WIREGUARD implementation

[tiomiguel69-star]

I want to know if we can expect faster WIREGUARD with GNUTON firmware vs stock firmware. I have RT-AX82U V1 and does 140/60 Mb down/up. I have installed last GNUTON firmware and speed is about the same -or a bit less-
GNUTON GUI is better: More informatión and better in general, but I need a bit increase in upload speed.

1. WIREGUARD implementation is the same in GNUTON FIRMWARE?
2. Is there any way to improve WIREGUARD SPEED, or BCM6750 can not go further?
   I have read WIREGUARD only uses one core. Multicore can be enabled for wireguard in any way?
   I have read:
   nvram set wg_cpu_affinity=all
   nvram commit
   shoud I do this?
3. GNUTON GUI is better, with more features, but, for a weak CPU like BCM6750 is heavier than stock firmware?

[gnuton]

WireGuard performance on the Gnuton (Asuswrt-Merlin) firmware should be roughly the same as stock Asus firmware, since both use the same kernel-level WireGuard implementation from Asus’ codebase. Gnuton’s builds mainly improve stability, logging, and features in the web interface, not the VPN stack performance itself.

The BCM6750 CPU (quad-core Cortex-A7 @ 1.5GHz) is relatively weak for cryptographic workloads, and WireGuard currently runs single-threaded on Asus routers. This means your 140/60 Mb speeds are close to what the hardware can realistically achieve.

The command:
nvram set wg_cpu_affinity=all
nvram commit
…does not enable multi-core WireGuard. It only changes which cores the process could run on, but WireGuard’s kernel module still processes a tunnel on a single core. You can test it, but it usually doesn’t yield any noticeable speed increase.

As for Gnuton’s GUI — yes, it’s a bit heavier due to more features and monitoring scripts, but the overhead is minimal and won’t significantly affect VPN throughput. The bottleneck is purely CPU-bound encryption performance.

Ways to slightly improve WireGuard speed:

• Use AES-NI capable client devices (if applicable) — they’ll handle crypto more efficiently.
• Keep the router cool — BCM chips throttle under heat.
• Try reducing MTU (e.g., to 1420 or 1380) if you see packet loss or jitter.
• Ensure QoS is off when testing VPN speeds, as it can consume CPU cycles.

To get higher WireGuard throughput, you’d need a router with a stronger CPU (e.g., BCM4908, Qualcomm IPQ807x, or x86 hardware).

[Neoony]

Just to show example of what I get on GT-BE98 (CPU 2.6GHz (Quad-core)) [thats the 3006 firmware though]
(on 2.5gbit fiber WAN...the upload speed on normal WAN in the speed test is also maxing around 600mbit, but I think it can go higher when not just testing, should be symmetrical...I get less upload speed testing in the router, than in some connected PC)