FlexQOS vs Cake for Gaming/Livestreaming

[Flux]

Hey all, I hope you're having a great weekend so far! I have been having packet loss and latency issues for the past few months and I have been troubleshooting ever since - I've hit the point where I am running out of ideas, so hopefully somebody else might have some ideas.

I've had Comcast come out, I've tried new hardware, ect, but I still have the same packet loss issues. I decided to start looking into Bufferbloat, ect.

I do have 2 roommates who game and watch a lot of Netflix - I would like to make sure that doesn't affect anything on my end, even if it means they're having a slightly worse experience. My gaming is all on my Gaming PC while I have a streaming PC for Twitch (Dual PC Setup). My roommate on the other hand typically uses his xbox or switch.

I'm hoping to stick with FlexQOS to take full advantage of my internet speeds that I pay for as well as the Hardware Acceleration on the router.

Bufferbloat Scores
No QOS: 800+ Down, 15+ Up - C or D
AdaptiveQOS: 600 Down, 14 Up - C
AdaptiveQOS: 250 Down, 14 Up - C
Cake (Built in version): 225 Down, 15 Up - A+
FlexQOS: Im currently trying different settings to get A+ but not having much luck.

Internet Plan: Comcast/Xfinity - 800Mbps Download | 15 Mbps Upload (Gotta love the upload, lol)
Modem: Arris SB8200
Router: ASUS RT-AX88U
The computer is hardwired, I'm not too worried about WiFi performance.

In the screenshots you'll be able to see that I tried routing Discord under iptables Rules to be considered Gaming for highest priority and I adjusted Game Downloads to be considered Gaming as well because I'm almost never downloading something or have a game downloading something in the background. You'll also see that I added XBOX to AppDB Redirection Rules so that it gets listed as Web Surfing and has lower Prio however by doing this I noticed when he is still playing a game it is prioritizing the game properly (I'm fine with this as long as it's not affecting my gaming/streaming).

Hopefully I provided all the necessary information, if I did not, I'm sorry, just let me know! Thank you all so much for your time, I really appreciate any help I can get.

Edit 1: I've just noticed that my FlexQOS setup is classifying fast.com as Streaming and under load it peaks at 39ms latency which seems like its working correctly, at least for that category? I also noticed the Waveform Bufferbloat test is primarily under Web Surfing which rates it at a C.

 

[askan7]

Cake without question. I now have 500/100 gpon and if I use FlexQOS or adaptiveQOS(exact same result) I still feel the lags if someone starts uploading. With Cake it's like no one is using my connection but me.

I'm still talking to my ISP to replace the trash gateway the provided,I get ping spikes just by starting a VOIP call. Even with bridge mode. Starting a torrent kills the gateway pretty much, even limiting to use very little bandwidth

You can also get a raspberry pi4 to run cake SQM, it does 900mbps. I might do the same, but honestly 350mbps is enough for me.

 

[Flux]

When I check my modem's page, it shows 100+ million uncorrectable errors within like 48 hours of rebooting the modem. At this point I feel like I've tried everything and feel like it has to be on Comcast's end, whether it is a line or something else idk. I've tried tons of different SQM setups, I've tried countless routers, including various brands and price points, I've gone through 3-4 modems in the past 2 months.

Unfortunately they refuse to come out and look at the lines because I don't rent their garbage equipment and then they try to charge me despite a previous rep telling me it isn't my job to pay for them to come look at the lines.

 

[Kingp1n]

When I check my modem's page, it shows 100+ million uncorrectable errors within like 48 hours of rebooting the modem. At this point I feel like I've tried everything and feel like it has to be on Comcast's end, whether it is a line or something else idk. I've tried tons of different SQM setups, I've tried countless routers, including various brands and price points, I've gone through 3-4 modems in the past 2 months.

Unfortunately they refuse to come out and look at the lines because I don't rent their garbage equipment and then they try to charge me despite a previous rep telling me it isn't my job to pay for them to come look at the lines.

Have you tested with the FlexQoS default settings to include bandwidth percentages?

Basically go back to the default settings and just add the gaming rule at this point. Delete the XBOX appdb to show as Web Surfing.

I have STUN to reflect under W-f-H under AppDB.

Also move Work-from-Home in front of web surfing.

So basically it should look like this;

Gaming
Streaming
Others
W-f-H
Web
File transfer
L-f-H

 

[Flux]

Have you tested with the FlexQoS default settings to include bandwidth percentages?

Basically go back to the default settings and just add the gaming rule at this point. Delete the XBOX appdb to show as Web Surfing.

I have STUN to reflect under W-f-H under AppDB.

Also move Work-from-Home in front of web surfing.

So basically it should look like this;

Gaming
Streaming
Others
W-f-H
Web
File transfer
L-f-H

Yeah, I tried a lot of different tweaks/settings over the past few weeks but nothing seems to resolve the issues.

I don't think I want anything considered WFH to have priority, unless something from gaming/livestreaming (Discord or OBS) is being mislabeled and put under WFH. I also don't want anybody to be affecting my end while they're on the xbox, so I'd prefer the xbox to have very little priority as well. I'm thinking maybe I should look for something that limits more based on device and less on traffic. Realistically I only care about having the absolute best connection on the gaming and streaming computers and everything else can be bad. One issue with this though, is that I'm having these problems even when no other devices are using the internet, which is one reason I think I'm trying to resolve my issues incorrectly and that it isn't related to my traffic but more likely an issue with the line. I'm also seeing 100+ million uncorrectable errors on the modem, and even with a fresh reboot the uncorrectable errors start stacking up pretty quickly.

I just went through and did everything you mentioned to try it out again to be safe, but no luck. Thank you for trying though, I appreciate it!

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Does Cake require speed test results to be input into the relevant fields in the router's GUI or can/should they be left blank?

 

[Wade Coxon]

Does Cake require speed test results to be input into the relevant fields in the router's GUI or can/should they be left blank?

You need to enter values there for Cake to be effective.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

You need to enter values there for Cake to be effective.

OK, thanks for confirming that. However, I don't think I'm going to need QoS now as my ISP has upgraded my full fibre broadband overnight from their 100/30 service to their 500/70 service (at no extra cost).