HELP XR500 & AT&T Gigabit is sluggish at times.

[Weez999]

I have the XR500 and it's on the latest 2.x.x.x firmware and at times, it gets so sluggish both with wifi and wired. It got so bad at one time that I had to reset it to factory defaults. 

Problem: I use my computer for work and have several meetings consisting of audio/video and this device has hesitation at random times both using wired and wireless connection. All of the iPhones and sometimes the Apple TVs experience a delay in response when loading an app or streaming app. Occasionally the gaming PCs have the same issue.When this happens, I check my ISP speed and 99% of the time, it checks out as correct. Just overall, it's random and the XR500 is just overall sluggish. At times, DHCP doesn't even work until I reboot.

Games played:
PS4s are all pretty much exclusively Red Dead redemption 2 Online.
Gaming PCs are a mix of League of Legends, Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, Halo, Valorant, and several other online shooters from Steam and EPIC.

Here is my scenario and my config below: 

ISP: AT&T Fiber gigabit internet
Modem: Arris BGW210-700 (Internal WiFi is entirely disabled and DHCP as well)
Switches: *****Ground Floor is Nighthawk S8000  *****Upstairs is a Netgear GS108-400NAS 8 Port 10/100/1000 dummy switch ****Basement is another Netgear GS108-400NAS 8 Port (The Netgear GS108 switches are there because I was not happy with multiple S8000's on my network)

Environment is explained below but it goes as follows: modem->XR500->ground floor S8000 and also to basement Netgear GS108

Modem (only used to authenticate to AT&T and  is bridged to my XR500 but my wife's computer is not affected by reconfig/reboot of XR500 because it is directly connected to the modem with a static IP. All modem settings are disabled including DHCP)
WAN Port: Uplink to AT&T Fiber connection
Port 1: Uplink to XR500
Port 2: Wife's work computer
Port 3: S8000 Switch
Port 4: Open

XR500: (Actively providing DHCP, QOS is not configured, GeoFilter is not configured and there is no DMZ and very few port forwards to the PS4 Pro)
Port 1: Uplink from Modem and priority critical
Port 2: Uplink to Ground Floor S8000
Port 3: PS4 Pro on ground floor
WiFi Config: Guest network disabled. SSID is encrypted, Smart Connect enabled, WMM enabled, Beamforming enabled, EU-MIMO enabled

Ground Floor S8000 setup: All default settings and is configured as such: 
Port 1: Basement Netgear GS108 and priority is critical
Port 2: Open
Port 3: Apple TV on Ground Floor and priority medium
Port 4: DirecTV box and priority low
Port 5: Ground floor TV and priority los
Port 6: Philips Hue hub and priority low
Port 7: Open
Port 8: Upstairs GS108

Basement GS108 setup:
Since it's a dummy switch, the ports are scattered with the following 7 wired devices connected: Mac Pro, PS4, PS3, Gaming PC1, Gaming PC2, Wii Plus, Smart TV (one port not used)

Upstairs S8000:
Port 1: Gaming PC 3 and priority medium
Port 2: Nintendo Switch wired via its dock and priority medium
Port 3: Open
Port 4: Open
Port 5: Open
Port 6: My work PC and priority high
Port 7: PS4 Pro and priority critical
Port 8: Uplink from and priority critical

WiFi Devices:
There are a slew of devices such as 5 iPhones, 5 iPads, Apple TV Upstairs, Roku Stick, 4 wireless security cameras, 4 laptops, Ring Doorbell

 

Hopefully I've provided enough information on the situation but if not, please feel free to ask for more. I also downloaded the beta of DumaOS 3 wondering if it may help. 

[Netduma Fraser]

Hey, welcome to the forum!

Disable SIP ALG in WAN settings first of all as that should help with the video/audio issues. Regarding your setup, I'm not sure how you've bridged it and yet using other devices that are still connected to it. I can't imagine that is helping the situation. If you're going to do that I would suggest using the DMZ instead and taking it out of bridge mode, using the WAN IP of the XR (found in System Information). You said the BGW is connected to the XR port 1, do you mean port 1 or the WAN/internet port?

[Weez999]

SIP ALG is already disabled. The modem is bridged to allow the WAN to pass through to the XR500. When it’s bridged the network stays active but with no DHCP. It’s on a different IP scheme. The bridged modem acts as nothing more than an authenticated device to AT&T. The device doesn’t work or acquire the WAN IP because it’s bridged. 
 

I meant the AT&T device is connected to the WAN port of the XR500. 

[Netduma Fraser]

Thanks for clarifying. Disable QoS completely in the Congestion Control 3 line option menu and see if that helps with the issues please.

[Weez999]

10 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Thanks for clarifying. Disable QoS completely in the Congestion Control 3 line option menu and see if that helps with the issues please.

I've gone ahead and disabled the QoS and will monitor how it is working. I have noticed one other thing and that's with DHCP not issuing a lease occasionally. I have been forced at times to put in static IPs to my laptops etc. There's no rhyme or reason as to when it happens. Any thoughts on that?  

[Netduma Fraser]

11 hours ago, Weez999 said:

I've gone ahead and disabled the QoS and will monitor how it is working. I have noticed one other thing and that's with DHCP not issuing a lease occasionally. I have been forced at times to put in static IPs to my laptops etc. There's no rhyme or reason as to when it happens. Any thoughts on that?  

That is something I am working with NG currently on to try and get them to take a look at and fix any issues there.

[Weez999]

On 10/28/2020 at 9:36 AM, Netduma Fraser said:

That is something I am working with NG currently on to try and get them to take a look at and fix any issues there.

Thanks for the update. As of right now, after disabling QOS, it feels like it is running much smoother with it disabled but I'm gonna give it this weekend when the kids stream and play their games.