4K streaming kills router?

[thewizard1241]

I have two AC68U's currently and i was testing something for fun. I opened just Two 4K videos on youtube on two different devices and i was on my routers home page.

I noticed as i was browsing the route homepage that it started being slow as hell (wired). Keep in mind my max bandwidth is only 70ish mbps. I know 4k requires 35ish per video, i know my bandwidth is maxed out simply by two 4k videos.

But my question is, is the AC68U enough to handle 4K streams without falling apart? Or is it better to upgrade?

 

[CaptainSTX]

I have two AC68U's currently and i was testing something for fun. I opened just Two 4K videos on youtube on two different devices and i was on my routers home page.

I noticed as i was browsing the route homepage that it started being slow as hell (wired). Keep in mind my max bandwidth is only 70ish mbps. I know 4k requires 35ish per video, i know my bandwidth is maxed out simply by two 4k videos.

But my question is, is the AC68U enough to handle 4K streams without falling apart? Or is it better to upgrade?

First if you are streaming 4K video from Netflix, Amazon they don't use nearly 35 Mbps. 12 Mbps is probably a better estimate. Go into your bandwidth monitor section on your router and look at what you are actually doing.

There are several versions of the AC68 with various processor speeds with higher speed processors being more capable.

Finally if you were streaming using WiFi this puts a strain on the processor. It might help if you set the Wifi streams up with the more distant location using the 2.4 Ghz to avoid possible re-transmissions while using the 5 Ghz radio for the closer device.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I have two AC68U's currently and i was testing something for fun. I opened just Two 4K videos on youtube on two different devices and i was on my routers home page.

I noticed as i was browsing the route homepage that it started being slow as hell (wired). Keep in mind my max bandwidth is only 70ish mbps. I know 4k requires 35ish per video, i know my bandwidth is maxed out simply by two 4k videos.

But my question is, is the AC68U enough to handle 4K streams without falling apart? Or is it better to upgrade?

Did you notice any CPU status in the router webUI?

OE

 

[thewizard1241]

First if you are streaming 4K video from Netflix, Amazon they don't use nearly 35 Mbps. 12 Mbps is probably a better estimate. Go into your bandwidth monitor section on your router and look at what you are actually doing.

There are several versions of the AC68 with various processor speeds with higher speed processors being more capable.

Finally if you were streaming using WiFi this puts a strain on the processor. It might help if you set the Wifi streams up with the more distant location using the 2.4 Ghz to avoid possible re-transmissions while using the 5 Ghz radio for the closer device.

Im running 4K Youtube video from youtube, 4k hdr 60fps, and i see the bandwidth monitor maxes out in spikes with even one, even more so with two.

"It might help if you set the Wifi streams up with the more distant location using the 2.4 Ghz to avoid possible re-transmissions while using the 5 Ghz radio for the closer device." < sorry i have no idea what you mean

 

[thewizard1241]

Did you notice any CPU status in the router webUI?

OE

They do go up quite high as aswell as bandwidth monitor

 

[OzarkEdge]

They do go up quite high as aswell as bandwidth monitor

If you feel the router is healthy, cleanly and minimally installed to do its best, then maybe that's not good enough for time sensitive traffic. But I would think the router should be able to handle the traffic for two 4K YouTube streams.

OE

 

[CaptainSTX]

Im running 4K Youtube video from youtube, 4k hdr 60fps, and i see the bandwidth monitor maxes out in spikes with even one, even more so with two.

"It might help if you set the Wifi streams up with the more distant location using the 2.4 Ghz to avoid possible re-transmissions while using the 5 Ghz radio for the closer device." < sorry i have no idea what you mean

The spikes are to be expected for this is how video is delivered. What you need to look at is how much data is being downloaded over 10 - 20 minutes and it will show an average rate. With four Netflix HD streams to four devices one of which was 4K I couldn't push my data usage much over 50 Mbps.

Your router has two WiFi radios, One on 2.4 Ghz and the other on 5 Ghz.

 

[cooloutac]

Did you notice any CPU status in the router webUI?

OE

amazon themselves say 32mb for top quality streams. 4k/hdr. I've seen them spike much higher but limiting them to 32 causes no problems. that being said the ac68u should handle 70MBs on two streams on wifi no problem and the cpu should not be going out of control. the ac66u_b1 always did fine for me on a 100 MB connection. and that is with over 30 wifi iot devices connected to it while the tv's are streaming.

I would try adaptive qos which is what I usually use. I've also used traditional qos and just limit them to 32MBS each. If you still have problems might have to reflash and factory reset the router and see what happens using default settings.

 

[Gar]

Experiment with b/w limiter and "see" how much data you need to make a visible difference. When my only router was an AC56 I had cable 30/3 and a 720p TV. Above 3mb/s I couldn't tell any improvement. Later, with a 4k TV I found 12mb/s to work best. No need for more, 12 seems low but I suggest experimenting with what you have. Can't imagine the AC68 being a problem.