Bufferbloat is still bad after using Cake

[AutomaticMamba]

I have the latest version of the merlin firmware on the Asus GT-ax11000 router. I first ran dslreports test before enabling cake. Got an A for bufferbloat. In addition, I ran a ping test to google.com while downloading a game off of steam. When I did that, I would get some crazy ping spikes of like 60-70.

Note that my dl and ul are 480 and 12 and my usual ping is like 12-15.

After enabling cake with 90% dl and ul limits and also trying multiple different wan packet overhead presets (the first 3 as well as 0,0,normal). I repeated the same steps as above.

Same score for dslreports, but when I did the ping test while downloading, I would get even greater ping spikes. Sometimes 100-200 ms.

Does Cake have a bandwidth limit, like do I need to lower my limits? Or what is the issue here.

IM wired and I ran all of these tests when no other device was connected.

 

[Tech9]

Or what is the issue here.

Most likely the issue is you - wrong understanding what bufferbloat is and when it happens:

QOS on 1gbps network speeds

Hello I was just reading somewhere that you can’t really use cake QOS above 400mbps. I don’t have a Merlin router yet but I was wondering is there a “special” QOS that is not in the standard firmware that you can use for faster networks that help bufferbloat?

www.snbforums.com

Cake QoS is incompatible with hardware acceleration. Your router is now CPU limited to about 350Mbps. Use Adaptive QoS, put Gaming close to the top and don't trust online bufferbloat tests. You are perhaps trying to fix something that may not even exist, most of the time.

 

[Wade Coxon]

Note that my dl and ul are 480 and 12 and my usual ping is like 12-15.

After enabling cake with 90% dl and ul limits and also trying multiple different wan packet overhead presets (the first 3 as well as 0,0,normal). I repeated the same steps as above.

Same score for dslreports, but when I did the ping test while downloading, I would get even greater ping spikes. Sometimes 100-200 ms.

Does Cake have a bandwidth limit, like do I need to lower my limits? Or what is the issue here.

Cake runs on a single core of the router's CPU and can't shape flows that are higher than 200-250Mbps. Your connection is way too fast for cake and will see no benefit from it unless you shape your connection much much lower.

 

[AutomaticMamba]

Cake runs on a single core of the router's CPU and can't shape flows that are higher than 200-250Mbps. Your connection is way too fast for cake and will see no benefit from it unless you shape your connection much much lower.

So, would you recommend that I put the download limit to somewhere around 250?

 

[AutomaticMamba]

Most likely the issue is you - wrong understanding what bufferbloat is and when it happens:

QOS on 1gbps network speeds

Hello I was just reading somewhere that you can’t really use cake QOS above 400mbps. I don’t have a Merlin router yet but I was wondering is there a “special” QOS that is not in the standard firmware that you can use for faster networks that help bufferbloat?

www.snbforums.com

Cake QoS is incompatible with hardware acceleration. Your router is now CPU limited to about 350Mbps. Use Adaptive QoS, put Gaming close to the top and don't trust online bufferbloat tests. You are perhaps trying to fix something that may not even exist, most of the time.

I get what you are saying but I can definitely feel it. For example, if I am downloading a game on steam and also using Discord at the same time, my discord connection drops because the ping spikes are crazy, and my friends also say my voice cuts up.

 

[Wade Coxon]

So, would you recommend that I put the download limit to somewhere around 250?

If you are ok with your total bandwidth being limited to 250Mbps, then yes.

250Mbps would be a good starting point. You can adjust the limit up and down to find the breaking point. Watch your router's CPU usage and you should be able to see where it starts approaching 100% under load.

You can use the DSLReports or Waveform bufferbloat test page. At 250Mbps limits, you should hopefully see little to no bufferbloat. Adjust the limit up until you notice bufferbloat, and then dial the limit back down a bit.

When you did your initial pre-cake tests, did you have any QoS activated?
Have you tried Adaptive QoS with the FlexQoS addon?
You might find you get a decent bufferbloat result with Adaptive QoS with a conservative 400-450Mbps manual limit.

 

[BreakingDad]

I have 500/30 line, and use adaptive and flex, AAA rated bufferbloat, no ping spikes.

 

[Tech9]

if I am downloading a game on steam and also using Discord

Use Adaptive QoS, prioritize VoIP. Test again. If still not good, try @BreakingDad advice. Don't use Cake or Limiter, both limit the router performance.

 

[Morris]

I have the latest version of the merlin firmware on the Asus GT-ax11000 router. I first ran dslreports test before enabling cake. Got an A for bufferbloat. In addition, I ran a ping test to google.com while downloading a game off of steam. When I did that, I would get some crazy ping spikes of like 60-70.

Note that my dl and ul are 480 and 12 and my usual ping is like 12-15.

After enabling cake with 90% dl and ul limits and also trying multiple different wan packet overhead presets (the first 3 as well as 0,0,normal). I repeated the same steps as above.

Same score for dslreports, but when I did the ping test while downloading, I would get even greater ping spikes. Sometimes 100-200 ms.

Does Cake have a bandwidth limit, like do I need to lower my limits? Or what is the issue here.

IM wired and I ran all of these tests when no other device was connected.

I like your idea to run your own test rather than a synthetic test from a web site. The proper test to run during a file transfer is to ping the the first router on the other side of your want interface. The variation in ping times should be very low. It if is high there is a bufferbloat issue.

Morris