Re: XR500 Setup Help - Issues / Concerns With Performance

B1ggSh00t3r · ‎2018-08-22

I recently purchased the XR500 AND S8000 (bundle from Costco for price of XR500). I will try to be as specific as I can with my setup and the issues / concerns I'm experiencing.

My Setup: Cable (200Mbps / 12 Mbps) > Modem (Netgear CM1000) > Router (Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500) > Switch (Netgear Nighthawk S8000 Gaming & Streaming Switch) (HP Pro Curve Switch x2 - J9449-60001)

Connections to XR500: S8000 (Ethernet Port 😎 to XR500 (Ethernet Port 1) / HP Pro Curve Switch to XR500 (Ethernet Port 2) / HP Pro Curve Switch to XR500 (Ethernet Port 3)

Connections to S8000: Xbox One X to S8000 (Ethernet Port 1) / PS4 Pro to S8000 (Ethernet Port 2) / Apple TV 4K to S8000 (Ethernet Port 3)

XR500 Settings: UPnP On (checked) / NAT Filtering - Open

XR500 Settings: Geo-Filter - Devices (Xbox One X / Xbox One S / PS4 Pro) All Set to Filtering Mode

XR500 Settings: Geo-Filter - Options - Strict Mode (checked) / Auto Ping Host (checked)

XR500 Settings: Geo-Filter - Map (Distance Set to 1560 miles)

XR500 Settings: QoS - Anti-Bufferbloat - Options - Goodput (checked) / Disable QoS (not checked)

XR500 Settings: QoS - Anti-Bufferbloat - Always / Upload (70%) / Download (70%)

XR500 Settings: QoS - Bandwidth Allocation (38 devices) - Upload / Download (Xbox One X - 50% / Microsoft Xbox One S - 25% / Remaining Devices - 1%)

XR500 Settings QoS - Traffic Prioritization - Dumas OS Classified Games Enabled (checked)

S8000 Settings: QoS Enabled

Latest Firmware Installed on XR500 (v2.3.2.22) and on S8000 (v1.7.0.6)

Issue / Concern 1: I've noticed, when playing Elder Scrolls Online, that sometimes I experience noticeable lag (never noticed lag with previous router - Asus RT-AC5300)

Issue / Concern 2: It seems that no matter what I do with Anti-Bufferbloat settings (On or Off) / QoS settings (On or Off) / Traffic Prioritization settings / Geo-Filter settings), my PING remains the same (between 20 and 24 using PingPlotter App). I've ran several speedtests using DSL Reports and always have achieved an 'A' for Bufferbloat.

Issue / Concern 3: After reading another post regarding the XR500 and S8000, it seems QoS enabled on both the XR500 and S8000 might be a problem. I really don't want to disable QoS on the XR500, but not sure whether the S8000 or the XR500 would do a better job.

Question: Do I have my configuration (XR500 / S8000) set up correctly (see connections above for details)? Should the Xbox One X / PS4 Pro be connected to the back of XR500 instead of S8000?

Note: When I check the 'Port Status' on S8000, the Xbox One X (connected to Ethernet Port 1- Gaming) shows Linked Speed at 10M Full, the PS4 Pro (connected to Ethernet Port 2) shows Linked Speed at 100M Full, and the Apple TV 4K (connected to Ethernet Port 3) shows Linked Speed at 1000M Full. I'm wondering why the Xbox One X has only a Linked Speed at 10M Full. It seems that should be more (as well as PS4 Pro) since the Apple TV 4K has a Linked Speed at 1000M Full.

I'm hoping I can get some help trying to figure out what is going on, as I feel something isn't right with the router and my setup. Please let me know if you need further information. If I experience any other issues, I'll be sure to post them.

Thanks for taking time to reply with any troubleshooting suggestions.

BIG_DOG · ‎2018-08-22

Hi.

I have both as you do. You should have EVERYTHING going through the S8000, no other wired device should be connected to the XR500 at all. The S8000 has it's own QOS and port prioritisation which you are bypassing and not getting the full potential. Another problem is that you are not using another router as an AP for the wifi as that should also be connected to the S8000. This is the ideal setup.

If you remove the S8000 from the equasion the XR500 can handle it all without any issues and you should have no need for a managed switch. I have an AP and also another router running a seperate network for my kids which is why I have the S8000 on my network setup.

B1ggSh00t3r · ‎2018-08-22

@BIG_DOG wrote:

Hi.

I have both as you do. You should have EVERYTHING going through the S8000, no other wired device should be connected to the XR500 at all. The S8000 has it's own QOS and port prioritisation which you are bypassing and not getting the full potential. Another problem is that you are not using another router as an AP for the wifi as that should also be connected to the S8000. This is the ideal setup.

If you remove the S8000 from the equasion the XR500 can handle it all without any issues and you should have no need for a managed switch. I have an AP and also another router running a seperate network for my kids which is why I have the S8000 on my network setup.

Do I still keep QoS enabled on the XR500? And, will Geo-Filter / Anti-Bufferbloat / other features of the XR500 still provide its benefits?

BIG_DOG · ‎2018-08-22

Hi. part of my post did not work, so here is the rest of it.

as for your speed issues with your switch I suggest you read the user manual as this explains the differing presets such as gaming: Here

Gaming preset for example give critical priority to port 8 upload and port 1 for gaming. The manual will explain the differing presets and the bandwidth allocation it provides. It will also show you how to manually set port speed limits to eliminate lag if other devices are using 4k streaming for example.

I use XR500 bufferbloat and geo filtering too so you have no problem with using the features on the XR500. It is just that if you are using the S8000 or any other managed switch it is advisable to use another router as an AP if that router supports that feature and place that behind the switch also so the switch manages the bandwidth flow.

Netduma_Jack · ‎2018-08-23

Just replied with this on our own forum too so posting here:

BiggShooter - hopefully most of your questions are answered by Big-Dog. To answer one of your concerns:

It seems that no matter what I do with Anti-Bufferbloat settings (On or Off) / QoS settings (On or Off) / Traffic Prioritization settings / Geo-Filter settings), my PING remains the same (between 20 and 24 using PingPlotter App)

This makes sense that you are not seeing a change. The QoS settings are there to prevent congestion from making your ping spike far above its base level. Your base level appears to be around 20ms, a good connection, so toggling these settings when there's no congestion your network would have no affect. If you really want to test it out, you should disable QoS, flood your connection with a lot of traffic e.g. speedtests, torrents etc. You should see your ping go up. If you then apply all the QoS settings, it will return to normal.

As for the Geo-Filter - it is designed to get you a local, nearby server for a lower ping. So a PingPlotter test would not be able to measure this because it just pings the same server each time. For ESO, you don;t need to force a local server because it's an MMORPG. Just leave it in spectating mode so you can see the ping to the server when you are playing.

clarky1326 · ‎2019-02-09

Just seen this post but to understand everything.

Have all wired devices plugged into S8000 switch and also use another router in AP mode for WiFi.

My question is will the qos in the xr500 and s8000 conflict with each other or not work correctly?

My setup....
ISP modem(must use) > XR500 router > S8000 switch.

S8000 ports >
Port 1 Xbox one x
Port 2 Nvidia shield
Port 3 laptop
Port 4 Nvidia shield
Port 5 R8000P router AP Mode
Port 8 Uplink

Netduma-Fraser · ‎2019-02-10

Yes they probably would. I would highly suggest you disable the QoS features on the switch. The XR500 QoS is absolutely capable of ensuring your network doesn't suffer any local congestion. You would have a much better experience relying on the state of the art QoS on the XR500.

B1ggSh00t3r · ‎2019-02-10

As far as I know, you cannot "disable" QoS on the S8000. I've checked the settings and wasn't able to find an option to disable QoS. I've have QoS enabled on the XR500 and S8000 and haven't noticed any issues w/ devices connected (wired / wireless) on my home network.

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-02-10

I would review the user manual for QoS settings on the S8000: Pg 28

http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/GS808E/GS808E_UM_EN.pdf

Talkes about what settings the S8000 can be configured.

You might ask @B1ggSh00t3r to post his XR500 and S8000 current configuration settings.

@clarky1326 wrote:
Just seen this post but to understand everything.

Have all wired devices plugged into S8000 switch and also use another router in AP mode for WiFi.

My question is will the qos in the xr500 and s8000 conflict with each other or not work correctly?

My setup....
ISP modem(must use) > XR500 router > S8000 switch.

S8000 ports >
Port 1 Xbox one x
Port 2 Nvidia shield
Port 3 laptop
Port 4 Nvidia shield
Port 5 R8000P router AP Mode
Port 8 Uplink