Wireless devices not obeying "Always" congestion control

[Wallynova 4]

Hello I have a XR1000 running firmware 1.0.0.52_1.0.38.  I have upgrade to this version and did a factory settings reset of the device.

My maximum internet speeds have been set properly in the device at 460Mbps/24Mbps.

I have set congestion control to "Always" and have download set to 322mbps(70%) and upload set to 10.1mbps(42%).

When I run a speed test from a Wired LAN computer, the computer will obey the congestion control rule properly.  

However, when I run a speed test from a Wireless device, it will not obey the set Upload congestion control rule and will use all 24Mbps of the upload speed and cause buffer-bloat on the network.  I have tested this from an IPhone 8 and a Dell laptop.  Both devices support WMM QoS.  Both devices are connected to the 2.4Ghz band and are identified properly in the DUMA Device Manger (Phone and laptop)  

Wireless settings are set at default except for setting a SSID and password.

Thank you for your support.

[Wallynova 4]

Sorry I forgot to mention in previous post that Armor is set to disabled as well.

Thank you

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

Have you made any custom rules for the device such as in Traffic Prioritization? 

[Wallynova 4]

I have not. Duma OS game rule is enabled. 

Was wondering if anyone else can produce this issue in a lab environment or on their XR1000. 

Thanks

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

Disable QoS entirely from the Congestion Control 3 line option menu and see if the speed changes then. Also are you using IPv6, VLAN or PPPoE?

[Wallynova 4]

I do not have IPv6, VLAN, or PPPoE enabled. 

I disabled QoS entirely and ran speed tests from both Wired and Wireless devices.  Disabling QoS allowed both Wired and Wireless devices on the network to get full maximum internet speeds as expected.

After Enabling QoS back on, Wired devices obeyed the congestion rules set at 70%/42%, but Wireless devices did not.  

Can anyone verify that congestion control should work for wireless devices on the XR1000 and that this is an isolated incident?

Thank you for your support Fraser   

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

Okay great thank you, that indicates it should be a problem with the QoS settings.

Just before that, did you disable WMM in Advanced WiFi settings by any chance? If so you will need to re-enable that and it will work.

Put Congestion Control on Never, Reset Distribution for Bandwidth Allocation and make sure both Share Excess options are enabled and finally disable any Traffic Prioritization rules, then retest the speed please. If you get full speeds that's good, then just enable CC on Always and see if upload adheres to what you've limited it to.

[Wallynova 4]

Hey Fraser,

the XR1000 with firmware 1.0.0.52_1.0.38 does not have an option for enabling/disabling WMM in Wireless setup or Advanced Wireless settings.  I would hope and assume it is enabled in the code, but doesn't allow you to change it on the interface.   

The Netgear Nighthawk RAX43 however does allow you to enable/disable WMM in the QoS settings on firmware 1.0.2.72.

An interesting note, I have noticed that configuring both the Netgear RAX43 and XR1000 QoS congestion controls have the same issue.  The wireless devices throughout the office do not obey the congestion rules, but the wired devices do.  

I followed your other suggestions as well such as toggling CC never/always, resting distributions, verifying Share Excess enabled, and disabled all Traffic Prioritization rules, which currently is only the DUMA classified games rule.  I also played around with just about every setting I could see, such as disabling AX, toggling settings such as MU-MIMO, OFDMA, disabling 2.4Ghz/5Ghz and trying each band separately etc.  Doesn't seem to change any behaviors on obeying the congestion rules unfortunately. Almost like the integrated Wireless access point in the device gets to ignore the rules entirely.       

Thanks Fraser

Perhaps if we could get a dev to try and replicate this in a lab environment for us.  If he can't replicate I would love to know. 

Thanks 

 

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

Thanks for the info on what you've done/tried and the comparison with another AX router, I will get Alex to try it out when he is back next week and see if he can reproduce.

[Wallynova 4]

Hey Fraser

Has Alex had a chance to try and see if congestion control works for wireless devices? 

all of my wireless devices keep maxing out the connection and  ignoring the always on congestion control.  

 

Thanks

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

I've just chased him on this and will get back to you when I have more information.

[Wallynova 4]

We ever get a chance to figure this one out?

 

Thanks

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

15 hours ago, Wallynova said:

We ever get a chance to figure this one out?

Thanks

I don't know whether he's been able to check this yet but I've sent you a PM.

[Wallynova 4]

Hey Fraser,

I got your PM message.  I was able to download the new firmware from the link provided.  I unfortunately seem to have the same behavior on the new firmware version as I did the old.  Wired devices follow the "Always" congestion rules, but Wireless devices do not. 

Here is a list of the steps that I took for the process:

Downloaded the XR1000 1.0.0.53_1.0.53 firmware from the DropBox Link.
Installed the firmware to the XR1000 router.
Reset the router to factory default settings.
Followed the initial setup wizard for automatic configuration.
Set Wifi SSID and password.
Set the Speeds to correspond with my Cable internet speeds 460 down/24 up
Went to QoS and enabled "Always" congestion controls and set 70% down (322Mbps) and 42% Up (10.1Mbps)
Ran a speed test from my Wired computer.  got 322/10 on results. (followed rules as expected)
Ran a speed test from multiple Wireless devices on network.  iOS devices, android devices, Dell laptops.  Wifi devices would not follow rules and hit speeds of 400/24.  ignoring the "Always" congestion control rules.

If we could get someone to attempt to replicate this behavior on their XR1000 or in a lab environment that would be very helpful.  Thanks guys.

 

[Newfie 622]

Did you reset via the pin or software?

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

@Wallynova thank you for the feedback. You can try the hardware reset that Newfie will be suggesting if your answer is software. Meanwhile I'll get someone for the team to try and reproduce it.

[Wallynova 4]

Hey Guys,

The first reset method I used was the software function under settings.  Today I tried the reset function using the physical button on the router.  Both reset methods worked with no issues. 

After testing "Always" congestion feature for 1.0.0.53_1.0.53 firmware, I had the same results.  Wireless devices ignoring the setting.

 

Thanks

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

Thanks for letting us know, we'll continue investigating the issue.

[CRarsenxL 40]

On 2/17/2021 at 6:13 PM, Netduma Fraser said:

Thanks for letting us know, we'll continue investigating the issue.

Have you figured out a fix for this issue yet?

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

47 minutes ago, CRarsenxL said:

Have you figured out a fix for this issue yet?

It won't be that quick, it will take a bit of time to reproduce it, debug it, fix it and then get it into an update, test it and then release it. 

[CRarsenxL 40]

Guess I got bloat until then

[CRarsenxL 40]

Are there any previous versions of the xr1000 FW that do not have this issue?

[Newfie 622]

https://www.netgear.com/support/product/xr1000.aspx#download
 

theres 2 firmwares below the latest, you could try each one but you would need to reset after installing the firmware and there is security vulnerability If you do try them. 

[Netduma Fraser 11,812]

You've got decent speeds so it's unlikely any WiFi devices will cause you significant bloat but as above you can try any from there.

[CRarsenxL 40]

Yes I know but it prevents me figuring out which buffer settings are the best Bc every test I run will be inaccurate.