Question QoS Question

[ledzeppblues]

Hello ,i hope everyone is doing ok

Since due to current situation there is a lockdown or quarantine in almost every country and since everyone is at home staying safe ,internet usage has peaked and load is heavy on ISP's

My internet really slows down during peak hours like afternoon and evening,
I am unable to game on the cloud or have a decent connection to my cloud vm for gaming and internet is really slow in those peak hours

Now i know this is not a magic ability but will configuring and activating QoS on my router help me improve internet speed since i can install openwrt on my router and i have a back up router just in case
openwrt can be used as a server ,will that help in anyway

But yeah my basic question is about QoS and can it benefit me
Forgive me for my lack of knowledge on this subject and a big thanks for all and any help

 

[Mr Bob]

Any network related items you can introduce that improve packets, such as QoS, will help. You may not actually see it nor realize what's going on, but it helps a bit. It's less noticeable in home/low device networks, but still helpful.

If the connection to your modem is being reduced due to congestion, then there's not too much you can do about it outside of switching ISPs or changing your bandwidth/plans. Anything within your network, such as the items that would utilize QoS (VOIP phones), will all be limited to the limitation your ISP is placing on your modem.

If it's a problem, you can usually hassle your ISP for a couple bucks off the bill, or a possibly a free month / upgrade. The more you complain to your ISP, the greater chance you have of gaining some extra bandwidth. You just have to stay on top of them, threaten to cancel, etc.. You'll be surprised all the free credits ISPs shove out when you reach the "Customer Success Department" aka cancellation department.

If you've narrowed it down to issues during peak times and ISP related, there's not much control you have from within your home to really combat this.

 

[Genx87]

It wont help. Once the packet leaves your router the ISP will not honor the DSCP values

 

[Mr Bob]

I disagree, if you implement QoS, you're essentially able to route requests out at a potentially faster network rate since your traffic is prioritized.

Meaning, if you had a specific port, application, etc.. that required full bandwidth (such as for gaming), then prioritize those packets.

In the end, if your ISP still lowers your bandwidth enough, nothing will make any real world difference. Just sayin', it could help, but there's a lot of factors involved.

Easiest thing to do is shut down every device you don't need, turn off WiFi when things or slow to limit overall internet access, etc... every device in your house connected to WiFi is more than likely taking up a little bit of bandwidth.

 

[Genx87]

I disagree, if you implement QoS, you're essentially able to route requests out at a potentially faster network rate since your traffic is prioritized.

Meaning, if you had a specific port, application, etc.. that required full bandwidth (such as for gaming), then prioritize those packets.

In the end, if your ISP still lowers your bandwidth enough, nothing will make any real world difference. Just sayin', it could help, but there's a lot of factors involved.

Easiest thing to do is shut down every device you don't need, turn off WiFi when things or slow to limit overall internet access, etc... every device in your house connected to WiFi is more than likely taking up a little bit of bandwidth.

This only helps within your network. The ISP wont honor your DSCP values. Your packets will be treated like every other packet with best effort, lowest priority. QoS also only helps when you are experiencing congestion. If a home network has congestion. Fix that first.

 

[Mr Bob]

What I was talking about, could be wrong, but basically, you're providing the ISP with the packets you care about, sooner than all the other packets, due to QoS. It's providing the priority. Even though the ISP will handle based on their own network settings, you'll still send out the packets you care about faster.

Unless I'm missing something?

 

[mxnerd]

Do ISPs strip or modify QoS/DSCP headers to and from the edge?

If I mark a packet at a edge location with DSCP, does anyone know if ISPS (or in a general sense, middleboxes) strip or modify the DSCP header on UDP packets before they reach another edge location?

serverfault.com

Is QoS Becoming Irrelevant?

P.1

Is QoS Becoming Irrelevant?

Changes in applications and their locations are conspiring to make it increasingly difficult to implement QoS.

www.nojitter.com

P.2

Is QoS Becoming Irrelevant?

Changes in applications and their locations are conspiring to make it increasingly difficult to implement QoS.

www.nojitter.com

 

[Genx87]

What I was talking about, could be wrong, but basically, you're providing the ISP with the packets you care about, sooner than all the other packets, due to QoS. It's providing the priority. Even though the ISP will handle based on their own network settings, you'll still send out the packets you care about faster.

Unless I'm missing something?

I understand what you are saying. But QoS begins to matters when congestion is starting to happen. Then the switch will prioritize the packets and drop the lowest priority packets. In a low utilized switch, packets will be processed without noticeable latency and thus QoS will not matter. At best if what you described were true. You would pick up a couple of ms of latency. If a home network switch is showing signs of congestion. I would fix that first.

But ultimately it doesnt matter. Once it hits your ISP they wont honor the value anyways. And your packets become like every other packet and delivered with lowest priority. The home network is such a small part of the path for a typical packet. It wont be noticeable.

 

[Mr Bob]

Gotcha, totally makes sense. I didn't realize it wouldn't kick in until congestion hit. Seems like QoS always made a difference for VOIP in my home network, but maybe that was just smoke/mirrors? I figured congestion would just always be there, not something that is maxed out but just in general...