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Severe Upload Bufferbloat on RAX38v2
We live in a rural area and have an extremely slow DSL connection (at best 11 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up). Previously we had an IQRouter v2, which was great for maximizing the connection for multiple devices...but got old and kept dropping the connection.
I upgraded to the RAX38v2 (firmware V1.0.11.112_2.0.77), which gave us faster speeds, but terrible bufferbloat. Now when we have friends visit and an increase in devices, it is nearly unusable for everyone. (And it is not because of the DSL connection, because the speed is the same, and the modem is the same, a Windstream Actiontec T3200.) QoS is on, but appears to make no difference whether on or off.
I could move to the IQRouter v3, but it seems like I should be able to get a better result with the Nighthawk than I am getting. It also seems to drop the connection a lot sometimes, even when not overloaded with devices.
Suggestions? Thanks.
> We live in a rural area and have an extremely slow DSL connection (at best 11 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up). Previously we had an IQRouter v2, which was great for maximizing the connection for multiple devices...but got old and kept dropping the connection.
Before I moved, I had that situation (DSL 7mbps down, 768kbps up). I used an IQrouter v2 to completely eliminate the bufferbloat. No one would call the connection fast, but it was always very usable, even with two simultaneous zoom sessions.
The IQrouter v2 is a re-labeled Archer C7v2 - one of the most reliable / revered routers - Wirecutter's Best Router for Home a few years ago). It is designed by a team of folks at Evenroute who also suffered from bufferbloat.
Before you blame the IQrouter, you can do some troubleshooting:
- Run speedtest.net. Look at both the up/down speeds, but also the new Responsiveness numbers that show latency during the speed tests.
- If you know how run a ping test from the terminal. Look for dropped packets.
- Call your ISP. Tell them you are having problems. (Report the speedtest.net and ping test numbers.) Ask them to check the line characteristics. Ask them if they see any problems.
- Also, ask them to replace the Actiontec - it's an older model, and perhaps it failed or got damaged in a storm.
Good luck!
PS Double-NAT (your DSL modem connected to your router) is almost certainly not your problem. I do it all the time - the IQrouter is designed for it. Double-NAT *can* cause problems, but not bufferbloat. (Symptoms would include being able to connect to certain services, but not others, and mostly fairly unusual situations/applications.)
13 Replies
NMLiz wrote:
.... the modem is the same, a Windstream Actiontec T3200.)
That looks like a modem router? Is it in modem only (bridge) mode?
Two routers on your network can cause headaches. For example, you can end up with local address problems. Among other things, the other router can misdirect addresses that the Netgear router usually handles, such as routerlogin.net or the usual IP address for a router, 192.168.1.1.
This explains some of the other drawbacks.
What is Double NAT? | Answer | NETGEAR Support
Unless you have specific reasons for using two routers – to create two separate networks for example – it is often easier to use just one router and then to set up the second router as a wifi access point. Netgear advises this, as does just about every site you will visit.
But that has its own drawbacks:
Disabled Features on the Router when set to AP Mode | Answer | NETGEAR SupportAnd?
Your message was blank.
> We live in a rural area and have an extremely slow DSL connection (at best 11 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up). Previously we had an IQRouter v2, which was great for maximizing the connection for multiple devices...but got old and kept dropping the connection.
Before I moved, I had that situation (DSL 7mbps down, 768kbps up). I used an IQrouter v2 to completely eliminate the bufferbloat. No one would call the connection fast, but it was always very usable, even with two simultaneous zoom sessions.
The IQrouter v2 is a re-labeled Archer C7v2 - one of the most reliable / revered routers - Wirecutter's Best Router for Home a few years ago). It is designed by a team of folks at Evenroute who also suffered from bufferbloat.
Before you blame the IQrouter, you can do some troubleshooting:
- Run speedtest.net. Look at both the up/down speeds, but also the new Responsiveness numbers that show latency during the speed tests.
- If you know how run a ping test from the terminal. Look for dropped packets.
- Call your ISP. Tell them you are having problems. (Report the speedtest.net and ping test numbers.) Ask them to check the line characteristics. Ask them if they see any problems.
- Also, ask them to replace the Actiontec - it's an older model, and perhaps it failed or got damaged in a storm.
Good luck!
PS Double-NAT (your DSL modem connected to your router) is almost certainly not your problem. I do it all the time - the IQrouter is designed for it. Double-NAT *can* cause problems, but not bufferbloat. (Symptoms would include being able to connect to certain services, but not others, and mostly fairly unusual situations/applications.)
Sorry all, in the reply that came through blank, I was trying to say that the Actiontec is bridged. But it sounds like the Actiontec could actually be the problem.
On Speedtest, I get 10.14 Mbps down, 0.9 up.
Ping 26ms idle, 83 ms down, 215 ms up.
Is there a way to distinguish ISP latency issues from issues caused by the Actiontec? (Sorry to be such a newb.)
NMLiz wrote:
...On Speedtest, I get 10.14 Mbps down, 0.9 up.
Ping 26ms idle, 83 ms down, 215 ms up.
...
That definitely seems like upload buferbloat - that's certainly typical of what I saw on my DSL line.
Do you still have access to the IQrouter? If you are willing to try an experiment, reconnect it to the Actiontec and use it as your main router. Re-run the speed test to let the IQrouter handle the bufferbloat.
(You could also run a manual latency test - start a ping to, say, Google: "ping -t google.com" on Windows; "ping google.com" otherwise and see how much bigger the ping times get when you run the speed test.)
Let us know the results. Thanks.
