best way to prioritise one device

[heysoundude]

probably the wrong place to ask this, but I need to prioritise the traffic of one device's internet connectivity on a busy LAN. I basically want to make sure this ipad can beat out 300 (or more) other devices at any time, and have as fast and stable a connection as possible...(and it really could do fine with a symmetrical 1Mbps on a connection that's 25/10)

Am I thinking along the right lines here, experts:
set up a VPN server on the router (basically for the device), and then prioritize the VPN's traffic with a custom rule in QoS?

now, the network has a main router and an AP, and their coverage overlaps to an extent; if the ipad drops connection to the VPN while "switching networks," how long does it take to re-connect? (unfortunately the AP doesn't support connecting to a VPN as a client from what I can tell, otherwise I'd have it do so if that simplified things)

 

[L&LD]

How do you have 300+ devices on a single network?

Btw, I don't think you need a VPN to accomplish what you need.

What specific hardware do you have? What firmware are you using?

 

[heysoundude]

Wired and wireless, it adds up fast with security cameras and PoS terminals and employee phones and customer phones and chromecast sticks and kodi boxes..and don’t get me started on devices that ARENT connected fouling up the airwaves pinging away looking for a connection.

Router: Asus ac68 running stock firmware (but I could flash it with Merlin to take advantage of the scripts...)
AP: dlink dir819

 

[ColinTaylor]

Why on earth would you want to use a VPN for this?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Router: Asus ac68 running stock firmware (but I could flash it with Merlin to take advantage of the scripts...)
AP: dlink dir819

How many devices are concurrently connected to each radio on each device (guest networks don't count as separate radios)? For example, D-Link recommends no more than 15 devices and Netgear says no more than 32.

 

[heysoundude]

Why on earth would you want to use a VPN for this?

The tunnel?

 

[heysoundude]

How many devices are concurrently connected to each radio on each device (guest networks don't count as separate radios)? For example, D-Link recommends no more than 15 devices and Netgear says no more than 32.

Connected, or passing traffic?
Either way, lots. The dlink is a new addition as AP for range/coverage, and I doubt login creds have been shared widely among staff for now, so I would expect that for now, the number is quite low. The ac68 has been in place for some time, and it wouldn’t surprise me to find a consistent 20-30 wired and wireless clients connected to it, besides the dlink AP, with others coming and going.
And they’re all sharing a 25/10 cable connection. So that’s why I’m needing a clear but small laser beam pathway to the internet for ONE device, whether it’s connected to the AP or the router. Best I could figure was that the VPN tunnel with some QoS filtering/a custom rule would be a possibility to ensure the iPad retains the ability to stream regardless of whatever else is going on.
The data infrastructure at this business is woefully underprovisioned, and the owner can’t see his way to putting the money into changing that because “it works.” It took a year to get the dlink AP; I ran the Cat5 backhaul last Feb.
So- what needs to happen? I can probably reflash to Merlin and get FreshJR happening without any issues/notice, but entware/diversion etc would probably be a trick, even though they would probably help too.
Or - should I just activate/set up dedicated guest networks on both router and AP and keep the creds to myself? Which would work best/most reliably?

 

[ColinTaylor]

The data infrastructure at this business is woefully underprovisioned, and the owner can’t see his way to putting the money into changing that because “it works.”

Maybe now's the time not to do anything so that he starts to treat his business like.... well, a business. Which means a decent internet feed (preferably with redundancy) and business class routers and access points instead of cheap "home" equipment. All the time you're patching things together for him behind the scenes he'll think that's OK. Maybe "accidentally" unplug the internet for a couple of days and see how seriously he starts taking it then.

Regarding your current setup, the best I think you can do would be to use QOS to prioritise the tablet based on its MAC address. Using traditional QoS (assuming it's not broken in the firmware) this is straight forward. I don't use Adaptive QOS but I guess there's an equivalent setting.

Using a VPN won't achieve anything other than increase load on the router and increase the packet overhead for the tablet. You'd also need to connect to some external server, which would probably slow down the tablet's overall internet speed.

Another pinch point is likely to be the WiFi connection to the AP. If you've got many devices connected to (and using) the same band on the same router/AP that's going to be a problem because they're all sharing the same airtime. Guest networks or VPNs won't change this. The only way to improve the situation would be to make sure that there are only a few (or no) other devices connected to the same band/AP.

 

[heysoundude]

It's beyond my purview/above my pay grade to make suggestions like that, especially since he's been running for the better part of a decade like this. Unfortunately, he doesn't understand technology (it actually scares him), so he can't see benefits until problems arise and he's shown the way forward.

I've got the router and AP's radios sorted with their own patches of the ether; the neighbours have been most accommodating in moving their channels/bands, and luckily the first thing they've said is that their wifi now works better than it ever has (imagine that!), so the little education campaign I mounted has worked.

I'll look into the QoS/MAC address thing. Thanks for your help!