Bufferbloat / Gaming experience

[#1]

Hi guys/girls

Joined plusn't three weeks ago. Recently came back to parents to help them out, there getting old and need assistance. Anyways I'm a competitive gamer that's what I do. They were on BT so I scrapped that and came to plusnet. 

It's a VDSL connection. There has been few issues which has been resolved after a few engineer visits and me pointing them in right direction ( damp component up pole). 

Connection is solid now after running numerous network tests but one problem is the amount of buffer bloat present. I've ran various tests through various companies and it's all consistent results. 

So question is what is the options for mitigating this with plusnet. I know hh2 is nothing special, can't actually see any qos options either. So is there specific routers you guys are using with plusnet? 

Any of the additional plusnet addons worth adding?

For more information connection is wired ( new cat 7 cables ). Hardware used Series X, PS5, PC. 

Buffer during tests 1-2ms.

Average speeds 54 down 19 up. 

Noise Margin 7.2/6.2

Line Att - 8.9/13.7

Signal Att - 8.9/14.8

Error control - both off

Bootloader 0.1.7 2017

Thanks guys/girls

PS: Would like to add plusnet support staff have been absolutely splendid so far by far best team dealt with by a long way. 

[#2]

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@Darren8282 wrote:

is there specific routers you guys are using with plusnet? 

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I have a lightly used 76Mb down / 19Mb up FTTC connection and have had noticeable buffer bloat since July 2017 when Plusnet removed their previously fantastic network level IP profile QoS.

I've completely eliminated buffer bloat by using a pfSense router and applying QoS similar to what is shown in this video -

YouTube - Lawrence Systems : How To Solve pfsense Bufferbloat With A CodelQ / FQ_Codel Limiter 

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@Darren8282 wrote:

Any of the additional plusnet addons worth adding?

Well maybe but probably not.

For you on a recent Plusnet signup, using a router with decent QoS will probably solve your bufferbloat problem.

I have a legacy Plusnet account with a static IP block, and last time I did any serious latency testing a few years ago, I was able to get even better latency performance with the addition of the Plusnet  "Pro add-on",  but I doubt whether the monthly cost would be worth the minor benefit on a new connection.

[#3]

Hi and thanks for the response. I'll check that video out. Is there any specific routers you suggest. Anywhere up to £150.

What exactly does the pro add on do if I may ask.

[#4]

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@Darren8282 wrote:

 Is there any specific routers you suggest.

Unfortunately because I've been using pfSense for at least ten years now, I've not had the need to look at consumer or commercial grade routers, because pfSense will almost always exceed their capabilities for zero cost and with excellent support and updates, so I can't recommend anything other than what I've got.

I'm currently running pfSense on a small PC that I built from a Gigabyte GA-J3455-D3H motherboard with two gigabit ethernet ports.  It is easy enough to repurpose an old PC with a network card, or buy a bare-bones NUC or other mini-PC, and just install the pfSense software on it. Just search YouTube for "pfsense build".

You can buy pre-built pfSense routers from Netgate, but they are pretty expensive compared to building your own.

If you search "pfsense" on eBay, you will often find decent hardware for quite low cost.

If you do decide to build your own from an old PC or motherboard, make sure you get a 64 bit CPU (as pfSense is dropping 32 bit support),  and it is preferable to check that the CPU has the modern AES instructions available to hardware accelerate encryption and VPN.

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@Darren8282 wrote:

What exactly does the pro add on do if I may ask.

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Most of the useful technical info about that seems to have disappeared from the Plusnet website, however there is this -

https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/about-plusnet-pro-addon/ 

and

https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/about-traffic-prioritisation/ 

[#5]

Thanks again for great reply pal I'm going to look into this offence side of things I'm always up for a new project so ill happily have a go. And cheers I'll try read more into the pro add on. Again appreciate your help.

[#6]

At these speeds nearly any router that can run openwrt or dd-wrt, will do. Cake is a next generation SQM system, not ported to pfsense as yet: https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.07617