[SOLVED] Cheap router with bandwith control

[philippeb90]

I live with 2 kids that looooove browsing Tiktok, youtube and such and such.
Problem is, they leave a huge spike in bandwith when they browse through 10 hd videos in less than 1 min both at the same time.

I need an extra router that can control bandwith allocation to setup for their use, so they dont hog all the bandwith when they browse.

Any ideas?
i dont want QOS but actual bandwith allocation.
Thanks.

 

[bill001g]

Yup I witness that myself when seeing a relatives children. They jump from game to game and video to video spending more time download than playing them. And they would each load the same video rather than watch it on one device........ I guess I am old.

Bandwidth control is called QoS in most routers I have seen some features under parental control. You technically can't control downloads but it does work but not because of QoS it is because of the client trying to avoid lost packets.

In any case what you want is a router that has the ability to limit the upload and download rates to some fixed mbps. Last time I looked tplink had that ability but I suspect many of the other larger brand have it. Read the online manuals and see if it might work.

What you would do it match a IP or mac address and the limit the rate to say 10mbps. It works for a smaller number of devices. Get messy if you try to do this with random devices coming and going like in a public hotspot.

This works as long as the kids do not actively try to avoid it.

You are somewhat limited mostly because router has small processors. It would get messy to try to limit applications on only certain IP addresses. You also can't put monthly caps since the router has no way to store data. You would use a small dual nic pc running linux firewall if you want advanced filters.

 

[philippeb90]

Yup I witness that myself when seeing a relatives children. They jump from game to game and video to video spending more time download than playing them. And they would each load the same video rather than watch it on one device........ I guess I am old.

Bandwidth control is called QoS in most routers I have seen some features under parental control. You technically can't control downloads but it does work but not because of QoS it is because of the client trying to avoid lost packets.

In any case what you want is a router that has the ability to limit the upload and download rates to some fixed mbps. Last time I looked tplink had that ability but I suspect many of the other larger brand have it. Read the online manuals and see if it might work.

What you would do it match a IP or mac address and the limit the rate to say 10mbps. It works for a smaller number of devices. Get messy if you try to do this with random devices coming and going like in a public hotspot.

This works as long as the kids do not actively try to avoid it.

You are somewhat limited mostly because router has small processors. It would get messy to try to limit applications on only certain IP addresses. You also can't put monthly caps since the router has no way to store data. You would use a small dual nic pc running linux firewall if you want advanced filters.

Yea i actually bought a D-Link router (824) i think the model is.
It comes with QOS, but apparently those bloody ipads hog so much internet, that they still paralyze my internet for 1-2 seconds when they (as you say) jump around in apps and stuff.

Anyhow, do you have a good suggestion for a router with limiting bandwith control?
I just need it as their acess point so they dont burst a 5 mbit download 60x in 1 hour.

 

[bill001g]

So my image posting is being a pain today. I was going to cut just part of this document

How to use bandwidth control on TP-Link wireless router

How to use bandwidth control on TP-Link wireless router

www.tp-link.com

Ignore anything about dsl etc. There is a table about 2/3 down under step 7. This is what you are looking for in general. You set upload and download rates by IP address.

So lets say you have 50mbps internet. You would set each device to say 10mbps maximum.

It is purely a matter of finding a router you like and then check the manual to see if it has a feature like this. The one I linked is purely a example. Other brands of routers have a similar feature but it is done a big differently.

If the router you have is a "842" 824 does not exist you might be able to run openwrt on it. This is a complex one because there are multiple hardware platforms all called 842. Only some can run third party firmware. I have not used openwrt in years. I do not know how much they improved the GUI interface. I know to do fancy stuff you have to edit it into a text file. Wasn't real hard if you follow the instructions but it was not as easy a click boxes and type stuff in. You can do very advanced stuff with it though.

It is easier to just buy a new router but it depends how much the money matters.

 

[Alabalcho]

I'd go a dumb way: Secondary router for the kids, connected WAN-to-LAN with WAN port stuck into 10mbps.

 

[bill001g]

If you can set that many routers do not have the ability to set speed/duplex.

 

[gggplaya]

On my Asus router, I think I remember you can make a GUEST wifi and limit the total guest wifi bandwidth. So you and your devices can connect to the main wifi and they can connect to the guest wifi : https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1042732/