Can i use the edge router x with the BT smart hub 2 to improve bufferbloat (Grade F)?

[howangleung123]

I am a BT Fibre 1 customer This is my setup
Current set Up:

1.My bufferbloat grade is 'F' in https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat although the connection is wired

2. The solution seems to be a router with SQM , so I am planning to buy a UBIQUITI ER-X Networks EdgeRouter X 5 Ports

3. I would like to confirm, do I set it up like below if I want to tackle the buffer bloat? I cannot connect the edge router and the master socket directly as the master socketing is rj11 and the edge router is expecting rj45

I would like this problem to be resolved beause when I play league of legends.
My ping frequently jumps back and forth, it starts with 20, then suddenly jumps to 40/80/400 etc....

[WSH]

It will work but it’s a bit like putting different tyres on a car and expecting the performance to improve.  It still has to come through the SH2.

[howangleung123]

What if I replace the smart hub 2 with this TP-Link 300 Mbps Wireless N USB VDSL/ADSL Modem Router,
and connect the ER-X router to the TP-LINK modem, does it help with the bufferbloat? Thanks

If yes, should I use the VDSL version or the ADSL version of the TP-Link modem?

[pippincp]

VDSL version.

[WSH]

The “wireless n” suggests the TP-Link is an older model so I would expect that to be even slower, if anything.  Which you use clearly depends on whether you are on VDSL or ADSL.

The first thing you really need to do is establish where this bufferbloat is occurring.  Any connection is only as fast as its slowest point.  So, what is the slowest point?  I assumed you’d identified it as the SH2.  Are you sure the problem is not at the PC end?  That would be the first place I’d look.

By the way, while that arrangement will work, the IP addressing scheme is not going to be plug and play.  I take it you know that?  Configuring that arrangement is a bit much for a “beginner”, if that is an accurate description.  (The questions you just asked seem to suggest it is - no offence meant).  If you search the site for a post entitled “3rd party router with Bt hub for digital voice“ it will explain more.

[howangleung123]

I did the followings with trials and errors, could someone tell me if I am doing this correctly? ( I can access the internet)
1. For TP-LINK, I connected with pppoe.
2. Turned of DCHP of BT Smart hub, I also changed the default IP address of BT smart hub
3. Now I can connect to TP-LINK with ethernet cable while my  friends can connect to WIFI of the SH2. I guess now the TP-LINK serves as a modem? although it is NOT in bridge mode (tried,didn't  work)

The next step:
The setup above resolves most of my bufferbloat issue, the grade is now 'A' instead of 'F' .
But when I play league of legends, I still have jitters of 1-2 ms . E.g. my ping is usually 22, then sometimes it jumps back and forth between 22-24. So I think my next step is to put the EdgeRouterX between the TP-LINK and my PC
Will the edge router X 's SQM help in this case?

[Crimliar]

My experience with such setups is that every extra routing device you add to a network will include its own buffers, making any reported buffer bloat worse.  On xDSL a simple modem+router with QoS is the best way to alleviate buffer bloat - remembering that BB is only really an issue for gaming!

[howangleung123]

But it does seem to work for me.
I added the edge router x as I mentioned above and turned on the SQM function.
My bufferbloat score is now 'A+' instead of just 'A'.
I can only blame this to the smart hub 2
I am upset because I need to spend £80 for these extra equipments just for the ping to be stable

[WSH]

The SH2 will not be able to access Digital Voice in that configuration.  I rather assumed at the start the SH2 was there for the phone connection.  If you don’t need Digital Voice why not just remove the SH2 altogether?

[howangleung123]

I don't need digital voice.

2 days ago I did try to remove SH2,

and er-x was also not there,

so it was just 1 tp link router connected through pppoe.

1. The speed significantly droped. On ethernet I got ~15 mb. On Wifi I got aroind 3 to 4 mb. Bufferbloat grade was A

2.  Then I removed TP link and put SH2 back in, speed returned to normal.

With the set up in my last post, I get good speed on both wifi and ethernet. Now TP link is for ethernet connection and SH2 is for wifi.