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I have a very simple linksys router at home with basic support for QoS. We have a problem when everyone is at home that web browsing becomes unusable. I've tracked it down to too many people downloading torrents.

Can someone give me some advice on the best way to ensure that web and email users have a minimum level of service? I want torrents to work, but they should be lowest priority. I understand that there are 3 key problems here:

1) QoS generally is used to set the minimum service (so I can't just 2) The problem with torrents often happens 'beyond my router', meaning that there is too much incoming data going to my isp. 3) Torrent clients can use random ports. This means that it may not be possible to give torrents lower priority in the QoS screen, but instead I'll have to give everything else higher priority.

I don't need a perfect solution, just something good enough to let people browse the web while others are downloading torrents. Also, I want to avoid having to go and change client settings in each bittorrent client if possible.

Thanks

Bill Zimmerman
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1 Answers1

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QoS probably won't work because of buffering on the modem for outgoing traffic and that QoS needs to be set up at the ISP end for incoming. This article describes the problem problem with large buffering on modems.

Your best bet? Can you get your bit torrent user to configure their torrent client to leave a some room incoming and outgoing for the rest of you. Or set up hard traffic limits for them, my answer to this question includes some rules for doing shaping and discussions related to it.

Community
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Sean Reifschneider
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