CPU / Routing spec on cisco 867VAE

[Stephanie Tingey]

I'm rather new at all this, working on my CCNA.  I have a cisco 867VAE ISR running my Centurylink 40/5VDSL2.  Prior to configuring the router I was getting about 48mbps.  Now that I have the router in place i'm only getting about 35mbps.  Can anyone confirm that the 867VAE can (or cannot) handle routing of that throughput?

Thank you!

[Leo Laohoo]

86X is rated at 12.80 Mbps without any encryption and on a way-way traffic.

[Reuben Farrelly]

Leo - I'm guessing you got that figure from the Portable Product Sheet, which hasn't been updated for the newer models, and looks like it won't get any more updates now since the last update was 2009.  The earlier generation 860s were only rated for 12.80 Mbps but the newer 860-VAE models are capable of quite a bit more (although TBH I don't think 197Mbps quoted in the document above is even remotely realistic).   The newer -VAEs are a complete redesign from the older 860s and have been out only a couple of years.

This:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/routers/800-series-routers/data_sheet_c78-693249.html

indicates officially 10 Mbps with services enabled.

To the OP: I'm thinking if you're getting 35 Mbps you're probably pushing the router to the limit.  These routers are very good value for their price, but they are targeted at environments of <= 5 users, who presumably won't be driving it hard at 35 Mbps for any length of time.

I think a 1921 would be a better fit for your needs.

[Joseph W. Doherty · Accepted solution]

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Posting

Maybe, maybe not.  It's a "it depends" kind of answer.

The 25Kpps, should be for minimal size Ethernet.  The 197 Mbps, would be best case, Ethernet.

Any configuration beyond just basic forwarding, e.g. NAT, will lower throughput.

PAT @ 75% CPU:

Cisco ISR performance recommendations:

[edit]

Above has embedded bit images, which I see, even editing, but don't appear when I post.

Well, images were taken from attachment, please see table 1, table 6 and figure 1.
 

[Steve_Hive]

I feel I have to jump to the defense of the somewhat maligned 867VAE-K9. I have a number of these in production, a great little router and much better than the legacy 860 series IMHO.

I have attached two files which I hope will show the sort of performance I expect from these routers:

One shows VTI performance between two 867VAE-K9 at 12mbps down and 16mbps up. I had just installed both routers and was resyncing the backups (each site backs up to the other).

The other image shows a speedtest (taken today) at 66.4mbps/17.8mbps. This is on a BT 70/20 fibre line, using pppoe into the supplied BT white box modem (which may give a performance advantage over using the integral modem).

Both routers are running PAT and ZBF.