Question Asus RT-AC3200 USB 3.0 tops out at ~ 52 MB/sec

[CuriousMike]

I've been considering purchasing a NAS mainly for sharing files on home network.
I discovered my router already has the ability I want via a USB 3.0 port.
I tried plugging in an old SSD (Intel 80GB) in a USB3 enclosure that I know does > 200MB on my main rigs USB 3 port.

Using it on the router, it tops out at ~ 52 MB/sec... significantly slower than I was hoping for. I think my hope is I could hit a fast spinner harddisk rate ... 100 mb/sec?

I updated the firmware on the router and it didn't help.

Do you think a NAS could do better over an ethernet cable? I would think USB3 enclosure + SSD would be the fastest connection from my router to my (wired directly to the router)) desktop... but its not.

 

[viivo]

USB ports on routers are generally there so people can plug in a drive and stream pirated movies to their tablet. Most routers don't have the hardware or implementation to do real networking stuff via the USB input.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Do you think a NAS could do better over an ethernet cable?

Far, FAR, better.

Most routers don't have the hardware or implementation to do real networking stuff via the USB input.

Yep. Most router CPUs are puny. Most NAS CPUs are too, but less so, and they have dedicated SATA and ethernet NICs, that don't require the CPU load that a USB3.0-connected drive requires.

Want a NAS? Get a NAS. Want a router? Get a router. Don't use your router as a NAS, unless you want painfully-poor performance.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm not going to claim that it's actually going to perform faster, but if you want an interesting, if obsolete, "Starter NAS", check out my hot deals thread about the IX2-DL and family, from Centrix Intl. / Parallel Miner. (The latter site seems to be a bit cheaper?)

@mikeford Maybe you can comment on what you've learned about the IX2-DL, and pros and cons. I no longer use mine, but they made nice torrent slaves (for Linux ISOs, of course!).

 

[sdifox]

How are you testing? Hardwire to router or wireless?

 

[CuriousMike]

Thanks all - you've explained why a dedicated NAS is going to be better in simple terms.
@sdifox - I have an old SSD in a USB3 enclosure plugged into the router. My testing was done on my desktop that is also directly wired to the router. There was no wireless used during testing.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The thing is, Storage done Right, is not compatible with Storage done Cheap. The two are basically mutually exclusive. And if you want Storage done Right, along with Storage with Performance, you're definitely not getting Cheap.

 

[razel]

There apparently is something wrong with the storage performance of that dead spider and you're getting better than what smallnetbuilder achieved 4 years ago:

ASUS RT-AC5300 Wireless-AC5300 Tri-Band Gigabit Router Reviewed - SmallNetBuilder

ASUS' RT-AC5300 Wireless-AC5300 Tri-Band Gigabit Router is another expensive big honkin' router you don't really need.

www.smallnetbuilder.com

Yes. You will want to test that storage speed wired, but even with wireless 52MB/s is very doable.

Seeing that old review of an awesome flagship AC routers years ago reminds me how fast home Internet has come. Even that router's WAN-LAN speed (Internet routing) is limited to 750mbit/s. Getting gigabit to your home and running through that flagship router will max you out at 750.

 

[mxnerd]

Router's processor raw power usually can't be compared to a PC's one.
ASUS RT-AC3200 got a Broadcom BCM4709A0 1GHz CPU with a paltry 256MB memory.

ASUS RT-AC3200 - TechInfoDepot

BCM43602 is supported in the mainline Linux kernel by brcmfmac.

en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com

I love all in one devices. But the fact is, router should be just used as a routing device, not something else.

 

[sdifox]

Thanks all - you've explained why a dedicated NAS is going to be better in simple terms.
@sdifox - I have an old SSD in a USB3 enclosure plugged into the router. My testing was done on my desktop that is also directly wired to the router. There was no wireless used during testing.

IS the USb enclosure powered by a distinct power brick and not being driven through the usb power only?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Netgear RAX50 Nighthawk AX6 AX5400 Review: A Valuable Wi-Fi 6 Router | Dong Knows Tech

The Netgear Nighthawk AX6 6-Stream AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 Router (model RAX50) is the Wi-Fi machine that has only the good stuff you'd need.

dongknows.com

This $300 router can do 100MB/sec read and write over it's USB3.0-port-come-NAS.