Router query and recomendations

Supafly80 · 7 Apr 2018 at 11:54

Hi,

Considering purchasing a new router as the ISP supplied one isn't very good. Though, I'm not exactly sure what I actually need when looking at them.

I have 1 PC and a TV connected via Ethernet and several mobiles, a few tablets and a laptop that connect wirelessly. TV is off when PC is on. I game on the PC so I'd like a router that can keep my ping low and stable being the main priority. Besides web browsing most of the wireless usage would be background updates for mobile devices and the laptop.

I've read about Quality of Service features but everything points towards it being aimed at wirelessly connected devices and I can't find a single bit of information as to whether I'd benefit from them when using a wired connection?

Can I get recommendations of what I should be looking for in a dual band router when gaming via Ethernet? Preferably starting at your lowest tier as I doubt if I can get my ISP to contribute even when their new and better hardware is worse than the one it replaced.

Thanks

BigT · 7 Apr 2018 at 12:12

Just to check the only thing you find lacking in your current router is you have poor latency (ping) and stability? Have you got any results from something like Speedtest.net with some figures for typical ping you achieve with the current router?

Supafly80 · 7 Apr 2018 at 12:52

Yes ping spikes and stability.
In command prompt I've done ping 192.168.0.1 -t several times including leaving just my pc on while out for over 4 hours. Max ping went upto243. If Instay and watch I can see it at1,2,4 10and 20but it'll spike to 80+ 100+ then low again before more spikes. When wireless devices on network it can spike to 500 plus and rarely drops below 100 when they are doing things online.

Wireless wise I can have 3 bars in the kitchen. Using speedtest I can get 150mbps downto 30mb9s and sometimes it even fails. All within a minute of each other, no other wireless device connected. Speedtest also showed jitter in the hundreds. Make streaming rather annoying

Speedtest when wired tends to be 220 on the 200mbps connection. Fluctuate a little but not by a lot.....

Damn Virgin SuckyHub 3

BigT · 7 Apr 2018 at 13:58

So a QoS enabled router should help. Better ones will enable priority by MAC address so put your wired PC’s in and set a few things and you should in theory be good.

Personally I’ve never managed to get it setup on soho kit satisfactorily so best others give recommendations.

The behaviour you describe I’ve seen when upstream bandwidth is saturated too. Are you sure no torrents, malware etc. are running?

I have an alternative solution I would use in your unique circumstances of wanting to prioritise one wired device with lots of bandwidth available. I’d turn off WiFi on your router, add a Uniquiti Access Point to your network and use that to limit the bandwidth available to the SSID, say 50/5 which should be plenty. Everything else will be available to your wired PC.

However wait for a few more replies on here to probably get a better QoS based solution and recommendation.

Supafly80 · 7 Apr 2018 at 14:49

No Torrents, Malware or viruses. Suppose upstream is more likely to get saturated as I only have around 12mbps up but there are spikes when there is no traffic what so ever, I've watch using Task Manager and Resource monitor specifically to see if any background process is causing them. Occasionally the is a background process sending/recieving a few KBs but not enough to saturate and 90% of the time there is no network activity when the spikes occur. This is while no other device is connected wired or wirelessly. I've even ran multiple speedtests while watching the ping, sometimes it seems to correlate with spikes but other times ping stays low, even at 220 down or12 up I can be ping the router and get 1-5ms and then the 100+.

If the router part of the Superhub 3 was complete rubbish and causing ping spikes when there is 0 traffic I'd consider turning wifi off and going the Uniquiti Access Point route you suggested. That would only improve the wireless stability..........to a degree, as the Suckyhub would still have roputing issues causing spikes that would get transfered to the AP and then the wireless device. As for the wired PC it would still be getting ping spikes but maybe not as high as when wireless devices are connected and using the data. Then again it could be just as bad as the SuckyHub would still be routing traffic to PC and the AP instead of to the PC and wireless devices directly.

Thanks for the suggestion. Hopefully others can recommend some QoS routers.

BigT · 7 Apr 2018 at 18:25

Do you have access to any old cable router so you can put the hub into modem only mode and check things are better? Reason I ask is that I think I’m right in saying you can’t use anything other than the superhub for the ‘modem’ bit so you might want to ensure that’s working OK before spending money. I don’t really know Virgin’s kit but can you in fact plus the wired PC straight into it in modem only mode? That’d be a great test.

Supafly80 · 8 Apr 2018 at 08:54

No old router to test. Didnt think about trying it in modem mode with just my pc wired to it. Hectic day but wil try to test it later today or monday when I'll have enough time to run a pinging test for an hour or more.

Thanks