RT-ACRH17 QoS doesn't work, suggestions?

[albegadeep]

I have an RT-ACRH17. One of the main reasons I bought it is that it is supposed to support QoS. My main application for that is to make all the traffic from one local machine that is heading for remote port 443 be absolute lowest priority on the network - it's a cloud backup that continuously swamps the uplink connection, with an estimated completion time in weeks. The router gives me the options of Traditional QoS (i.e. real QoS) or Bandwidth Limiter. I've tried every QoS setting I can think of trying, but none seem to have any effect - the one machine's traffic prevents all other outgoing traffic. As a temporary measure, I've been using bandwidth limiter, but that means that the cloud backup can never use the full upload bandwidth, even when no other machine is using it (ex. 4 AM). Firmware version number is 3.0.0.4.382_52517-gb4d36a6, the same as the current version number on the Asus site (3.0.0.4.382.52517), even though the Asus site says that firmware's only a few months old and I haven't updated mine in that time. Weird.

I've gone round in circles with Asus tech support, with no effect. (Their only suggestion at this point is to replace the whole thing under warranty.) Web searches seem to imply that the QoS is known (except by tech support) to be broken out of the box, so replacement wouldn't help. I'm contemplating trying 3rd party firmware to see if it'll help. I'm not seeing this model in the list of supported models for Merlin. I found two forks of OpenWRT for this model, which implies that OpenWRT itself doesn't support it. The only page I found that mentions this model and Tomato says it isn't compatible.

Any suggestions?

 

[L&LD]

RT-AC86U, RT-AX88U, or RT-AX86U (highly recommended) with RMerlin firmware and CakeQOS, or FlexQoS installed (whichever is most appropriate for your ISP speeds).

 

[albegadeep]

Any suggestions that don't involve replacing a router that's less than a year old? I'll keep it in mind, but paying more money for what the first one was advertised to do isn't really what I had in mind.

For that matter, if there's firm documentation somewhere that QoS isn't actually functional on this model, maybe I can get a refund due to false advertising.

 

[Adooni]

one of the biggest mistake people are doing is buy router before ask on forum

this router is not support to much with alternative soft therefore should be one of last on list to buy it.

what I found is this soft (you would need to use chrome to translate to EN https://www.right.com.cn/forum/thread-318998-1-1.html

 

[L&LD]

You need to give much more details of your network setup, its use, and your expectations if you want more suggestions.

Do not forget that you can sell the router you now have, once a new one is up and running to your satisfaction. Be sure to buy with a refund (full) period available.

Part of the issues you're facing has to do with problems Asus has right now (for the last few months) of getting the GPL code out. I'm sure that's tying up everything, including a fix for your router too.

Do you have that advertising that promised what you want? No, I'm not being snitty here. I am very sure that the wording was carefully chosen to protect Asus, not us.

 

[albegadeep]

Upload speed 22 Mbps, download 1.8 Mbps. Home network but with small server, used as external web server and internal file/backup server. 2.4 and 5 GHz networks (not all my stuff can do 5, and the extra range of 2.4 is helpful), in-network and guest for each. 2 wired connections (1 server, 1 desktop, each on fixed IPs). Wired uplink connection to modem. DHCP for all wireless connections. Port forwarding on a couple ports is required.

I want the non-guest devices to be able to talk to each other (wired and wireless), while guest wifi connections shouldn't be able to see them. I want outgoing connections from the server (fixed IP) going to remote port 443 (IP varies) to be lowest priority. Being able to restrict bandwidth on specific other devices (like iPads) would be nice, but is not required. Being able to set all traffic to/from one other computer (specified by MAC address) would be nice, but is not required.

No other filtering, forwarding, etc. is required.

In other words, pretty basic requirements except for the ability to assign priorities to certain machines or types of traffic.

Am I missing anything?

 

[L&LD]

Maybe the ideas presented in the link below can help.

Wi-Fi Setup 25/2.5 d/u Report

 

[albegadeep]

I can definitely try bridging the ISP-provided modem. If the RT-ACRH17 isn't capable of using any third-party firmwares, then I can't do that list of scripts. I don't have access to "adaptive QoS" in the existing firmware, and as previously mentioned I've already tried adjusting the "traditional QoS" settings with no effect.

One of the things I tried with "traditional QoS" was setting the server to Lowest priority (all traffic), and setting Lowest priority to use only 5% of bandwidth. Nothing happened - the server still consumed 100%, choking out all other devices. Tech support asked for something similar, also without effect.

 

[Tech9]

maybe I can get a refund due to false advertising.

Good luck with that. False advertising is called business now, it's everywhere.

 

[albegadeep]

I hadn't realized how much router prices have increased. Wow.

Would a RT-AC86U definitely fulfill my needs (listed above)? The product description seems to say yes, but so does my current router's description. I see one of the NewEgg reviews mentions the same sort of QoS issues that I'm seeing ("QoS is non-functional (you can fiddle with the settings all you want with no discernable effect)", and a number of the reviews talk about it dying after a few months. Is it actually reliable? Would using Merlin, etc. resolve these issues? I'm hesitant to throw good money after bad.

 

[Tech9]

Would a RT-AC86U definitely fulfill my needs (listed above)?

Per device prioritizing is available in Traditional QoS, but I don't know if it works.

Is it actually reliable?

I don't think so. My post here explains why. It's not built well and has quality inconsistencies.

 

[albegadeep]

Ok, got any recommendations for my application? Please add "reliable and fairly long life" to my requirements.

 

[Tech9]

This type of device prioritization is available only with Traditional QoS. Unfortunately, very few people use it because it's incompatible with hardware acceleration. That means the most expensive home router available turns into up to 350Mbps WAN-LAN throughput router. That also means experience with Traditional QoS is limited. I personally don't even know if it works in latest Asuswrt.

 

[albegadeep]

How about other prioritization options, rather than per-device? I've managed to get the traffic marked with DSCP as CS1 at its source, but that had no effect either.

In my case, my throughput to 'net is 22 Mbps down, 1.6 up anyway, so being limited to 350 isn't an issue.

 

[Tech9]

With 1.6Mbps upload I wouldn't use any cloud backups, especially if the completion time is in weeks.