RT-AC5300 QoS woes

[Find the Door]

Hi all,

I kept having trouble with my connection (275 down and 12 up) in mid-December and couldn't quite play my finger on why. Then I realized that I now have a second 4k HDR smart TV downstairs that's streaming quite often. This interferes directly with my games and also after isolated tests results in some significant bufferbloat when engaged.

I'm playing on my PS4 Pro and am very confused as to what works and doesn't work when it comes to QoS. I'm currently on Merlin 384.4 (newest) and am just confused on what's actually working and available.

I see some conflicting information in that traditional QoS is the way to go - others that say it's completely broken. Also I see some recommendations for a gentleman's algorithm that makes adaptive QoS function properly - I've tried adding this and it didn't seem to really remedy my issue. Bandwidth limiter QoS also seemed fruitless.

Then I've also seen people say at times that fq_codel is broken, and others they it's their saving grace. I'd prefer to use it myself as to my understanding it yields great results in regards to bufferbloat.

I may have configured the gentleman's QoS solution wrong. I selected Adaptive QoS, then selected fq_codel (no instructions saying not to) and also selected "custom" for the preset as it forced me to select one preset.

I didn't change any of the order on custom. Is that what he's saying by leaving everything at default?

I appreciate anyone that takes the time. I'm just trying to ensure that my PS4 is given priority over the streaming. Thank you!

 

[Sinner]

Its late and i have to crash but quick response. Adaptive qos is amazing with the freshjr script. Even withoit it should help. Enable it and fq_codel because codel is better for gaming as it sort of prioritizes small packets like for game 1st and yields lower pings generally. Also set you upload/download limits to maybe 80-90% of your typical rates reported by like speedtest.net. Then you want to choose custom and move streaming/video down to much lower priority. The gaming setting may work as well i havent messed with consoles much to confirm but if it doesnt then use custom and set video streaming low priority and the category your gaming is falling into at high priority. This should do the trick. Maybe not optimum but easymode almost garenteed to work for you

 

[Find the Door]

Its late and i have to crash but quick response. Adaptive qos is amazing with the freshjr script. Even withoit it should help. Enable it and fq_codel because codel is better for gaming as it sort of prioritizes small packets like for game 1st and yields lower pings generally. Also set you upload/download limits to maybe 80-90% of your typical rates reported by like speedtest.net. Then you want to choose custom and move streaming/video down to much lower priority. The gaming setting may work as well i havent messed with consoles much to confirm but if it doesnt then use custom and set video streaming low priority and the category your gaming is falling into at high priority. This should do the trick. Maybe not optimum but easymode almost garenteed to work for you

Okay I appreciate the response!

I've even went a step further and dropped my rates to 50% of what they test at to ensure the most promising results. I'll try moving video/stream down to the bottom to see how it reacts.

The problem I was having with it last night as that my ping went all over the place rapidly even when I wasn't streaming.

Would you recommend the fast application of his script or the traditional compatible? I used compatible and didn't yield great results as I said.

What's the difference?

 

[Sinner]

Well functionally they are the same. The fast version is experimental way of applying the settings instantly on the fly with no 5min delay. 50% prolly overkill. 80 should be more than enough unless your internet connection is brutally unstable. Try like 180down 9up. Only have 10/2 atm and its more than enough for 3 netflix and gaming. Sd netflix obviously

 

[Find the Door]

Well functionally they are the same. The fast version is experimental way of applying the settings instantly on the fly with no 5min delay. 50% prolly overkill. 80 should be more than enough unless your internet connection is brutally unstable. Try like 180down 9up. Only have 10/2 atm and its more than enough for 3 netflix and gaming. Sd netflix obviously

Yeah I'll give that a shot when I'm home. I appreciate your help!

I may go the fast route just to ensure that I'm able to easily test it right away. His first commands go into command prompt, then into Putty correct? In Putty it should say that it's successfully enabled?

How do I verify it's working?

 

[Find the Door]

Working like a charm running the fast version. I appreciate your responses - thank you very much!

 

[FreshJR]

Hi, going too low on bandwidth limits will net poor results.

Less is not always the answer! 85-95 of speedtest limits is the general recommendation.

Check results with different limits using dslreports speedtest with the high res buffer bloat option. Shoot for an A(+)

Too low limits = poor quality grade
Too high limits = poor bufferbloat grade

Any poor grade will result in poor performance.

As for your PS4, just ensure that "gaming" and "others" are above "web surfing, file downloads, and streaming". Probably put "voip" under "gaming" aswell so game data has priority over team chat.

--

Make sure your issues are not occurring due to saturating your wireless bandwidth vs. your connection.

I can see wireless traffic bursts saturating the wireless link vs your QOS managed connection. So definatly have those devices at 5ghz with a high link rate (600mbps+) OR get them wired.

IIRC the PS4's (non pro) wifi card only supports 2.4ghz with a poor link rate. If it is sharing it's airspace with a 4K device on the 2.4ghz it will have a bad time.

 

[Find the Door]

Hi, going too low on bandwidth limits will net poor results.

Less is not always the answer! 85-95 of speedtest limits is the general recommendation.

Check results with different limits using dslreports speedtest with the high res buffer bloat option. Shoot for an A(+)

Too low limits = poor quality grade
Too high limits = poor bufferbloat grade

Any poor grade will result in poor performance.

As for your PS4, just ensure that gaming and others are above web surfing, file downloads, and streaming. Probably put voip under gaming aswell so game data has priority over team chat.

--

Make sure your issues are not occurring due to saturating your wireless bandwidth vs. your connection.

I can see wireless traffic bursts saturating the wireless link vs your QOS managed connection. So definatly have those devices at 5ghz with a high link rate (600mbps+) OR get them wired.

How do I ensure that they're at a high link rate exactly?


I jumped up to 275/8 and am getting an A+ on bufferbloat and a D on quality. I think it's just because the speed test is limited via QoS so I'm getting 7.87/3.94 there.

 

[FreshJR]

How do I ensure that they're at a high link rate exactly?


I jumped up to 275/8 and am getting an A+ on bufferbloat and a D on quality. I think it's just because the speed test is limited via QoS so I'm getting 7.87/3.94 there.

Something is wrong if you are getting 7.87/3.94 throughput.

Send me the output of

/jffs/scripts/FreshJR_QOS -debug

if you are running my script.

--

Your link rates are available in System Log - Wireless Log, but devices have a power save mode.
So if you see a "P" in the flags, they are sleeping. So either run a speedtest on the device and see where it negotiates, or go into the devices wireless setting itself.

The device should tell you current Tx/Rx established rates

 

[Find the Door]

Sent you the results via pm

 

[FreshJR]

For others reading this thread.

Upload/Download rates were input in reversed locations.

If your speeds are not working as expected check your rates.

 

[Sinner]

For others reading this thread.

Upload/Download rates were reversed.

Morning guys. They were reversed? Like his settings entered or the actual ul/dl are reversed in the webui?

 

[Find the Door]

Morning guys. They were reversed? Like his settings entered or the actual ul/dl are reversed in the webui?

Yes (puts on dunce cap) webui

I'm also experiencing an outage in my area (Comcast) so I'm trying a few things in order to get optimal results but ultimately won't get them till later.

Really excited by what I see though and is a marked improvement over my base connection. Really great work is there any chance this is ever included in a standard Merlin release at some point?

In my opinion it makes QoS which is an otherwise flawed feature finally properly function with little fuss!

 

[Sinner]

Ok great glad u fixed it.

 

[Sinner]

Yes (puts on dunce cap) webui

I'm also experiencing an outage in my area (Comcast) so I'm trying a few things in order to get optimal results but ultimately won't get them till later.

Really excited by what I see though and is a marked improvement over my base connection. Really great work is there any chance this is ever included in a standard Merlin release at some point?

In my opinion it makes QoS which is an otherwise flawed feature finally properly function with little fuss!

We would all love to see it included in the firmware but merlins position on it was such that theres too many changes from asus at this time and hes not wanting or needing more things to update/debug etc which makes sense. But dow the road being built in with even a webui configuration page would be incredible!!!

 

[Find the Door]

So I've discovered that it's not FreshJRs script or Comcast that's causing the upload spikes.

It's something that's wrong with fq_codel in Merlin's build. I'm on 384.4 right now but it also exists on 380. as well.

fq_codel seems to make the download perform very well, but the upload side of things is just haywire.

 

[Sinner]

So I've discovered that it's not FreshJRs script or Comcast that's causing the upload spikes.

It's something that's wrong with fq_codel in Merlin's build. I'm on 384.4 right now but it also exists on 380. as well.

fq_codel seems to make the download perform very well, but the upload side of things is just haywire.

I was noticing something as well.. my upload graphs looks like a saw rather than stable regardless of what I set it at.. the setting is working tho because it will raise or lower it but always like a saw.. Is that what your referring to?

 

[Find the Door]

I was noticing something as well.. my upload graphs looks like a saw rather than stable regardless of what I set it at.. the setting is working tho because it will raise or lower it but always like a saw.. Is that what your referring to?

Well I can get it stabilized in that regard by altering my upload, but my bufferbloat is just spiking only on the upload side.