QoS settings for variable wireless speeds

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nawhead
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 9:17 pm

QoS settings for variable wireless speeds

Post by nawhead »

Here's probably a common problem that's just killing me. During off-peak times, my wireless is a steady 35/3.5 mbps. During peak times at weeknights and weekends, it varies from 8-30 mbps down and 2-3 mbps up due to heavy wireless congestion in my neighborhood. So considering this, what should I set my QoS max speeds to? I assume it should be on the low side since the majority of the time I will be using the wireless during peak times as well.

But what I was thinking was that since the upload speed varies less than the download speed, I might disable the download QoS altogether and set the upload QoS to a very conservative setting in orders to control the download side using the upload setting instead of explicitly setting the download to a very low setting so that during off-peak times I'm not unnecessarily limiting my download speeds.

What do you guys think?

pbix
Developer
Posts: 1373
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:09 pm

Re: QoS settings for variable wireless speeds

Post by pbix »

What is your WAN speed and what scenarios find you wishing you had more wifi speed?
Linksys WRT1900ACv2
Netgear WNDR3700v2
TP Link 1043ND v3
TP-Link TL-WDR3600 v1
Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2
WRT54G-TM

nawhead
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 9:17 pm

Re: QoS settings for variable wireless speeds

Post by nawhead »

During early morning testing, my wireless WAN speeds are 35/4 mbps using testmy.net. But as mentioned before, this can come down to 8 mbps download during peak times (and I know it's wireless congestion and not cable congestion since I've tested the speeds on the wired connection when this was happening).

I really don't have problems 99% of the time, to be honest. I constantly check the ACC status and even 1080p YouTube vids don't saturate my bandwidth, not by a long shot. Maybe my particular case is a bad real-world example, but I was hoping to understand the theory of the thing.

Say for instance my speeds fluctuated from 3 mbps down to 500 kbps during peak hours, but my upload speed held steady at 256 kbps all the time. That may be a better example of the dilemma I'm talking about. So theoretically, what would you recommend for QoS settings for such a scenario?

pbix
Developer
Posts: 1373
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:09 pm

Re: QoS settings for variable wireless speeds

Post by pbix »

According to your report you have one router and you noticed that the Wifi speed varies during the day from 3Mbps down to 500kbps. You also tested your WAN connection using a wired connection and you get 35Mbps during these times.

There is little that Gargoyle QoS can do for you in this case since the congestion is between your computer and the router. Gargoyle can only handle congestion that happens between your router and the internet.

You might try using a differernt Wifi channel since you are likely suffering from competition with neighboring routers operating on the same channel. Of course using a wired connection would be the best fix. Its a good example of why Wifi will not take over the world and there will always be a place for a good ol wired connection.
Linksys WRT1900ACv2
Netgear WNDR3700v2
TP Link 1043ND v3
TP-Link TL-WDR3600 v1
Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2
WRT54G-TM

esoxhntr
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2013 3:02 pm

Re: QoS settings for variable wireless speeds

Post by esoxhntr »

When the OP mentions wireless/wifi, (I believe) he *does* refer to his internet connection (between the modem/router and ISP) and the congestion there -- not his own internal LAN wireless.

I am on a wireless ISP as well.. common in rural areas.

I don't have a solution to the problem however.

pbix
Developer
Posts: 1373
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:09 pm

Re: QoS settings for variable wireless speeds

Post by pbix »

Gargoyle ACC can track congestion on the WAN link whether wireless or wired.

So if your link to your ISP is via wireless link enable that ACC and report your results. Make sure the ping target is on the other side of the congestion. Try 208.67.222.222 (OpenDNS server) as a first attempt.
Linksys WRT1900ACv2
Netgear WNDR3700v2
TP Link 1043ND v3
TP-Link TL-WDR3600 v1
Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2
WRT54G-TM

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