devices this is different:

Current 5.4.y has it as module https://github.com/armbian/build/blob/master/config/kernel/linux-rockchip64-current.config#L7139

#16

Hi @igorp,

thanks for the suggestion but there is no difference in speed with or without the module. I have loaded it manually (modprobe rk_crypto) and added it to /etc/modules (then reboot) and still nothing changed, speed < 2MB/s…

Bye

#17

Hi all,

any other hint what I can do to make the RockPI 4 perform better in OpenVPN case?

Thanks!

Bye

#18

That you should widen your research out of this forum.

#19

Hi @igorp,

I have done a lot of research already, also on the pages mentioned by you. None of them provided a solution to the problem. Assuming that this is the forum of the RockPI’s vendor, I was hoping to get some more help here, maybe also somebody trying out if the issue is reproducible or simply an issue with only my device…

Yesterday I was playing around with the CPU frequencies and realized that those are throttled. Maybe this is one of the problems… I also realized that RockPI 4 is not supported by Armbian, they have a section in their forums claiming support for this device being still “in development”.

It seems to me the device itself is not that mature yet…

Bye

#20

Probably not, but you can get hints how to approach to the problem. Not everything can be found on the internet just like that. Especially if you are not searching for proper targets.

They are producing a board with RK3399 (or whatever) chip. Hardware crypto functions were developed by Rockchip. If there is a manual, you should look there http://opensource.rock-chips.com/wiki_Linux_SDK

Support for RK3399 is in very good shape, but forums are still in the “Development” areas for no apparent reasons. Its simply due lack of time to moderate forum. Most of users just demand things and give nothing in return (perhaps help on moderating forum).

It is supported by Armbian https://www.armbian.com/rock-pi-4/ (Green sign “SUPPORTED”) while support will always stay in the grey area https://docs.armbian.com/#what-is-supported

The problem you have is unrelated to Radxa, Rockchip and Armbian but it is called “VPN with hw supported chippers” which I have no special knowledge and can’t give you better clues.

#21

@Talkabout
So i tested OpenVPN (installed by using PiVPN script) and got following results. Phone was connected with Wifi to the same local network as RockPi and RasPi. Both of them connected by cable

No VPN (Download/Upload Mbps)
42.8 / 41.8

RasPI PiVPN
31.1/30.0

RockPI PiVPN
37.1/39.1

So from this i can conclude that problem in your network

1 Like
#22

Hi @Dante4,

thank you so much for testing it!

Although the bandwidth is very low on your end (with and without VPN) your configuration is still able to get a higher throughput than mine.

A few questions:

  1. what image have you used?
  2. how is your RockPI 4 connected to power supply and do you have fan/heatsink?
  3. what Raspberry Pi was used (2, 3, 4)?

Bye

#23

phone is still connected over 56Mbits Wifi, so not much i can do about it

  1. As i said, i used Debian Desktop from wiki
  2. I used QC power supply, yes i had fan, but that’s unrelated, since it’s not about temperature
  3. I used RasPi 3B+
#24

Hi @Dante4,

can you do me one more favor? On the RockPI can you please execute following command:

curl -L http://speedtest.belwue.net/1G > /dev/null

and tell me the download speed? I have realized that on my RockPI the average speed is 1.5MB/s whereas on one of my Raspberries I reach approx 9MB/s. Both PIs are connected via LAN to the same switch. So it seems that it is not an OpenVPN problem…

Thanks!

Bye

#25

@Talkabout, yes sure, but my next advice is to use iperf to test speed between RockPi and any other device in LAN

#26

Hi @Dante4,

I did that already, and transfer in same network is fast, only loading data from internet is slow… I was assuming that this might have something to do with firewall or similar but have not found anything like this in armbian…

Bye

#27

Hi guys,

the issue seems to be related to one of my network cables. I have exchanged it now and am testing the RockPI in my VPN environment. At the moment it seems to work fine.

Thanks for your support!

Bye

#28

Hi Talkabout,
What kind of speeds did you finally reach ? I am interested in this topic !
Nathan