XR500 Setup Help - Issues / Concerns With Performance

[BiggShooter]

I recently purchased the XR500 AND S8000 (bundle from Costco for price of XR500).  I will try to be as specific as I can with my setup and the issues / concerns I'm experiencing.

 

My Setup: Cable (200Mbps / 12 Mbps) > Modem (Netgear CM1000) > Router (Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500) > Switch (Netgear Nighthawk S8000 Gaming & Streaming Switch) (HP Pro Curve Switch x2 - J9449-60001)

 

Connections to XR500:  S8000 (Ethernet Port 😎 to XR500 (Ethernet Port 1) / HP Pro Curve Switch to XR500 (Ethernet Port 2) / HP Pro Curve Switch to XR500 (Ethernet Port 3)

Connections to S8000:  Xbox One X to S8000 (Ethernet Port 1) / PS4 Pro to S8000 (Ethernet Port 2) / Apple TV 4K to S8000 (Ethernet Port 3)

 

XR500 Settings: UPnP On (checked) / NAT Filtering - Open

 

XR500 Settings: Geo-Filter - Devices (Xbox One X / Xbox One S / PS4 Pro) All Set to Filtering Mode

XR500 Settings: Geo-Filter - Options - Strict Mode (checked) / Auto Ping Host (checked)

XR500 Settings: Geo-Filter - Map (Distance Set to 1560 miles)

 

XR500 Settings: QoS - Anti-Bufferbloat  - Options - Goodput (checked) / Disable QoS (not checked)

XR500 Settings: QoS - Anti-Bufferbloat - Always / Upload (70%) / Download (70%)

XR500 Settings: QoS - Bandwidth Allocation (38 devices) - Upload / Download (Xbox One X - 50% / Microsoft Xbox One S - 25% / Remaining Devices - 1%)

XR500 Settings QoS - Traffic Prioritization - Dumas OS Classified Games Enabled (checked)

 

Latest Firmware Installed on XR500 (v2.3.2.22) and on S8000 (v1.7.0.6)

 

Issue / Concern 1: I've noticed, when playing Elder Scrolls Online, that sometimes I experience noticeable lag (never noticed lag with previous router - Asus RT-AC5300)

 

Issue / Concern 2: It seems that no matter what I do with Anti-Bufferbloat settings (On or Off) / QoS settings (On or Off) / Traffic Prioritization settings / Geo-Filter settings), my PING remains the same (between 20 and 24 using PingPlotter App).  I've ran several speedtests using DSL Reports and always have achieved an 'A' for Bufferbloat.

 

Issue / Concern 3: After reading another post regarding the XR500 and S8000, it seems QoS enabled on both the XR500 and S8000 might be a problem.  I really don't want to disable QoS on the XR500, but not sure whether the S8000 or the XR500 would do a better job.

 

Question:  Do I have my configuration (XR500 / S8000) set up correctly (see connections above for details)?  Should the Xbox One X / PS4 Pro be connected to the back of XR500 instead of S8000?

 

Note:  When I check the 'Port Status' on S8000, the Xbox One X (connected to Ethernet Port 1- Gaming) shows Linked Speed at 10M Full, the PS4 Pro (connected to Ethernet Port 2) shows Linked Speed at 100M Full, and the Apple TV 4K (connected to Ethernet Port 3) shows Linked Speed at 1000M Full.  I'm wondering why the Xbox One X has only a Linked Speed at 10M Full.  It seems that should be more (as well as PS4 Pro) since the Apple TV 4K has a Linked Speed at 1000M Full.

 

I'm hoping I can get some help trying to figure out what is going on, as I feel something isn't right with the router and my setup.  Please let me know if you need further information.  If I experience any other issues, I'll be sure to post them.

 

Thanks for taking time to reply with any troubleshooting suggestions.

 

 

 

[BIG__DOG]

Hi.

 

I have both as you do. You should have EVERYTHING going through the S8000, no other wired device should be connected to the XR500 at all. The S8000 has it's own QOS and port prioritisation which you are bypassing and not getting the full potential. Another problem is that you are not using another router as an AP for the wifi as that should also be connected to the S8000. This is the ideal setup.

 

If you remove the S8000 from the equasion the XR500 can handle it all without any issues and you should have no need for a managed switch. I have an AP and also another router running a seperate network for my kids which is why I have the S8000 on my network setup.

 

as for your speed issues with your switch I suggest you read the user manual as this explains the differing presets such as gaming: Here

 

Gaming preset for example give critical priority to port 8 upload and port 1 for gaming. The manual will explain the differing presets and the bandwidth allocation it provides. It will also show you how to manually set port speed limits to eliminate lag if other devices are using 4k streaming for example.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Netduma Admin]

Thanks for the great reply Big_Dog

 

BiggShooter - hopefully most of your questions are answered above. To answer one of your concerns:

 

It seems that no matter what I do with Anti-Bufferbloat settings (On or Off) / QoS settings (On or Off) / Traffic Prioritization settings / Geo-Filter settings), my PING remains the same (between 20 and 24 using PingPlotter App)

 

This makes sense that you are not seeing a change. The QoS settings are there to prevent congestion from making your ping spike far above its base level. Your base level appears to be around 20ms, a good connection, so toggling these settings when there's no congestion your network would have no affect. If you really want to test it out, you should disable QoS, flood your connection with a lot of traffic e.g. speedtests, torrents etc. You should see your ping go up. If you then apply all the QoS settings, it will return to normal.

 

As for the Geo-Filter - it is designed to get you a local, nearby server for a lower ping. So a PingPlotter test would not be able to measure this because it just pings the same server each time. For ESO, you don;t need to force a local server because it's an MMORPG. Just leave it in spectating mode so you can see the ping to the server when you are playing.