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Configuring QoS for FIOS Router MI-424WR: Traffic Priority and Shaping

Please only read on if you are an experienced internet user familiar with setting the advanced QoS and Firewall settings for the MI-424WR and make use of wireless adaptors from a PC to provide connectivity.

This is my first post and my first week since I moved from Time Warner Cable over to FIOS for iNet (plus HDTV and phone). While all my services work, the router as delivered and setup is not optimum for internet quality of service. Instead it was probably out of the box optimized for HDTV and telephone to satisfy most customers and reduce support overhead. The average FIOS consumer is multimedia sensitive, but that is not so in my genre of internet consumer. Here in lies the core of my reason for seeking help from like minded and experienced users in this community.

One of the main driving forces in my switching to FIOS was to improve my multiplayer gaming experience where ultra low ping latency and high upload data rates dramatically affect the quality of connection and thus gameplay. The cable internet service from TimeWarner was providing solid 2MB/1MB down/up data rates with no issues like what Im having now with FIOS. Again the reason for the switch was both financial and in hope of gaining better data rates and quality of service. Now with FIOS Im getting about 24/15 down/up data rate on the Extreme FIOS 25/25 plan when measured from my house to Los Angeles server (50 miles away) via Speedtest.net or DslReports.com/tests. Latency wise, the ping has gone down from 150 to 50ms when measured to my friends who I connect to online that are on the East coast. The data rate and latency has greatly improved in going from Cable to FIOS. So far, so good.

Where the problem shows up now, is that now I get an internet "hiccup" every 5-10 minutes that lasts about 1/2 to 2 seconds. For the average internet user that just streams multimedia or cruises on the net; this is probably undetectable or noticed. I never had this problem over the same PCs connected wirelessly to my DLINK DGL-4500 Gaming Router when my ISP was TimeWarner's cable service. Now, using the FIOS and MI-424WR router with everythings being the same; Im experiencing this degregation in quality of service. Even putting the PC's IP into the DMZ doesnt make any difference, so it is not related to port forwarding. The issue is squarely in the lap of FIOS and this router as delivered and configured. This is where the "game" is a foot, and where I need expertise in an area Im new to.

I am not new to being hands on with inet trouble shooting asI have been setting up my own home network (I work from home over VPN to work) for decades; I would like to leverage the skills of those who are experts in the area that I think can address this issue. That being QoS and the other device class mechanisms of this router. Its my guess that this periodic hiccup can be minimized and even eliminated using these advanced features of this all-in-one TV/iNet/Tele router.

With that context being laid down, this hiccup doesnt show up if:

a. I connect two PCs connected to the same ethernet hub of the MI-424WR (traffic just over the LAN and not WAN)

b. When I was on Cable with my own gaming router wirelessly DHCP connected to my PC and using port forwarding or using the DMZ.

The hiccup does exist when:

a. Going from internet through the MI-424WR to the wireless DHCP connected PC with port forwarding

b. Even putting the wireless DHCP connected PC into the MI-424WR's DMZ has no effect

I did read the manual and tried some QoS pritority and shaping and managed to reduce how often the hiccup occured, but I was just making guesses at the settings. I put in the IP for the PCs I use for my gaming applications (which are very ping and jitter sensitive) into the QoS priority (value 7) and shaping GUI. Im hoping someone with experience can tell me exactly how to use it and what settings to input. Im not clear on the device and connection types offered in the QoS menus.

Another thing, is I couldnt find settings for the turning on/off the ICMP echo. But I assume this is on because it can be pinged by folks on the net to my WAN IP.

Here is the manual for the Verizon provided M424WR router (Current Version of firmware: 20.10.7)

download link

Here are the QoS traffic priority and shaping values Ive been experimenting with:

Click to view QoS Traffic Priority

Click to view QoS Traffic Shaping

And why it matters to have a solid and stable inet connection for internet gaming? The hiccup causes slewing or jitter which equates to positional errors in the 3D world that ruins the smooth gameplay that is needed for high end gaming.

Heres a snapshot of me flying the wing of another flight simmer who is on the East coast and me on the West coast.

Click to view

Thank you in advance.

Thomas "AV8R"

MSEE

Comments

Anti-Phish1

@TMAS wrote:
the router as delivered and setup is not optimum for internet quality of service. Instead it was probably out of the box optimized for HDTV and telephone to satisfy most customers and reduce support overhead.
That's not accurate. VZ telephone service does not go through the Actiontec. Also, there are no default settings for QOS in the Actiontec since QOS is rarely needed with FIOS upload speeds.
@TMAS wrote:
I get an internet "hiccup" every 5-10 minutes that lasts about 1/2 to 2 seconds.

You should not be experiencing periodic "hiccups". Something is clearly amiss.

@TMAS wrote:

With that context being laid down, this hiccup doesnt show up if:
a. I connect two PCs connected to the same ethernet hub of the MI-424WR (traffic just over the LAN and not WAN)
The hiccup does exist when:
a. Going from internet through the MI-424WR to the wireless DHCP connected PC with port forwarding
b. Even putting the wireless DHCP connected PC into the MI-424WR's DMZ has no effect
Lets see. The issue shows up on a wireless connection, but not a wired connection. You think this is a QOS issue and not a wireless issue why? Have you tried changing the wireless channel? It very possible you have neighbors on the same channel. Is the DGL-4500 wireless still on? Could that be interfering?
@TMAS wrote:

Another thing, is I couldnt find settings for the turning on/off the ICMP echo.

The settting to enable/disable ICMP echo is on the Firewall/Remote Administration page.

@TMAS wrote:

Here are the QoS traffic priority and shaping values Ive been experimenting with:
Click to view QoS Traffic Priority
Click to view QoS Traffic Shaping
The traffic proirity settings you linked are applied only to your wireless connections. QOS between the router and your wireless PC will only serve to prioritize traffic between the router and that PC and have no affect on your internet traffic. Assuming you are not running browsers, VOIP and other traffic from that PC while you're gaming, then that will not accomplish anything. i.e. You're giving your only traffic highest priority, but that traffic is not competing with anything (except other nearby wireless connections on the same channel).

On the traffic shaping screenshot, you have broadband ethernet checked, but according to your other thread, your WAN connection is Broadband Coax, not Broadband ethernet.

TMAS2

Anti-Phish,

Youre spot on with the channel recommendation as it was what Verizon Customer Technical Support recommended. The default is set to channel 8, so he recommended I go to channel 6. I set it to ch 6 but havent had opportunity to test it yet. My DLink is on a different channel, ch 11. What my neighbors are using is anyone's guess, which is why I changed to ch 6.

Regarding the QoS, I chose to experiment with it because I noticed the default was set to a middle range value of 4. I set it to the highest value of 7 and tried a couple of shapes as you can see I tried both ETHERNET and ALL DEVICES. The default shape was what I have shown in the picture, which was the BROADBAND CONNECTION (ETHERNET) setting. When I used the ALL DEVICES setting, is where I saw some improvement, albiet I was guessing on the other settings like min and max bandwith and delay value.

Tangentially, the Customer Support guy was having trouble interrogating the router, he was getting an error on his end and wasnt sure why. If I cant get this issue ironed out soon, I may push for them to replace the router.

Do you have any idea of what I should be inputting for both the traffic priority and shaping interfaces?

Thanks for jumping in

Hubrisnxs

Ya I thought a lot of this was needlessly complex. QOS should be employed for certain types of packets such as video or voice over data nd to be honest the OPS problem sounds more like either a wireless problem or the actiontecs tiny nat table problem. OP. Can u identify what revision actiontec you have? Should be on service tag

Hubrisnxs

If you're very interested in pursuing the QOS parts of the router, then this link may help the GUI is a little older on that PDF but the general rules concepts still apply.

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