Hi everyone! I just got the 4G LTE Home Internet up and running a few days ago. I'm super happy with it compared to what I had before, but I'm running into an issue. Normally I have download speeds of 20-50mbps, and upload around 4-6mbps...however, when I am uploading a video and it's using all of the upload bandwidth, the gateway can take up to three seconds to establish a connection to whatever website I'm trying to browse during that time. Everything goes back to normal once the upload is complete.
I tested the ping rates to 8.8.8.8 before starting an upload and it stays at a pretty constant 60ms, but then I start an upload and it shoots up to a constant 600ms-2000ms. What's weird is that once it establishes a connection to whatever website I'm on the download speeds are still very fast, so it's not a signal problem, just a latency problem. It's as if the gateway can't handle browsing while uploading. I've tried restarting the router to no avail.
I'm curious if others have noticed this issue or there is an easy setting to fix this on the router? Thanks in advanced!
- Ray
This is normal, and called "Bufferbloat". The gateway is queueing your Internet traffic because your PC is trying to send it faster than the cellular network can/will transmit the data. As latency increases, your PC starts to back off on the transfer speeds, but as latency decreases, your PC will try to increase the rate at which data is sent. This is a fundamental of how TCP works as a protocol. If you're uploading video to services like YouTube, YouTube in particular uses a protocol called QUIC, which is TCP-like in nature but uses UDP packets instead.
Generally speaking to avoid this, you'll need to traffic shape (via QoS). Either in your router, or if possible, in the application performing the upload, to something less than your maximum upload speed. Because cellular networks are inconsistent it can be tough to shape for a set speed in a router. But if you generally get a certain speed up at all times of the day and are willing to shape upload to a speed lower than that, you'll reduce the latency. Some routers have the ability to traffic shape on a per-connection basis, so you can choke out the large video upload while allowing the rest of the upload to be used by other traffic.
ralejo, thanks for reaching out to us about this and I am glad to hear you are happy with the device. I want to make sure it is optimally performing for you. Has this issue been happening the whole time you have been using it? Does this happen no matter you upload?-Dia
@smith6612 - Thank you so much and this makes total sense. It's nice knowing that it's normal behavior for the gateway. My router allows me to traffic shape, but would prove difficult due to the fact that the cell network fluctuates so frequently. This is great to know though. Any chance that if/when Verizon brings 5g home internet to my area that it would be solved with the higher bandwidth of 5G, or will the gateway constantly max out the upload and cause the same bufferbloat?
I'm not familiar enough with the 5G Home service, and to be honest, have no intention to get it right now since FiOS is a block from me and I'm already on Gigabit DOCSIS. But the Buffer Bloat will happen to any home gateway. Chances are, the upload on the 5G Home service will be sufficiently high enough that, unless you're doing continuous amounts of uploading, the bloat isn't going to show up on rapid transfers like what you encounter on LTE.
I haven't seen any reviews specifically pointing out the Buffer Bloat on a 5G Home Gateway, and the DSLReports Speed Test is in shambles right now so, looking through that for data isn't exactly useful. So most I can assume right now is, it's fine for most people.
@ralejo I can confirm this is happening with the 5G In Home Internet as well. I am constantly having high latency throughout the day. Sometimes I can just simply reset the Verizon Modem and that solves it for a couple hours, then it will increase again. I have not tried the traffic shape solution but will give it a shot. From other online forums I am reading it seems the Verizon modems are just not "up-to-speed" [pun intended]. Can also confirm it is not on my PC end as I've ensured all network device drivers are updated and optimized settings to prevent latency issues.
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