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I'm not savvy enough to know what "bufferbloat" is
I'm not savvy enough to know what "bufferbloat" is, but I have been having a HORRIBLE time gaming with this router. I have Frontier Fiber FiOS at 2 gigabit speed, and have to literally reboot the router mid-sessions almost EVERY time I play an online game like ARC Raiders, Fortnite, Helldivers 2 or other multiplayer online game.
I'm using a PS5 Pro plugged directly into an ethernet port on the router (no wireless ever) using a top-end 3ft cable from Infinite Cable, have set up on the PS5 Pro to use the CloudFlare DNS on the PS5's advanced network settings, assigned the PS5 a pre-set IP address and put that IP address in for the DMZ, turned off QoS, IPv6, and still am having network-wide crashes where every device - including things like family iOS devices - losing access to things like Facebook and YouTube which - again - requires a full router restart.
I have the latest publicly available version of the firmware as well and it has not helped any.
This is insane that a $600 router is this unreliable.
14 Replies
I'm not savvy enough to know what "bufferbloat" is,
If the link speed goes down along the network path, then the switch or router feeding that slower link has to buffer the packets. If there is too much buffering, you get unnecessary lag. If not enough, then packets get dropped. Too much buffering is bufferbloat.
In your case, the gigabit connection between the PS5 and the router is a downlink choke point (bottleneck), since the feed into the router is 2 gbps, but the feed into the PS5 is on only 1 gigabit. So the router has to buffer (hold) packets until the link can accept them. There's nothing you can do about that choke point, since both the PS5 and the router LAN port only support gigabit. Cables, IP settings, etc won't eliminate it. That said, it's only a problem if the gaming servers try to send you data faster than the PS5 can receive it.
The uplink from the PS5 isn't a bottleneck, since the link from the router to the ONT (and your FiOS service) are faster than the PS5 ethernet.
I have been having a HORRIBLE time gaming with this router.
... and still am having network-wide crashes where every device
Not clear that you are experiencing buffer bloat, since that normally doesn't lead to network crashes, only lag.
Can you reach the router's web page after the network crashes? Are you still seeing the WiFi network names in your phone after it crashes?
Is the router still under warranty?
Also, I forgot to mention I have a 5-port 10GB TP-Link un-managed switch set up for my >1Gb ethernet port devices like my main desktop PC (and an 8 port 1Gb unmanaged switch for the wired devices throughout the rest of my house, including my Synology NAS), but again - the PS5 Pro is plugged directly in to the router itself.
