Best Router for fixing buffer bloat with uploads killing download speed

[#1]

So having done a lot of reading of information I never wanted to know, I now have some idea that my woes are caused by bufferbloat from the supplied F@ST(? Really) 2704N router modem.

Essentially, every time there is any 'major' upload activity (or none - as this is ADSL - perhaps I should say constant) the download drops from circa 11-13MBps down to <1.

Most computers are hardwired (some via a switch) to the router and I have several apple airports (1 x extreme and 2 x express) to handle wireless around the house, the extreme is hardwired to the router and the expresses hardwired to the extreme (in the correct mode - it's worked for 5 years so I haven't fixed it).

My wife and I both work from home mainly VOIP (Skype for business & Wifi Calling), remote desktop to customers and the like. Not huge bandwidth requirements - though being a photographer she does upload a chunk every now and again - and its then that I just can't deal with losing calls to customers etc.

So, I'm coming to the conclusion I need a router which can offer QoS and throttle uploads that way, thereby ensuring our download doesn't get killed. Been looking at some of the netgears with some of their Dynamic QoS, but I wonder if these are all optimised for the 21st century (i.e FTTC rather than ADSL2) and therefore won't really solve anything. As I'm at the mercies of (dis)connecting Devon and Somerset, I don't expect to join the 21st century for the next 12-18 months (when hopefully truespeed with fttP will arrive).

I do have a home hub 3 (and business hub 3) from my days with BT if anyone thinks they might help, otherwise does anyone have a great (or even mediocre) recommendation for a router to replace the standard one.

[#2]

Welcome to the forum.

A HH3 is worth a try as it will cost you nothing for the attempt. Setting instructions are here https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Use-a-BT-Hub-2-3-4-or-5-on-a-Plusnet-connection/m-p/1192234#...

Far better, you can get a Smarthub 6 on Ebay for very little money. These work on both ADSL and fibre. Setting instructions are here https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-the-BT-Smarthub-6-on-a-Plusnet-Account/m-p/1587673#M85.... If you go for this option you need the FTTC version, which has four yellow LAN sockets, not the FTTP model wich has a red WAN sticker fixed to one of the LAN sockets.

By the way don't shout too loudly about needing your connection for work unless you have a business account, it's against Plusnet's T&Cs

[#3]

Also worth considering the TpLink TD-W9970  which can be picked up on the bay of e for not a lot or new from around £35-40 at the time of posting.

Very capable and reliable router  with  basic user configurable QoS - and supports both ADSL & VDSL.

https://kitz.co.uk/routers/tplink_TD-W9970_review.htm

The BT hubs  mentioned in previous posts , while being a great improvement on Plusnets standard offerrings , do not have user configurable QoS to the best of my knowedge.

Interesting thread from here

https://community.bt.com/t5/BT-Fibre-broadband/Issues-with-bufferbloat-on-HH6-latency-spikes-when-do...

QoS is the only way to fundamentally resolve bufferbloat situations.  QoS implementations vary wildly.  HomeHub implementations have a tradition of being hidden or non-existent.  Whether they exist or not doesn't tell you anything about the quality of implementation.  The fact is they are not front  and centre in getting your setup bloat-free and that is a vendor/industry choice that happily tips the consumer towards costly upgrades.

In many ways, a 17Mbps ADSL2 line with proper QoS is better than a FTTC Infinity connection with no QoS... (although having more bandwidth can reduce the number of times the network load triggers a buffering situation, the situation is still severe when it does occur).

There are two areas where buffering can typically be an issue:

1.  Internet uplink

2. Wifi

You can have really debilitating buffering happening in your wifi, especially if you have any form of extenders.  Even fashionable mesh products suffer from this when they have wireless backhaul.

If you are testing on a wired connection, direct to your router you can eliminate Wifi buffering from your testing.  If that testing (http://dslreports.com/speedtest) indicates bufferbloat (without QoS, it will), then you've got to work out what QoS can be applied.

Hint.  The HH6 does not do QoS in any sensible form.  Seek alternatives.