GazGuzla

Quality of Service is a term used to describe the way bandwidth is prioritized and allocated from (Outbound) and to (Inbound) your network. Most, if not all Internet bandwidth fluctuates from load sharing and Infrastructure between you and the point to which you are connecting. When you enable QoS, your configuring the router to give guaranteed bandwidth to the device, application or service (on your network, behind the router) by priority regardless of the conditions on the Internet.

Unlike other Router Firmware with QoS, Tomato has two major advantages. The first is the ability to set the bandwidth Rate and Limit of a Class. The Second is a Graphical Interface which allows you to analyze, tune, and optimize QoS for VoIP devices, torrents, and other p2p apps that impact overall network performance.

The following section is a tutorial to be used as a basic starting point to configure and optimize Tomato QoS.

If your at this point, you likely have Tomato installed. If you don’t, need a Router that Supports Tomato, see the Pricing and Installation articles on this site

1) Determine ISP Uplink and Downlink Bandwidth.

At night, your home Internet connection slows down. At work, that network slows down. Other times your fast locally, but your passing through traffic areas of the Internet. Broadband Carriers like Comcast use a technology that passes bandwidth at a higher rate, commonly known as “Speedboost”, or “PowerBoost”. Go to:

• http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ if your in North America or
• http://www.speedtest.net globally, perform a test with the recommended server.
• Write the Average of 3-4 tests down. Run some tests to various places around the country. Notice the bandwidth fluctuation, depending who you test with. In these situations, the best time to determine your speed is at night, or on weekends.

Make sure QoS is disabled when performing initial tests!

2) Enable QoS and Configure Rate/Limits

• Configure initial settings like the example below, substituting Outbound and Inbound with your test results.

In this example:

• the the Inbound Class Limits are set to “None”. That basically means inbound filtering is turned off. Unless you have a reason to, let all classes get maximum Inbound bandwidth.
• The Outbound Class bandwidth “Rate”is set lower than the “Limit”. Very important to do this to cover fluctuating bandwidth. Basically your saying get all the bandwidth starting 10% slower.

3) Configure Classes

Set default Classes similar to example below:

In this example:

• Skype, and small DNS packets get the highest priority, followed by web surfing, followed by various applications.
• Depending on the device or application, Mac or port specific info is detailed.
• Larger packets of DNS, web surfing get dropped to a lower class if bandwidth is exceeded.
• All other traffic is pooled into the lowest class. Important for next step.

3) Optimize

This example shows the running graph page. Yours will have pie graphs to the right. For some reason, the screen capture tool I have can’t capture flash, which is how the pie graphs are displayed.

This is the best part of Tomato QoS. Now that you have defined the basic QoS and set Classes you can click on any of the Classes displayed on this Graph page to see the details, if you have things set right, if there’s anything “Unclassified”, etc. There is also a Details menu if you prefer going straight to it.

This will get you started. There is no “one size” solution, each setup is different. This example works great with Skype Dual Mode Phones. Answers every time, no delays. echos, or drops (that are related to my end )

For Supported Routers see GazGuzla Tomato Compatible Router List or the 4+MB Master Router List