Changed Router back to Asus-Merlin 384.4_2 as dd-wrt could not maintain solid performance against buffer bloat.
Asus-Merlin 384.4_2 Setup Adaptive QoS / Manual Setting / fq_codel / with upload and download set bellow the rated speed set by the ISP / Media Streaming
Before any changes where made on Fontier FIOS 25 MB connection received an "F" on the DSLREPORTS speed test. With Qos set to enable Port:WAN Packet Schedule:HTB Queueing Discipline the best I could do was "C" on the test even with workstations ECN set to on.
These sysctl settings can be stored in the main /etc/sysctl.conf file, or in a file in the /etc/sysctl.d directory [NOT WITH .DD-WRT v24-sp2 (03/05/15) std (SVN revision 26446) FIRMWARE]
HTB scheduler, FQ_Codel queue discipline, and 80-90% bandwidth limit is the recommended. ECN is fine to have enabled, but alone it doesn't do enough for an entire network's bufferbloat and isn't available in every device (playing a game and downloading a file at the same time/walking and chewing gum).
The dslreports test isnt the best indicator for buffer bloat. You must ping a website like google from command line then fully saturate your connection and observe how big the variation in latency is (jitter).
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 22:56 Post subject: CHANGED FIRMWARE and setup on my setup Asus RT-AC68U to figh
Reason for change was no buffer bloat issues on upload, however more testing was showing issues with the download with the DD-WRT firmware. Reason for the change to Asuswrt-Merlin is it an alternative, custom version of firmware made for the Asus product line.
Before any changes were made on Frontier FIOS 25 MB connection received "B’s" on the DSLREPORTS speed test with Windows 7 IE with ENC on in the workstation settings.
When Enable Smart QoS was turned “ON” [Adaptive QoS on the sidebar/QoS tab] and upload and download set to 25 MB multiple tests reported solid “A’s” which makes me feel much better about my decision to pay extra for the Asus RT-AC68U that supports open source software to replace my 5 year old router that has firmware that is no longer being updated.
TELNET to RT-AC68U to view the defaults used by Asuswrt-Merlin Stable (all): 378.53 Date: 26-Apr-2015
# cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_ecn
2
# cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_sack
1
# cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_dsack
1
As multiple tests reported solid “A’s” on the DSLREPORTS speed tests I did not make any changes.
Tests run at http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest HTML 5 again now show solid A’s
Hopes this helps someone new to this process setup an Asus router that will indeed help fight buffer bloat and the loss of packets.
When I first started to work on the Internet at a little mom, and pop ISP when it first opened up in the 1990’s there was and still is a site called Internet Traffic Report [ http://www.internettrafficreport.com ]. Back then it was showing anywhere from 4% to 6% packet loss in North America. As the years rolled on some days it was at or above 10%. If you looked at Asia it was even worse.
Now in 2015 I notice that it is at 0% packet loss worldwide. Looks like the big boys found a way to fight any connection speed, and buffer issues that where the cause of what was an ever increasing packet loss issue. My wish is that it would now make it all the way down to the end of the last mile. The issues with packet loss due to buffer bloat that are now at the end of the home and business connections I feel helps lead to the congestion issues we see during the high use periods at night.
None of those settings will affect download/upload speeds for flows passing THROUGH the router. They will only affect transfers going to or from the router itself (e.g., you log into the router and run a wget on it). They can have an impact when set on the hosts behind your router though. Any changes in speed that you saw when changing these /proc tunables on the router itself are purely coincidental.
