# Router or other solution suggestings



## markhodges78 (May 6, 2022)

Looking for a solution to enforce bandwidth control per device. The problem I'm facing is my kids don't know how to do just 1 thing they must have 1 device streaming netflix another streaming music and serving on there phone while doing homework on there pc so when I set down to watch something on netflix all I get is buffing lol ... so i'm thinking either have to find a router to do what I need ( which it seems like all the ones i've seen just does prioritizing ) what i would like to do is allocate bandwidth for each device. is it possible to maybe go from modem then go to a managed switch and then go to 4 or 5 routers and use the switch to allocate bandwidth on each port or is there an easier way 

Thanks Mark


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## Solaris17 (May 6, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> Looking for a router



Neat. What are your requirements?



			router - Google Search


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## bonehead123 (May 6, 2022)

I got one, hehehe 

Perhaps you could provide a little moar info, like maybe your main usage & speed requirements, home size & construction, number of connected devices, and even maybe a price range/budget...


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## ThaiTaffy (May 6, 2022)

Not sure but the QoS feature on OpenWRT allows you to set download/upload caps on a per device basis.


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## Operandi (May 6, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> 4 or 5 routers


This dosn't make any sense.  Do you mean AP (access points)?

Regardless you can only have one router per network.  I would suggest creating an wireless network that is bandwidth limited and give that to your kids.  If you your current router can't do that you can get an AP that can and use that instead of the Wi-Fi built into your current router.


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## bonehead123 (May 6, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> they *must* have 1 device streaming netflix another streaming music and serving on there phone while doing homework on there pc


*NO, *THEY DO NOT....

Seems like you have a "parental control" issue moar than anything else....

I'm not trying to be mean or judgmental or sarcastic, but if you are paying for the internet & cell phone services, and the electricity that powers it & their devices, then you have every right to decide who can do what & when & how.....

Fortunately there are routers with firmware controls that allows you to make the 1st part of these decisions.  Be like your kids, and just "GOOGLE THEM" 
The rest is up to you to make & enforce the rules as you see fit.  

When these same issues arose with my kids years ago.... I told them that if they didn't like my rules, get a friggin job & pay for your own stuff (or they would have ZERO services or devices at all !).....oh and BTW, homework comes 1st, then dinner, then netflix or music etc.... until lights out from 9pm-5am that is...


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## markhodges78 (May 6, 2022)

By kids what I meant was my 17 year old son in high school and my 19 year old daughter in college she will be home for the summer and taking summer classes online... with my son playing sports we have practice's and games every day of the week so we are hardly ever home before 10 pm so it's not a problem except on the weekends. we live in a remote area where the cell service is not available so every one keeps the wifi on for there phones and with 4 phones on wifi 2 computers/ sons ps4 and a tv sometimes it gets tough with internet the phones will hog internet but they will also function find with 2 mbps they will self regulate if they need to but I would like to have a way to regulate the bandwidth in a way that it doesn't interfere with the tv..


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## ThaiTaffy (May 6, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> By kids what I meant was my 17 year old son in high school and my 19 year old daughter in college she will be home for the summer and taking summer classes online... with my son playing sports we have practice's and games every day of the week so we are hardly ever home before 10 pm so it's not a problem except on the weekends. we live in a remote area where the cell service is not available so every one keeps the wifi on for there phones and with 4 phones on wifi 2 computers/ sons ps4 and a tv sometimes it gets tough with internet the phones will hog internet but they will also function find with 2 mbps they will self regulate if they need to but I would like to have a way to regulate the bandwidth in a way that it doesn't interfere with the tv..


Then you just need to set QoS limits this can be done on a per device basis or via a seperate SSID that limits bandwidth to all devices connected to it.  You have 2 options, either get a decent router that can handle all your devices or have a seperate access point, nothing fancy  something that enables you to set limits. Personally since your rural I would suggest grab a Comfast ew72 outdoor access point (V2 is a better unit but isn't yet supported by OpenWRT but I believe still has the features you require on stock) they are fairly cheap and the range is pretty incredible, I have 2 on my farm which pretty much covers the majority of the property so you can have WiFi out and about and not be cooped up inside.


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## eidairaman1 (May 6, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> By kids what I meant was my 17 year old son in high school and my 19 year old daughter in college she will be home for the summer and taking summer classes online... with my son playing sports we have practice's and games every day of the week so we are hardly ever home before 10 pm so it's not a problem except on the weekends. we live in a remote area where the cell service is not available so every one keeps the wifi on for there phones and with 4 phones on wifi 2 computers/ sons ps4 and a tv sometimes it gets tough with internet the phones will hog internet but they will also function find with 2 mbps they will self regulate if they need to but I would like to have a way to regulate the bandwidth in a way that it doesn't interfere with the tv..


Library or a coffee bar to do homework.

You need QOS, to cripple their bandwidth hogging, online classes dont require much


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## ThaiTaffy (May 6, 2022)

If your worried about online classes set up a schedule to open the gates during said times other than that cripple the freeloaders.


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## eidairaman1 (May 6, 2022)

You can limit the amount of ip addresses on the wifi or lan as well so that way they cant have all their devices on the network

Your specific devices assign, an ip address to, then only have 2 (1 each) available for their stuff


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## micropage7 (May 6, 2022)

you mean like this one? you need to identify the devices then you set it up
i use tenda AC10U


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## ThaiTaffy (May 6, 2022)

Unless they are severely crosseyed they can't look at more than one device anyway.


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## micropage7 (May 6, 2022)

ThaiTaffy said:


> Unless they are severely crosseyed they can't look at more than one device anyway.


if you are too lazy to check the device, just drop the connection and wait who will complain, they you know whose device it is


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## newtekie1 (May 6, 2022)

I do this with a pfSense router. Pretty easy to set up. I have a VLAN on my WiFi that is bandwidth limited, but you can also very easily set it up on a device by device basis or even a group of devices. No smart switch or extra routers/AP necessary. It's all handled by the pfSense firewall.

This is the tutorial I followed to set up the limiter:


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## Bill_Bright (May 6, 2022)

@markhodges78 - *a new router will do you NO GOOD* - "IF" your current service agreement with your ISP does not provide for enough bandwidth.

You need to look at your current service agree and see what "plan" you have. Then run speedtest.net and see what you are getting. Just note that most service agreements say "up to" some speed, and not a minimum. If you are getting what you are paying for, you may need to upgrade your plan to increase it.

What wireless router do you currently have? And what modem? If integrated, what device (commonly called a "residential gateway" device)?

I might also suggest Pandora. However, I recommend streaming Pandora with Pandorian, a really nice (and free!) desktop client for Pandora that provides one distinct advantage - it blocks all ads so they can listen to tunes for hours and not be interrupted once. Another really nice feature is it puts a small windows on the desktop instead of requiring an open browser page.  And the good news for you is, streaming just audio consumes very little bandwidth.  IMO, Pandorian catapults Pandora above and beyond all the other music streaming services. And no, I have no connection to Pandora or Pandorian. I just love listening to music when using my computer. 

Also, if their cell phone plan offers unlimited data, you can disable WiFi access so they use the cell service instead of your Internet wireless service.

Other things you can do is connect your Netflix device via Ethernet instead of wireless. Also, if your current WAP (wireless access point - typically integrated with the wireless router) supports dual channel (both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands), for those wireless devices in close proximity to the WAP, try setting them up on 5GHz. The 5GHz band is faster, but sadly, is greatly limited by distance and barriers (walls, floors, ceilings). 

I also agree to check your router for QoS. 



bonehead123 said:


> *NO, *THEY DO NOT....
> 
> Seems like you have a "parental control" issue moar than anything else....
> 
> I'm not trying to be mean or judgmental or sarcastic, but if you are paying for the internet & cell phone services, and the electricity that powers it & their devices, then you have every right to decide who can do what & when & how.....



If the kids are dutifully doing their homework, parents need to stay out of the way and let them do it - especially if they are no longer young and habits are already established. In fact, we need to encourage and support them, and *give them the tools they need* to get it done. That's our job.

I would ask and encourage (at least when you are watching Netflix) they stick to streaming just music (not music videos) while doing homework (again, with Pandorian) - rather than them streaming Netflix. This is to free up bandwidth but also to avoid/limit distractions. But I would not stomp my foot down on this and instead, be glad they are doing their home work.

Maybe if you show them your monthly ISP bill, they might be inclined to see your side of things. I note my cable/Internet bill is more than my electricity, water/trash/sewer, and natural gas bills combined!


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## newtekie1 (May 6, 2022)

Bill_Bright said:


> *a new router will do you NO GOOD* - "IF" your current service agreement with your ISP does not provide for enough bandwidth.


Within reason, this is wrong. Assuming OP doesn't have absolute crap internet, which isn't a bad assumption since he is talking about things like limiting all phones to 2Mbps. A good router can very much help the situation of saturating the internet connection. Brute forcing the solution buy just getting more bandwidth is not necessary. Netflix will happily work with 5Mbps, but it will also consume 25Mbps+ if you let it. Does that mean you should just spend more money every month and buy more bandwidth just to let Netflix use all it wants? No.

Even if we ignore the 'multi-tasking" aspect. In a household of 4 people, all just watching Netflix, you're talking 100Mbps+ if you just let it run wild. And OP mentioned he is in a rural area, so 100Mbps might even be the max speed he can get, or even lower. I know a lot of the rural areas around me are stuck with maximums of 25-75Mbps. Then you add a Son that has Netflix running and starts playing games, and a daughter that is surfing on her phone while watching Netflix and you start to really issues. But limiting every streaming device to 5Mbps, and the problem goes away with no extra monthly cost and no real loss of quality of life.


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## dirtyferret (May 6, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> Looking for a solution to enforce bandwidth control per device. The problem I'm facing is my kids don't know how to do just 1 thing they must have 1 device streaming netflix another streaming music and serving on there phone while doing homework on there pc so when I set down to watch something on netflix all I get is buffing lol


I have the same issue with my kids, the TV is streaming, the phone is streaming, the tablet is streaming, plus my wife is on her phone& laptop and I'm on my computer & phone but...streaming netflix (or Hulu, Amazon, HBO,etc.,) takes up maybe 2-4 Mbps.  In fact I can go on my Asus app and see my real time traffic and I doubt it ever breaks 6 Mbps unless I'm downloading a large file.  Most streaming services compress the crap out of their services.  It could be your router, or your modem, or an upstream issue or the client.  You need to check every possible issue but at the very least hardwire your Smart devices if possible.

Testing done from How to Geek on Netflix Streaming in 2018, they probably compress the signal even more these days.


ResolutionStreaming BitrateHourly Conversion480p (720×480)1750 kbps~792 MB per hour720p (1280×720)3000 kbps~1.3 GB per hour1080p (1920×1080)4300-5800 kbps~1.9 GB to ~2.55 GB per hour1440p (2560×1440)6350 kbps~2.8 GB per hour4K (3840×2160)8000-16000 kbps~3.5 GB to ~7 GB per hour



newtekie1 said:


> Assuming OP doesn't have absolute crap internet, which isn't a bad assumption since he is talking about things like limiting all phones to 2Mbps. A good router can very much help the situation of saturating the internet connection.


Good router?, We have an outdated Linkys N600 router at work that handles the above and more with ease.


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## Bill_Bright (May 6, 2022)

newtekie1 said:


> Within reason, this is wrong.


 Come on! Within reason, that is right.

"Assuming" the OP has... .

"If" we ignore...



Of course a good router could help. But we don't know what he has now - that is why I asked what router (and modem) he currently has, instead of just assuming it is subpar. He may already have a fast, dual-channel router.

CLEARLY my point was it "could" easily be his IPS service agreement that is his bottleneck, and not his current router - and so he needs to check that too.

I mean gee whiz, newtekie1 - I even clearly made it a big IF to show this might, or might not be an issue here.


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## dirtyferret (May 6, 2022)

Bill_Bright said:


> easily be his IPS service agreement that is his bottleneck, and not his current router - and so he needs to check that too.


when I had comcast (almost ten years ago) and they were fighting with netflix, comcast would throttle netflix on purpose Friday & Saturday nights.  Once Netflix agreed to pay their bribe service fee, all those issues instantly went away as if by magic.


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## newtekie1 (May 6, 2022)

Bill_Bright said:


> Of course a good router could help. But we don't know what he has now - that is why I asked what router (and modem) he currently has, instead of just assuming it is subpar. He may already have a fast, dual-channel router.


Having a fast router is not what we are talking about here. You clearly don't understand the topic.


Bill_Bright said:


> CLEARLY my point was it "could" easily be his IPS service agreement that is his bottleneck, and not his current router - and so he needs to check that too.


And my point is bandwidth from the ISP is not the point of this thread, but just the fact that they are using their current bandwidth inefficiently. They are already able to stream multiple netflix streams without issue, according to OP 3 streams if fine, the 4th starts to stutter. So just paying more money instead of forcing netflix to dial it's bandwidth usage back isn't the solution OP is looking for.  Obviously "buy more bandwidth" would work, OP doesn't want that and suggesting it in this thread is nothing more than off-topic information.


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## Bill_Bright (May 6, 2022)

@markhodges78 - my bad. You did say you live in the boonies where you have no cell service - so that is also putting a demand on the bandwidth provided by your ISP, as well as your local network. But we still need to know what router you have, and your service agreement for they may be a bottleneck too. 


markhodges78 said:


> 4 phones on wifi 2 computers/ sons ps4 and a tv


The TV should not matter (unless that is the Netflix you are referring to). 

How do the computers, PS4 and TV/Netflix connect to your network? Ethernet or wifi? If wifi, what band?

***



newtekie1 said:


> And my point is bandwidth from the ISP is not the point of this thread


Oh? 

And where did the OP state what his service agreement calls for?

Where did the OP state which router he currently has?



newtekie1 said:


> Having a fast router is not what we are talking about here. You clearly don't understand the topic.


And you don't either because you don't have all the information to fully understand the the OPs problem. 

You are just guessing, assuming you must be right and everyone else must be wrong!  

You might be right. But until we have all the information, you might be wrong too.


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## markhodges78 (May 6, 2022)

I am at the end of a DSL line and the most they can guaranty me is 8 mbps but I get 10 sometimes. My router which I just bought with Hope's of bandwidth control is a tp link ax1800 but it dosen't do bandwidth control it only prioritizes..  we are in an area where the cell phones dont get any reception so everyone keeps there phones on wifi.. the modem is a what ever they provided...


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## Bill_Bright (May 6, 2022)

Well, the 802.11AX dual band router is not your problem, IMO. But that slow DSL sure is not helping. 

To me, being able to prioritize should. 

Also, if you could put your Netflix on Ethernet, that would help too - many routers prioritize Ethernet over the wireless devices. 

There is also the option to download your Network shows to your computer, then streaming from your computer.


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## eidairaman1 (May 6, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> I am at the end of a DSL line and the most they can guaranty me is 8 mbps but I get 10 sometimes. My router which I just bought with Hope's of bandwidth control is a tp link ax1800 but it dosen't do bandwidth control it only prioritizes..  we are in an area where the cell phones dont get any reception so everyone keeps there phones on wifi.. the modem is a what ever they provided...


You are in the sticks then, last mile from a dslam, I just recall over 10000 ft connections top out at 1.5 Mbps, so you must be within 2000 ft of 1 then

Your area has not enough demand for anything faster to justify a isp to run fiber to the homes


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## Bill_Bright (May 6, 2022)

Any satellite options in your area?


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## dirtyferret (May 6, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> 4 phones on wifi 2 computers/ sons ps4 and a tv sometimes it gets tough with internet




how far is your TV from the router (same room, next room, several rooms)?  I assume you are streaming Netflix using the Smart TV app rather than a dedicated stream device (roku, fire stick, etc.,)?


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## eidairaman1 (May 6, 2022)

Rain fade is still a problem


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## markhodges78 (May 6, 2022)

eidairaman1 said:


> You are in the sticks then, last mile from a dslam, I just recall over 10000 ft connections top out at 1.5 Mbps, so you must be within 2000 ft of 1 then
> 
> Your area has not enough demand for anything faster to justify a isp to run fiber to the homes



My area has been approved to survey for fiber to see if the demand is there cable stops 1/2 mile up the road and theres 4 houses total that would hook to it so cable company says not enough demand for them...



dirtyferret said:


> how far is your TV from the router (same room, next room, several rooms)?  I assume you are streaming Netflix using the Smart TV app rather than a dedicated stream device (roku, fire stick, etc.,)?


Tv is wall mounted and  router is behind tv connected to nvidia shield through ethernet

On.the wait list for starlink


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## eidairaman1 (May 6, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> My area has been approved to survey for fiber to see if the demand is there cable stops 1/2 mile up the road and theres 4 houses total that would hook to it so cable company says not enough demand for them...
> 
> 
> Tv is wall mounted and  router is behind tv connected to nvidia shield through ethernet
> ...


Yup. 

I used to work for AT&T so i understand the network topology pretty well.

The Area I live in is considered County, we are just getting fiber to the home, where as inner city they got it 3 years ago


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## Bill_Bright (May 6, 2022)

eidairaman1 said:


> Rain fade is still a problem


No solution is without issues. Even cable can suffer from rain fade as the cable TV providers receive their content via satellite. Snow and ice can be a problem too. 

We need to get broadband out to the most rural areas. But the question always remains, who's going to pay for it? The Post Office has been struggling with this since its inception. Why should city folks have to pay extra just so the country folks can send a letter with the same stamp?

There's no good answers. Only bad answers and less bad answers.


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## newtekie1 (May 7, 2022)

Bill_Bright said:


> Oh?
> 
> And where did the OP state what his service agreement calls for?
> 
> Where did the OP state which router he currently has?


Because the OP isn't asking for an expensive monthly bill as a solution of just adding more bandwidth. He knows adding more bandwidth would solve the problem, he's asking for a different solution.  He asked for a hardware solution to the problem, we should be answering his question.

He's also not asking for parenting advice. I'm not sure why everyone seems to want to give it to him. Last I checked, this is a tech website, not a parenting website.


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## Bill_Bright (May 7, 2022)

newtekie1 said:


> He asked for a hardware solution to the problem, we should be answering his question.


 He asked for router or "_other solution_" suggestions. You would have him buying a new router before even knowing his current router or bandwidth requirements. Is that really providing sound advice?

And now that we have learned his ISP is an "end-of-the-line" DSL service with just 8Mbps, and with 2 kids streaming tunes and videos, 4 cell phones using wifi, and the OP trying to stream Netflix too, are you really going to contend that only you are right, that he needs a new router, and that I am still wrong and his IPS is not a potential bottleneck?


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## ThaiTaffy (May 7, 2022)

He needs both a router and a new set of ki.. I mean better connection I thought when we first touched on this you said that the router could be sent back? I would do so and just buy something cheap that supports QoS you currently have no need for wifi6 from the sounds of it.


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## Bill_Bright (May 7, 2022)

ThaiTaffy said:


> He needs both a router and a new set of ki.. I mean better connection I thought when we first touched on this you said that the router could be sent back? I would do so and just buy something cheap that supports QoS you currently have no need for wifi6 from the sounds of it.


What's wrong with his current router?

As seen by the specs, it already supports QoS. It also supports 11ax in both 5 and 2.4GHz dual band and 1Gb Ethernet and more.


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## Aquinus (May 7, 2022)

OP should just use QoS device prioritization and put his device on the high priority list. The router supports it. Problem mitigated. If the kids want faster internet, you tell them that they can help foot the bill for it or do something for you to justify it. They're old enough for that.


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## ThaiTaffy (May 7, 2022)

Bill_Bright said:


> What's wrong with his current router?
> 
> As seen by the specs, it already supports QoS. It also supports 11ax in both 5 and 2.4GHz dual band and 1Gb Ethernet and more.


He told me it didn't support QoS I didn't check the specs but the fact he has a 8mb connection led me to believe he didn't need a ax router.
 I was also told he could return it so rather than mess about trying to figure out what or what he couldn't do with his current one I suggested he do so while he has chance.



Bill_Bright said:


> What's wrong with his current router?



It's a closed driver broadcom device and tplink don't exactly have the best reputation for keeping your web browsing data safe so I'd say if you can't return it burn it but that's just my personal opinion of what's wrong with it.


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## Bill_Bright (May 7, 2022)

ThaiTaffy said:


> He told me it didn't support QoS


Where were you told this?


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## ThaiTaffy (May 7, 2022)

Bill_Bright said:


> Where were you told this?


Somewhere on the recent headlines thread about TP-Link dumping user data he told be the router doesn't support something he wanted and was interested in looking at a OpenWRT supported device.


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## newtekie1 (May 7, 2022)

Bill_Bright said:


> And now that we have learned his ISP is an "end-of-the-line" DSL service with just 8Mbps, and with 2 kids streaming tunes and videos, 4 cell phones using wifi, and the OP trying to stream Netflix too, are you really going to contend that only you are right, that he needs a new router, and that I am still wrong and his IPS is not a potential bottleneck?



Here is the funny thing. I didn't say that the ISP wasn't the bottleneck. I said a hardware solution to deal with that bottleneck would work and is what OP is really asking for.  Now we know getting a faster speed is not an option right now. Which I kind of correctly assumed given OP's statement that his rural and that most people already know if their internet is slow buying faster internet would help without the need to ask in a tech forum. It's time to start actually answering the question OP asked instead of just suggesting 'buy more bandwidth, dere".

If OP wants an actual solution to his problem and not a lesson on parenting or "duh, just buy more bandwidth", he can reference my original post. And I also never suggested he buy any new hardware, it might be necessary or it might not. If OP has an old PC laying around, pfSense will run happily on that. Or heck, you can run it in a VM on your current computer if you really wanted to, but that get complicated.

Oh, and another benefit of pfSense is whole network ad-blocking. Loading ads is using bandwidth, get rid of it on every device on the network.



Bill_Bright said:


> What's wrong with his current router?
> 
> As seen by the specs, it already supports QoS. It also supports 11ax in both 5 and 2.4GHz dual band and 1Gb Ethernet and more.


Consumer router QoS is absolute junk. In fact, QoS in general is pretty shitty at what op wants in his situation, but TP-Link's implementation(like most of what they do) is particularly shitty. You want something that can actually set and enforce bandwidth limits. Because even with QoS, it will still let one device take up all the bandwidth if it things that device needs it.

Now, you want to see something really cool, check out this:



Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "is that the same router that OP has?!" Yep, it sure is. Now you next question is "what's with that layer of dust?" And that answer to that is this router just sits on my shelf unused. Why? You ask. Because it's a huge pile of ****. I know for a fact the QoS is absolute trash on that router because I actually used it.

So, the answer to OP's problem, now that we know what we know, is a better piece of hardware that can do proper per device bandwidth limiting. You know, like I originally suggested.  Set the phones to have 512Kbps, they don't need more than that to make WiFi calls or stream music. They won't be able to stream video to their phones, but they shouldn't be doing that with other streaming devices in the house. Set each video streaming device to 2Mbps(which will force 480p video) or 3.5Mbps(which will limit it to 720p). Or another option is to limit bandwidth to a group of devices. Give each kid 2Mbps for all their devices, which is still enough to stream 480p video with a little to spare. Let them figure out how they want to use what they are given.


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## eidairaman1 (May 7, 2022)

newtekie1 said:


> Here is the funny thing. I didn't say that the ISP wasn't the bottleneck. I said a hardware solution to deal with that bottleneck would work and is what OP is really asking for.  Now we know getting a faster speed is not an option right now. Which I kind of correctly assumed given OP's statement that his rural and that most people already know if their internet is slow buying faster internet would help without the need to ask in a tech forum. It's time to start actually answering the question OP asked instead of just suggesting 'buy more bandwidth, dere".
> 
> If OP wants an actual solution to his problem and not a lesson on parenting or "duh, just buy more bandwidth", he can reference my original post. And I also never suggested he buy any new hardware, it might be necessary or it might not. If OP has an old PC laying around, pfSense will run happily on that. Or heck, you can run it in a VM on your current computer if you really wanted to, but that get complicated.
> 
> ...


Limit ip addresses put out from gateway even so they can only have 1 device on the network at a time even


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## Bill_Bright (May 7, 2022)

newtekie1 said:


> I didn't say that the ISP wasn't the bottleneck.


LOL - No, you just said I was wrong when I suggested it _could_ be the ISP when I said,


Bill_Bright said:


> "IF" your current service agreement with your ISP does not provide for enough bandwidth.


But if it makes you feel vindicated to now claim you didn't say it was the ISP, fine. We all know the sequence of events here. 

And no, you didn't specifically say to buy a new router. You simply said, "_A good router can very much help the situation_" without, at that point in time, knowing what router the OP had. To me, that implies the OP needs to make sure he has a good router, and if not, buy one. 

And you added that you know a lot of rural areas stuck at 25 - 75Mbps, and you then claimed the OP's problem "_goes away_" just by "_limiting every streaming device to 5Mbps_". 

So 2 kids and the dad all streaming Netflix, 2 kids streaming tunes, and 4 cell phones connected to wifi - all at the same time along with whatever demands the kids' school work is placing and you are still  claiming 10Mbps will not cause any problems or "loss of quality of life?"

Really?

Okay.    Then clearly, there must be 10s of millions of people grossly overpaying their ISPs for bandwidth they don't need - according to newtekie1.



newtekie1 said:


> he is in a rural area, so 100Mbps might even be the max speed he can get, or even lower. I know a lot of the rural areas around me are stuck with maximums of 25-75Mbps.


Well, 25Mpbs would be a 250% improvement for the OP - on a good day. 

That said,  I sure don't know what your definition of rural is, but there are many urban dwellers in this metropolitan area (Nebraska's largest - by far) with DSL service who would love to get 50Mbps, but are stuck with less - either due to costs, or simple availability. Heck, there are many rural users who would love to get 5Mbps total! 

The point here is, conclusions were being made by you before we even knew what router the OP had, or what his ISP provided. And THAT is what I was objecting too. 

You win. I'm done here. 


ThaiTaffy said:


> Somewhere on the recent headlines


Somewhere? Sorry but no. Where did the OP say that?


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## newtekie1 (May 8, 2022)

Bill_Bright said:


> LOL - No, you just said I was wrong when I suggested it _could_ be the ISP when I said,


No, I said you were wrong to say a new router won't help if the ISP bandwidth is the issue. You are, in fact, wrong. A new, better, router that can do proper device based bandwidth limiting will in fact do good if the ISP bandwidth is the limiting factor. I was right on every point. OP literally can't get faster internet right now, I don't know why you keep arguing like you were right and the solution is just more bandwidth. Even if OP had the option to increase bandwidth, you are still completely wrong that a better router would do no good if the ISP bandwidth is the limit. That is 100% wrong. In fact, a better router is exactly waht you want if you have limited bandwidth because it gives you WAY more control over how that bandwidth is used. It's over, I'm done arguing with you. You were wrong, more bandwidth is not the solution to help OP, it is literally as this moment impossible So a better router is in fact the option OP is looking for and will in fact help in this situation. Time to move on.


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## Mussels (May 8, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> Looking for a solution to enforce bandwidth control per device. The problem I'm facing is my kids don't know how to do just 1 thing they must have 1 device streaming netflix another streaming music and serving on there phone while doing homework on there pc so when I set down to watch something on netflix all I get is buffing lol ... so i'm thinking either have to find a router to do what I need ( which it seems like all the ones i've seen just does prioritizing ) what i would like to do is allocate bandwidth for each device. is it possible to maybe go from modem then go to a managed switch and then go to 4 or 5 routers and use the switch to allocate bandwidth on each port or is there an easier way
> 
> Thanks Mark


You want to set up a guest network for them, with its own bandwidth limit.
TP link routers can come with different chipsets, some do QoS with bandwidth limits and not just priority control (which never worked well on slow ADSL, for me)


Grab one of their budget models with bandwidth control, give the kids their own throttled network


Edit: and now on page 2... 10Mb will lag with one netflix connection and people trying to do anything else. It's not enough.
I'm on 50Mb, and prior to getting QoS working fully i had lag issues from a single netflix or disney+ stream since they'd max the connection while buffering, pause, max it again - leading to stutter issues


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## eidairaman1 (May 8, 2022)

Lets get back on subject, how to help this guy figure out how to stop freeloaders from stealing the bandwidth on a ADSL connection that is 8Mbps average 10Mbps max (766KBps)


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## Mussels (May 8, 2022)

eidairaman1 said:


> Lets get back on subject, how to help this guy figure out how to stop freeloaders from stealing the bandwidth on a ADSL connection that is 8Mbps average 10Mbps max (766KBps)


seperate throttled network is the only way, for example maxing their network at 5Mb while his has the potential for 10Mb

He could also set up a server as a web cache, although i'm not sure that'd help with video content or gaming


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## eidairaman1 (May 8, 2022)

Mussels said:


> seperate throttled network is the only way, for example maxing their network at 5Mb while his has the potential for 10Mb
> 
> He could also set up a server as a web cache, although i'm not sure that'd help with video content or gaming


I said a few other suggestions earlier, limited ip addresses and QOS enforcement on said IP addresses.


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## ThaiTaffy (May 8, 2022)

newtekie1 said:


> No, I said you were wrong to say a new router won't help if the ISP bandwidth is the issue. You are, in fact, wrong. A new, better, router that can do proper device based bandwidth limiting will in fact do good if the ISP bandwidth is the limiting factor. I was right on every point. OP literally can't get faster internet right now, I don't know why you keep arguing like you were right and the solution is just more bandwidth. Even if OP had the option to increase bandwidth, you are still completely wrong that a better router would do no good if the ISP bandwidth is the limit. That is 100% wrong. In fact, a better router is exactly waht you want if you have limited bandwidth because it gives you WAY more control over how that bandwidth is used. It's over, I'm done arguing with you. You were wrong, more bandwidth is not the solution to help OP, it is literally as this moment impossible So a better router is in fact the option OP is looking for and will in fact help in this situation. Time to move on.


I've given up arguing it's far easier to ignore, I have to much déjà vu of conflicts when replying to him.

Let's not confuse OP though when we say a better router we just mean one with better management.

I'd highly recommend something you can flash with OpenWRT, although more complicated you can't really find anything on the market without getting into enterprise gear that allows you to have quite so much control and allowing you to use features such as QoS, SQM and 802.11r which might be of benefit to you if you decide you would like to expand your WiFi network.
I think we've covered it now good luck to op in his endeavour hopefully you ISP can provide you a better connection in the future as 8mb sounds like tin cans and string to me in this day and age.


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## newtekie1 (May 8, 2022)

ThaiTaffy said:


> Let's not confuse OP though when we say a better router we just mean one with better management.
> 
> I'd highly recommend something you can flash with OpenWRT, although more complicated you can't really find anything on the market without getting into enterprise gear that allows you to have quite so much control and allowing you to use features such as QoS, SQM and 802.11r which might be of benefit to you if you decide you would like to expand your WiFi network.
> I think we've covered it now good luck to op in his endeavour hopefully you ISP can provide you a better connection in the future as 8mb sounds like tin cans and string to me in this day and age.


That's why I suggested pfSense, it literally runs on anything x86. So an old PC with a couple network cards in it is all you need. And while it gives tons of features, more than OpenWRT actually, it's actually easier to get configured for your average user, IMO. The only down side is it doesn't do WiFi, so you have to use a separate access point. But the old router will work for that, just put it in AP mode or disabled DHCP and plug into a LAN port. The old router will also function as a wired switch at that point too.


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## ThaiTaffy (May 8, 2022)

newtekie1 said:


> That's why I suggested pfSense, it literally runs on anything x86. So an old PC with a couple network cards in it is all you need. And while it gives tons of features, more than OpenWRT actually, it's actually easier to get configured for your average user, IMO. The only down side is it doesn't do WiFi, so you have to use a separate access point. But the old router will work for that, just put it in AP mode or disabled DHCP and plug into a LAN port. The old router will also function as a wired switch at that point too.


Enterprise grade firewall to stop the kids from hogging bandwidth on a 8mb connection, seems a bit ott but I like it  
I use Opnsense myself the BSD firewalls are nice but I'm guessing we get more use our of ours than he ever would past handy capping his kids tiktoc time.


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## X71200 (May 8, 2022)

All this bickering for Netflix, a service that's full of over-dramatized documentaries and trash movies. I'm glad I cut my subscription off, the only thing that was actually good about it were couple 90's movies. Getting back my Vu 4k+ box so I'll have a lot more content than it anyway.

Move to another streaming service.


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## micropage7 (May 9, 2022)

i guess better is the simple way and the OP understand, if we talk about alternatives we gonna have many
n i dunno where's the OP then


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## dirtyferret (May 9, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> Tv is wall mounted and router is behind tv connected to nvidia shield through ethernet
> 
> On.the wait list for starlink


Is your TV 4k or 1080p?  I think your best bet would be to limit the streaming bandwidth on the phones , tablets, etc.,  Most streaming services have this feature.



Mussels said:


> I'm on 50Mb, and prior to getting QoS working fully i had lag issues from a single netflix or disney+ stream since they'd max the connection while buffering, pause, max it again - leading to stutter issues


Not sure how many clients you have on the network and their use but is sounds like there was another issue creating the problem.  Getting QoS working most likely covered up the issue (and made everything work) rather than solving it.


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## markhodges78 (May 17, 2022)

Ok so I've went through all the post and just want to say sorry for all the trouble. yes the tp-link router has poor qos in my opinion. It only has the ability to prioritize and not give a set amount of bandwidth. So the only router I've been able to find (with the recomindation from micropage7) that does bandwidth control is the tenda ax3000 it does bandwidth control per device so what i've done was set each phone to .5mb up and down and set there computers to 2mb down and .5 up the tv is not limited so far it seems to be doing ok however i do feel that the routers wifi is a little weak in a 1300 sqft 1 level house. Routers on 1 side and its week on the other so I may have to move to the center.... I looked and looked and called around and the tenda was the only router I could find with bandwidth control.. I wanted to go with an ax because hopefully in the next year are so they will be rolling out fiber in this area but i'm not holding my breath..


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## Mussels (May 18, 2022)

How are you defining that the wifi is 'weak' - low speeds like that would make many apps simply not work well, if at all

The moment i took a video on my phone and it tried to cloud sync, that'd be unusuable for me for hours if not days.

You'd need a local file transfer over the wifi to check actual wifi speeds, because you cant judge anything by 'feel' since it would be testing the limited internet speeds, and not the wifi itself.


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## markhodges78 (May 18, 2022)

Bill_Bright said:


> Any satellite options in your area?





Mussels said:


> How are you defining that the wifi is 'weak' - low speeds like that would make many apps simply not work well, if at all


The wifi signal on the far side of the house barely connects to my sons playstation and then it will drop and reconnect if I leave the door open to the closet it's in and the bes room door it works ( it's going through 2 walls before it gets to the living area ) and if I do a wifi test the the dbm is like -64 / to -79 in his room


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## Mussels (May 23, 2022)

I assume that's the 2.4GHz network? That always has longer range than 5GHz.

Sounds like you need a mesh network.


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## markhodges78 (May 23, 2022)

Yes 2.4 my house is 1 story 1200 and some odd sq ft and my netgear n router that I've had for the past 10 years has had no problem with signal even out on the yard ...   but update I recently bought a new asus GS-AX5400 and that does bandwidth control per device and I have 5ghz in the yard but just barley lol... so yeah 3 routers and finally found 1 that does it ..  and life was great with the internet this weekend


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## Bill_Bright (May 23, 2022)

markhodges78 said:


> and I have 5ghz in the yard but just barley lol...


Not surprising since 5GHz has a very limited range and is greatly affected by any barrier (wall, floor, ceiling) and the composition and contents of that barrier (wallboard, metal studs, concrete block, metal pipes and wires, etc.). So 5GHz should be reserved only for those wireless devices that are closest to the WAP (wireless access point - typically integrated with router) and hopefully, with no or at least a minimal number (like 1) of barriers in between.


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## liquidmeth (May 28, 2022)

Operandi said:


> This dosn't make any sense.  Do you mean AP (access points)?
> 
> Regardless you can only have one router per network.  I would suggest creating an wireless network that is bandwidth limited and give that to your kids.  If you your current router can't do that you can get an AP that can and use that instead of the Wi-Fi built into your current router.


Why is that ? I'm Curious to what the reason is?  I am running 4 Routers in my house all with no config to point to one to be the DHCP server or anything they all hand out their own Ip and subnet addresses and some are 192.168. some are 10.10. and so on all the way back to the cable ISP service modem where that router is receiving one IP from the ISP and the rest just all feed down to it. Well except for my machine cause i use 2 Hardwired connections , 1 cable and 1 DSL to feed my machine and then a 60-100MBs Cellular internet connection feeding my machine by WIFI also. I've been using all 3 ISP connections in just my machine for a year now and only one of the Hardline Isp connections is being used for the 4 routers in the house network   .... I haven't  had a single issue , granted I could just fill out the tables and configure the 4 routers to work together but why waste my time when for years they been working just fine.... i could use those 2 other IP addresses I'm getting from the two other ISPs and give each router there own valid IP public address but hell,  4 routers one IP been just fine.... PS WIn11pro did all its own load balancing for the last month since i upgraded to it without any load balancing Hardware or third party software, no windows configurations changes to the ipv4/ipv6 stacks either all default from install... (did have to change the TTL to 64 on the cell connection Verizon throttle doesn't work or seem to want to slow the traffic on the PC if its  set like a cell phone and has the lower  TTL lol


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## claes (May 28, 2022)

I don’t really understand what you’re doing but it sounds like you have 7+ networks — each router produced it’s own network (4), each ISP is its own network (3).

“Why you might want to do that” is simple — so you can have all of your devices on the same network. Sure, you can do most consumer things that people do while accessing multiple networks, but to do smart home type things you’ll have to start configuring DNS or reverse proxy’s.


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## Mussels (May 28, 2022)

liquidmeth said:


> Why is that ? I'm Curious to what the reason is?  I am running 4 Routers in my house all with no config to point to one to be the DHCP server or anything they all hand out their own Ip and subnet addresses and some are 192.168. some are 10.10. and so on all the way back to the cable ISP service modem where that router is receiving one IP from the ISP and the rest just all feed down to it. Well except for my machine cause i use 2 Hardwired connections , 1 cable and 1 DSL to feed my machine and then a 60-100MBs Cellular internet connection feeding my machine by WIFI also. I've been using all 3 ISP connections in just my machine for a year now and only one of the Hardline Isp connections is being used for the 4 routers in the house network   .... I haven't  had a single issue , granted I could just fill out the tables and configure the 4 routers to work together but why waste my time when for years they been working just fine.... i could use those 2 other IP addresses I'm getting from the two other ISPs and give each router there own valid IP public address but hell,  4 routers one IP been just fine.... PS WIn11pro did all its own load balancing for the last month since i upgraded to it without any load balancing Hardware or third party software, no windows configurations changes to the ipv4/ipv6 stacks either all default from install... (did have to change the TTL to 64 on the cell connection Verizon throttle doesn't work or seem to want to slow the traffic on the PC if its  set like a cell phone and has the lower  TTL lol


What the hell...

Critically: nothing on those networks can communicate with each other, at all, ever.

All the devices will have internet, sure - but you wont have working file sharing, network printers or smart home functions. You'll also have degraded performance because no QoS or bandwidth limiting can function when what router 1 thinks of as one single device is actually 20 others


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