Hard-capping WiFi speeds through QoS [372.31 FW]

[tetrisfreak]

This has been an issue in my household for a while now. I'm looking to limit every device in my household to a predetermined maximum download and upload limit through the QoS tab found on my Asus RT-N66U B1 router. I have a 30/5 connection (which is usually what I receive), so I set my max download and upload in the QoS tab to be 25.5/4.25, 85% of what my connection actually is.

I also preset the priorities and customized the maximum download and upload speeds for each priority tier. However, while the upload speeds are being capped appropriately, the download speeds are not. I know that this is likely a feature of QoS to provide maximum bandwidth to devices when congestion is low, but is there a way to hard cap the speeds?

For example, I'd like to limit all phones and tablets in the house to a maximum of 5Mbps download and 1Mbps upload, certain computers that rely heavily on P2P-based software for streaming content to 10Mbps/2Mbps, and also certain computers intended only for gaming to 15Mbps/2Mbps.

Again, the upload caps work flawlessly on all devices, it is only the download caps that don't seem to kick in. I assume that traffic is shaped when congestion is high and the router needs to prioritize bandwidth, but again, I'm looking for a hard cap.

I tried the stock Asuswrt firmware (270.X), and moments ago I upgraded to Merlin's 372.31 firmware hoping there was an added option, but there wasn't. I'm open to trying 3rd party firmwares like DD-WRT and Tomato, but only if such a feature exists.

 

[RMerlin]

Tomato: I think Shibby might have bandwidth limiter functionality, however Toastman does not. Dunno about Victek.

 

[tetrisfreak]

Tomato: I think Shibby might have bandwidth limiter functionality, however Toastman does not. Dunno about Victek.

Thanks for the response Merlin, your wizardry is appreciated. I looked into Shibby and it seems like it indeed does have a bandwidth limiter functionality. I do want to take this chance to ask whether or not you plan on implementing a bandwidth limiter in any of your RT-N66U firmwares? If given the choice I'd prefer staying with Merlin builds.

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks for the response Merlin, your wizardry is appreciated. I looked into Shibby and it seems like it indeed does have a bandwidth limiter functionality. I do want to take this chance to ask whether or not you plan on implementing a bandwidth limiter in any of your RT-N66U firmwares? If given the choice I'd prefer staying with Merlin builds.

No plan to. In regard to bandwidth capping, I agree with Toastman's reason for not implementing it in his own Tomato version: proper QoS is the way to go. There's no real reason to have the bandwidth capped even if nothing else is requesting to use the spare bandwidth.

 

[tetrisfreak]

No plan to. In regard to bandwidth capping, I agree with Toastman's reason for not implementing it in his own Tomato version: proper QoS is the way to go. There's no real reason to have the bandwidth capped even if nothing else is requesting to use the spare bandwidth.

My absolute primary reason for wanting a bandwidth limiter over QoS is because my ISP does not always prove to be very stable. There are times in which I only get a fraction of my advertised download speeds. I assume that these situations would completely throw off the QoS feature and render the pre-set priorities and speed caps irrelevant. What's worse is that it is in those very times of traffic congestion outside of my control (occasional weekday evenings and frequent weekend evenings), that bandwidth shaping within my household is absolutely crucial.

 

[RMerlin]

My absolute primary reason for wanting a bandwidth limiter over QoS is because my ISP does not always prove to be very stable. There are times in which I only get a fraction of my advertised download speeds. I assume that these situations would completely throw off the QoS feature and render the pre-set priorities and speed caps irrelevant. What's worse is that it is in those very times of traffic congestion outside of my control (occasional weekday evenings and frequent weekend evenings), that bandwidth shaping within my household is absolutely crucial.

Sounds like your ISP is suffering from congestion. That's not unusual with cable-based ISPs who are overloading their nodes - not much you could do about it indeed.

What happens if you set the QoS for the value that is typically seen when the ISP is suffering from congestion? There's a chance that it would end up effectively capping your bandwidth to that value except when only low priority (i.e. unclassified) traffic is occurring.

 

[Find the Door]

Sounds like your ISP is suffering from congestion. That's not unusual with cable-based ISPs who are overloading their nodes - not much you could do about it indeed.

What happens if you set the QoS for the value that is typically seen when the ISP is suffering from congestion? There's a chance that it would end up effectively capping your bandwidth to that value except when only low priority (i.e. unclassified) traffic is occurring.

I too suffer from the same issue regarding QoS.

I'd greatly appreciate it if this was implemented for the AC68R/U

I could really use it as a preventive measure to avoid bufferbloat. I game a ton, so whenever my connection is fully saturated I drop packets. To avoid this I'd like to limit my bandwidth to 75%-85% of it's limit.

Currently I am setting it as such in the automatic QoS section only to see it still continuously max out regardless of what I attempt it to cap to. Without the ability to truly cap my devices and ports QoS is for lack of a better word useless in its current state.

It seems as if gamers aren't Asus' priority (understandably so) and as a result likely aren't yours either, but I'd be ecstatic, and extremely grateful) if you could throw us a bone on top of all the greatness you already do.

Thanks!

 

[Find the Door]

Sounds like your ISP is suffering from congestion. That's not unusual with cable-based ISPs who are overloading their nodes - not much you could do about it indeed.

What happens if you set the QoS for the value that is typically seen when the ISP is suffering from congestion? There's a chance that it would end up effectively capping your bandwidth to that value except when only low priority (i.e. unclassified) traffic is occurring.

For the record I try to set it at a lower rate yet every time I test it when enabled - it gives me a result that's even faster than what I get otherwise.

Example

QoS off I get 57 down & 11

QoS enabled I still get the same speeds if not more.

I'd like it to cap off to whatever I restrict it to when QoS is enabled rather than fully saturate and max out my available bandwidth.