Router specs advice: device priority

[Rupert8]

Hi,

I live in a rural area and have slow DSL internet which is shared between way too many devices these days....

I'm looking for recommendations for a router which will fulfill all the following requirements:

• Gigabit ethernet ports - no minimum number required
• Ability to set device-specific bandwidth upper limits for both upload and download (eg via mac address)
• Ability to set device-specific bandwidth lower limits (eg. guarantee a certain % of available bandwidth to devices
• Ability to set automatically new/undesignated/unrecognized devices, such as guests' devices, to a specific (low) bandwidth limit
• Not be Asus brand (tried three, all three have low throughput via wired - it's well documented online including on SNB and I so far haven't found a solution)
• Ability to set priority to certain devices

Is there such a router out there? I'm using a Synology router right now and it's great - but there is no option to automatically place new/unrecognized devices on a specific priority tier/bandwidth limit.

Thanks for the help.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @Rupert8.

I don't believe the router you want exists.

What Asus routers have you tested that deliver less than expected wired throughput? How did you test? Between which devices? What Ethernet cables were tested/used?

I believe a better solution for you may ultimately be a different ISP provider (maybe satellite?). But curious if you've tried anything like FlexQoS or CakeQos to solve your low bandwidth ISP issues?

 

[coxhaus]

Tomato had the best bandwidth management that I have seen as you could lock it down but that was years ago. I don't know if it is the same nowadays. Today with all the high-speed internet you just buy a faster internet.

 

[avtella]

Bandwidth management could still be useful especially for very asymmetrical connections like Comcast’s Gig profile which these days is actually like 1.4 Gbps / 35 Mbps.

 

[Rupert8]

Welcome to the forums @Rupert8.

I don't believe the router you want exists.

What Asus routers have you tested that deliver less than expected wired throughput? How did you test? Between which devices? What Ethernet cables were tested/used?

I believe a better solution for you may ultimately be a different ISP provider (maybe satellite?). But curious if you've tried anything like FlexQoS or CakeQos to solve your low bandwidth ISP issues?

Thanks for the reply. The Synology comes really close - but I can't designate new devices to automatically be assigned a specific upper bandwidth, unfortunately (great router otherwise). That's a key requirement to protect the bandwidth from, say, my kids' friends using it all up when they visit, or other guests downloading and eating it all up. Asus routers seem ideal on paper - but there seems to be a bug where wired speeds drop. There's a lot online documenting this:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/w...ifferent-asus-wifi-6-routers-any-fixes.63205/

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/9hgkkj

In my case my slow rural 11 Mbs DSL over wired ends up delivering <1 Mbps. Internal networking is fine. Wifi is fine. Tested on three different Windows 10 PCs connected directly to Asus routers, direct to modem, to different brand routers. Various Cat 6 ethernet cables used in case one was faulty. Three different model Asus routers (sorry, I don't have the model numbers available).

Satellite internet is not an option unfortunately. Stuck with the DSL.

Thanks again for the reply. Hope I have answered your questions. Any tips on fixing the Asus problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rupert8]

Tomato had the best bandwidth management that I have seen as you could lock it down but that was years ago. I don't know if it is the same nowadays. Today with all the high-speed internet you just buy a faster internet.

I'll look into Tomato. I would buy faster internet if I could - but not an option where I live.

 

[tarassippo]

Have a look at OPNsense too, it could have all the feature you need.

 

[Sky]

There's a lot online documenting this:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/w...ifferent-asus-wifi-6-routers-any-fixes.63205/

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/9hgkkj

In my case my slow rural 11 Mbs DSL over wired ends up delivering <1 Mbps. Internal networking is fine. Wifi is fine. Tested on three different Windows 10 PCs connected directly to Asus routers, direct to modem, to different brand routers. Various Cat 6 ethernet cables used in case one was faulty.

Been there done that with the DSL — bummer.

Fwiw, this "speed chop" as I like to call it seems to happen right regularly with the QoS in Asus. Not that you're likely to check I understand, but if you should change your mind and (a) you determine you have your full 11 Mbps actually coming out of the modem, it would be worth taking a look at that setting.