Prioritize LAN over WLAN on TP-Link TD-W8961N

[MayuraDeSilva]

Hello,

I'm using TP-Link TD-W8961N 300Mbps Wireless N ADSL2+ Modem Router at home and currently 6 devices are connecting to Internet regularly.

My PC is connected via LAN and all the other devices are connected through Wi-Fi.

Sometimes I find connection slowdowns and drops on PC when others are using Wi-Fi. Hence I'm wondering that if there is a way to set priority to LAN over Wi-Fi (WLAN) through QoS settings.

If I can set up the priority when using VoIP apps like Skype and for downloads, that'd be enough.

As I've been searching online, found a similar article on TP-Link Support website too - https://www.tp-link.com/en/faq-539.html

Following that guide is enough with Source MAC or do I have to change specific settings?

Here you can find the QoS settings available:

Thanks.

 

[bill001g]

I have not seen a consumer grade router that can tell the difference on traffic based on physical port either wifi or ethernet.

The vast majority of all that stuff on the screen is worthless to a home user. Your only real option is to match traffic via ip or mac address.

Still it likely does you little good. This router like many appears to only be able to limit outbound..ie upload..traffic. In most cases when you have issues with over utilization it is the download rates you are exceeding.

 

[MayuraDeSilva]

I have not seen a consumer grade router that can tell the difference on traffic based on physical port either wifi or ethernet.

The vast majority of all that stuff on the screen is worthless to a home user. Your only real option is to match traffic via ip or mac address.

Still it likely does you little good. This router like many appears to only be able to limit outbound..ie upload..traffic. In most cases when you have issues with over utilization it is the download rates you are exceeding.

Can I achieve this by following the linked TP-Link Support article in OP?

 

[bill001g]

From the screens you show there are no options that do what you need. To even do part of it you have to be able limit the download rates and you still must match the devices by ip or mac there is no magic "wifi devices" you can match

 

[failboat]

What is your bandwidth and do you know roughly what the other users are doing?

UDP traffic like skype or gaming is mostly impacted by bufferbloat which only has a few good options to fix.

This video explains it and shows how to do it in pfsense. the pfsense part won't apply to you as much.
You need to know the character that means any. Try *. This might be PRIQ or CBQ.

fq_codel is one of the best right now. Depending on your total bandwidth it may not do what you want. PRIQ, CBQ, HSFC can be configured to give more bandwidth to certain people. fair queue splits it evenly, which doesn't work well if 1/6 of your bandwidth isn't enough to browse or stream well. That being said if you only have enough bandwidth for one or two people you will be making the others unusable. Any of the priority queue ones are a lot more difficult to setup. HFSC is by far the best one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF46PNid1Mo

For priority queue rules the outbound/inbound is typically where the connection was established not the direction it's going. You only need outbound rules, unless you are port forwarding services. a rule to get you started would be to set source mac or ip to your pc, any type, any port, any dest high priority. everything else lower.

 

[MayuraDeSilva]

From the screens you show there are no options that do what you need. To even do part of it you have to be able limit the download rates and you still must match the devices by ip or mac there is no magic "wifi devices" you can match

I can limit the download speeds by connecting them through Guest Network, but still observing the slowdowns. I didn't go extreme to the point they can't even enjoy their browsing though.

I mean, I was referring to the link mentioned in OP - https://www.tp-link.com/en/faq-539.html

It has the same QoS Settings page as mine. If I follow the same, does it helps? Thanks.

What is your bandwidth and do you know roughly what the other users are doing?

UDP traffic like skype or gaming is mostly impacted by bufferbloat which only has a few good options to fix.

This video explains it and shows how to do it in pfsense. the pfsense part won't apply to you as much.
You need to know the character that means any. Try *. This might be PRIQ or CBQ.

fq_codel is one of the best right now. Depending on your total bandwidth it may not do what you want. PRIQ, CBQ, HSFC can be configured to give more bandwidth to certain people. fair queue splits it evenly, which doesn't work well if 1/6 of your bandwidth isn't enough to browse or stream well. That being said if you only have enough bandwidth for one or two people you will be making the others unusable. Any of the priority queue ones are a lot more difficult to setup. HFSC is by far the best one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF46PNid1Mo

For priority queue rules the outbound/inbound is typically where the connection was established not the direction it's going. You only need outbound rules, unless you are port forwarding services. a rule to get you started would be to set source mac or ip to your pc, any type, any port, any dest high priority. everything else lower.

I've got - Download: ~ 13 Mbps / Upload: ~ 1 Mbps and they are mostly using Facebook and YouTube.

I'll go through the video you have suggested.

What do you think of this? - https://www.tp-link.com/en/faq-539.html.

This is what I found on TP-Link website and the QoS Configuration page is same as mine. Thanks.

 

[failboat]

That looks like just one rule for only UDP. I'd consider that with no port range.
This is likely PRIQ. Even with UDP on the highest it still won't fix bufferbloat.
PRIQ is really bad at starving low queues. It's not very effective unless your downloading all comes from one place.
CBQ would have a bit input in it and it services each queue, but at different rates. I wouldn't recommend using PRIQ. See if you can figure out how it works. web and video don't fill your bandwidth constantly so PRIQ kinda works, but when one thing downloads it just starves all the lower queues.

Not sure if it defaults everything else to a lower queue or something. All traffic needs to pass through a queue or it won't work right.

 

[failboat]

How important to you is skype and gaming quality? You will need something like the Edgerouter X to manage bufferbloat. configuration is only inputting your download/upload and hitting a checkbox.

The fq_codel of the ERX can starve video streams if 1/X bandwidth isn't enough for streaming. You may need to manually stop downloads still to get multiple streams going. good thing about streams like youtube is quality on auto will downgrade the video for you.

 

[MayuraDeSilva]

That looks like just one rule for only UDP. I'd consider that with no port range.
This is likely PRIQ. Even with UDP on the highest it still won't fix bufferbloat.
PRIQ is really bad at starving low queues. It's not very effective unless your downloading all comes from one place.
CBQ would have a bit input in it and it services each queue, but at different rates. I wouldn't recommend using PRIQ. See if you can figure out how it works. web and video don't fill your bandwidth constantly so PRIQ kinda works, but when one thing downloads it just starves all the lower queues.

Not sure if it defaults everything else to a lower queue or something. All traffic needs to pass through a queue or it won't work right.

Cool! Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'll give it a try and see how it goes then

Guess that's the only thing I can do with current ADSL2+ Modem / Router.

How important to you is skype and gaming quality? You will need something like the Edgerouter X to manage bufferbloat. configuration is only inputting your download/upload and hitting a checkbox.

The fq_codel of the ERX can starve video streams if 1/X bandwidth isn't enough for streaming. You may need to manually stop downloads still to get multiple streams going. good thing about streams like youtube is quality on auto will downgrade the video for you.

Mostly it's Skype meetings and if I can keep up while others are using Wi-Fi at the same time, that's totally fine.

Eventhough I've experienced slowdowns, never dropped the connection while in a video call though. Still I'd like if I can improve and get priority on Skype calls. Even on downloads, if possible.

I'm not sure how accurate is this, but did a Speed Test for BufferBloat too.

QoS Disabled - http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest/34224526

QoS Enabled - http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest/34225559 (Settings as in the TP-Link article, but No Port Range)

 

[failboat]

You will need to test it when the network is highly active, bufferbloat is from a swamped link. DSLreports is a good place to test from. what are the scores? I can't open that link. fq_codel is the only algo that has been able to have great score with a swamped link. other ones with nested codel are ok, but it doesn't work the same.

First I'd make sure that your internet is competitive in your area before deciding to buy anything.

The ERX is $50, but you can't use the wifi on your modem/router. You will need an access point if you don't have a spare one. unifi is about $80.

I don't think your current ones QoS will help you out.

Here is a link showing someone doing a before/after with the ERX.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-g2P3R84dw

 

[MayuraDeSilva]

You will need to test it when the network is highly active, bufferbloat is from a swamped link. DSLreports is a good place to test from. what are the scores? I can't open that link. fq_codel is the only algo that has been able to have great score with a swamped link. other ones with nested codel are ok, but it doesn't work the same.

First I'd make sure that your internet is competitive in your area before deciding to buy anything.

The ERX is $50, but you can't use the wifi on your modem/router. You will need an access point if you don't have a spare one. unifi is about $80.

I don't think your current ones QoS will help you out.

I'm the only one on network right now. I'll try again when everyone joins in and highly active.

Here's the screenshots of those reports:

QoS Disabled - https://snag.gy/AUjwn9.jpg

QoS Enabled - https://snag.gy/mkhLfQ.jpg

Well... Then I guess I'll go with the flow for the time being

Much appreciate all your information.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[failboat]

I'm not sure how it's putting you under load or tests it. Since your only rule is UDP based this simulation may not be great.

 

[bill001g]

How can you limit the download speed by setting them to guest network. Everything you have posted is only for upload it still does not control the download speed. If there is too much data being sent to your house by the ISP something will be discarded. The ISP will discard randomly and there is nothing your router can do to undelete the data and discard something else.

Whoever wrote that link you posted appears to not actually understand QoS. You need to be very suspect when someone make a fundamental error like this.

They set the DSCP value to 46 BUT the second the packet reaches the ISP it is changed to zero. So it has no purpose to even think to set it. If you could actually set priority everyone would set theirs to the highest. Even then DSCP number do not actually mean anything since they must be defined in all the routers.

Packet marking is only useful in a corporate network it is not used on the internet.......now maybe they will since the changes to net neutrality DSCP setting would be one way to implement them. Still the end user will never have control.

 

[MayuraDeSilva]

How can you limit the download speed by setting them to guest network. Everything you have posted is only for upload it still does not control the download speed. If there is too much data being sent to your house by the ISP something will be discarded. The ISP will discard randomly and there is nothing your router can do to undelete the data and discard something else.

Whoever wrote that link you posted appears to not actually understand QoS. You need to be very suspect when someone make a fundamental error like this.

They set the DSCP value to 46 BUT the second the packet reaches the ISP it is changed to zero. So it has no purpose to even think to set it. If you could actually set priority everyone would set theirs to the highest. Even then DSCP number do not actually mean anything since they must be defined in all the routers.

Packet marking is only useful in a corporate network it is not used on the internet.......now maybe they will since the changes to net neutrality DSCP setting would be one way to implement them. Still the end user will never have control.

I can set it under Guest Network settings. It's not listed under QoS though.

Looks like available QoS settings are not helpful after all. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[bill001g]

Not sure without reading the whole thread but since you have a dsl modem in this device it somewhat limits your options if the vendor does not provide what you need. Routers without dsl modem you can load third party firmware that has much more options in the QoS.

Still QoS is a bandaid for a lack of bandwidth. The real solution is to buy more but for many that is not a option. You might be able to accomplish the same thing by setting limits in the client. Many download things have option to limit the amount of bandwidth they use. Does not help a lot in houses where you have multiple people watching netflix or youtube on a small connection. Someone is not going to get the bandwidth they want.