Set the packet queueing discipline to Try testing out your connection again. This is because critical small data packets that have to be transferred in a timely manner for applications to work well (e.g. We will experiment further with settings and update this page. That is bufferbloat, literally a bloated packet buffer.It slows down your connection. It really is truly impressive. I'm not sure if my area is provisioned for DOCSIS 3.1 or capable of DOCSIS 3.1 - I'm only just now starting to read into it. All you need is a router that properly implements Smart Queue Management.If you are not happy with the performance you are currently getting with your broadband connection, please visit our According to Ofcom, over 8 million broadband customers are out of contract and can save money. In our case, the ER-4 is able to dedicate significant resources to implementing Smart Queue Management even with very high broadband speeds (several hundred Mbps) leaving processing of other aspects (for example, WiFi operation) to the processor and memory of another device.With the ER-X and ER-4 routers it is possible to reflash them with OpenWrt software, described below. This means that you can take advantage of all the bandwidth-intensive services that are available to you while maximising performance for delay-sensitive services.
In recent blog articles, we have reported on the rapid take-up of streamed video services in the UK, including Netflix and YouTube, and these can massively degrade performance of other applications as a result of bufferbloat. Tools like Bufferbloat is actually the result of your router doing it’s job, but being overloaded. These trends are inevitably making bufferbloat much worse. For services such as web browsing, my previous 5 Mbps ADSL connection without YouTube running was giving a much better surfing experience than my 80 Mbps fibre broadband connection with YouTube running, because of bufferbloat. Ping spiked from its usual 12 ms measurement to over 200 ms. Ask your router vendor to merge in fq_codel - the code's free and been available for three years. Two that I've found are Ubiquiti EdgeRouter and IQrouter.
Many people assume that the solution to their broadband woes is to increase the speed of their connection but high-speed connections can suffer dramatically from bufferbloat too.
Without consideration of bufferbloat, there is a huge choice of router models that would appear to do a decent job.
Amazon launched its HD music streaming service in September 2019, offering music in CD- and better-than-CD quality. Dave Taht says, “I do love Ubiquiti EdgeRouter hardware, but I reflash it immediately with OpenWrt nowadays, which, after you do that and install the Graphical User Interface, has full support for both FQ-CoDel and CAKE.”OpenWrt has become popular among enthusiasts because, compared with the stock firmware that comes with some routers, OpenWrt can be more stable and offer more advanced features, such as Smart Queue Management. This scheduling system buffers packets to queue them up to transfer when their target device is ready and that device has reached its place in the distribution order. They also offer a very simple ‘Smart Queue Management’ option that can be ticked and will make a huge difference to bufferbloat without any advanced changes. Currently, the most comprehensive speed test for the measurement of bufferbloat is provided by DSL Reports. However, please be aware that, if you attempt reflashing of your router’s firmware, you do so at your own risk. For the simple settings we used, maximum throughout was 67 Mbps rather than 74 Mbps achieved without Smart Queue Management – a 9% reduction. The processing requirements of Smart Queue Management means that maximum throughputs when it is operational may be significantly lower than the maximum speed (>100 Mbps) for ultrafast broadband connections.OpenWrt has a page describing its Smart Queue Management and how to install its bufferbloat packages here:Current versions of OpenWrt have both FQ-CoDel and CAKE built in. - Buy a router that does understand and counteract bufferbloat. Internet forums are full of people who have invested in very expensive gaming routers to discover that these have not addressed their bufferfloat issues.We absolutely love our ER-4, and our 80 Mbps fibre broadband connection does not tax the router in the slightest in terms of CPU and memory usage. According to expert Jim Gettys, “bufferbloat is responsible for much of the poor performance seen in the Internet today”. With relatively low average bit rates on YouTube, I had assumed that my new broadband connection would be sufficient to support multiple simultaneous applications with good quality; however, this was not the case. Most bufferbloat solutions can be turned on and off as and when required so some online gamers may choose to implement bufferbloat minimisation only at times when they are playing games, preferring to get the greatest broadband speeds at other times. However, for those who want to tweak their connection, there are many options to play with.