QoS — your personal «traffic controller» in your home network

What is QoS and how does it work?

Quality of Service (QoS) is a mechanism that allows you to tell the network: «This traffic is more important — it should be given priority; the other traffic can wait».

QoS is often discussed in corporate networks, but it is also very useful for home use, especially if you have multiple devices and limited Internet speed.

Imagine a road with several lanes. One lane is reserved for «fast cars» (e.g., ambulances) — they move without delay. The other lanes are for regular cars and trucks. When many cars are driving at the same time, the road's autopilot (QoS) redistributes the traffic flow so that fast cars don't stop, even if the overall traffic flow is congested.

In the network, «fast machines» are, for example, voice calls, video conferences, and games. «Normal» machines are file downloads, updates, and background traffic. QoS makes it possible to prevent them from «stopping».

Basic QoS parameters

To understand how to configure QoS in a router, it is important to know a few basic concepts. Typically, the following concepts are used in networks, both at the provider level and in home equipment:

● Priority

Determines which traffic is processed first. For example:

• - High traffic priority — for video calls and online games.
• - Low traffic priority — for file downloads.

Data prioritisation allows important tasks to continue without «freezing» when the network is overloaded.

● Bandwidth

This is the amount of Internet resources allocated to a specific type of traffic or device. It can be:

• - Maximum — the maximum amount of data that this traffic can use.
• - Minimum (reserved) — the amount of data that is guaranteed to be available at all times.

Bandwidth is needed, for example, to ensure that videos don’t stop playing even when all users are downloading something from the network.

● Traffic Classes

A conditional «group» to which certain traffic belongs — voice, video, browsing, updates, etc. It allows QoS rules to be applied not to each packet separately, but to entire types of traffic.

● Queueing Policy

This is a method whereby data packets are «queued» for processing when the channel is congested. The most common options are:

• - FIFO (first in, first out).
• - WFQ (weighted fair queuing) — depending on priority.
• - Strict Priority Queue traffic with the highest priority is always processed first.

You set the rules yourself, for example: «all Zoom traffic is priority», «downloading updates is low priority».

● Latency

This is the time it takes for a data packet to travel from the sender to the recipient. It is usually measured in milliseconds (ms).

For example, when you press «Send» in a messenger, latency determines how many milliseconds it will take for the message to appear to the recipient.

• - Low latency is important for: online games, video calls, voice communication (VoIP), remote control.
• - Normal values: up to 50 ms is excellent, up to 100 ms is acceptable. More than 150–200 ms is already noticeable as «lag».

QoS allows you to reduce latency for important types of traffic by putting them in a «fast queue».

● Jitter

This is the difference in delivery time between individual packets that are transmitted one after another. Imagine: packets should go like beads on a string — one after another at equal intervals. If the interval «jumps», you start to hear fragments of voice or see jerks in the video.

• - Voice or video «jerks» and becomes distorted.
• - In video conferences or VoIP, there is a delay and words are missed.
• - In gameplay, it can manifest as unstable ping.

A jitter value of up to 30 ms is good. Above 50 ms can already cause problems. QoS helps reduce jitter by ensuring a steady flow of high-priority traffic.

● Packet Loss

This is the percentage of packets that didn’t reach their destination. In networks, packets can be lost due to congestion, malfunction, or connection instability.

• - In video calls — sound disappears, phrases are cut off, the image freezes.
• - In games — «teleportation», disconnections from the server, lag.
• - In streaming video — freezing or reduced image quality.

Ideally, the packet loss value should be 0%. Up to 1% is acceptable. Above 2% may already cause problems.

QoS doesn’t directly «cure» losses, but it reduces them and their consequences by unloading the network and prioritising important traffic.

How to effectively balance Internet channels between devices

Implementing QoS at home or in a small office is not too difficult if you take a systematic approach. Here is a step-by-step guide:

Examples of QoS application in real-life situations

QoS is not just a technical term, but a real tool that helps solve everyday Internet problems. Let's look at a few typical situations where properly configured QoS can significantly improve connection quality:

• Video calls freeze during file downloads. With QoS, you can ensure that even when someone on your network is actively downloading large files, video and voice are given priority and will not freeze.
• IPTV and 4K video viewing. When someone is watching 4K video, others should not be able to consume the entire channel — QoS makes it possible to limit their speed in the background.
• Online gaming while using other services. Even if other devices are running, gaming traffic will be prioritised to reduce ping and lag.

How Maxnet applies or can use QoS

As an internet provider, Maxnet has access to an extensive network infrastructure and can implement QoS even at the network node level. This allows us to:

1. Guarantee stability and minimal delays for important subscriber traffic (voice, IPTV, video conferencing).
2. Make optimal use of the available channel — without one subscriber ‘eating up’ the resource when others are also using the network.
3. Offer subscribers services with guaranteed connection quality, especially during peak hours.

On the user side, QoS can be applied to your equipment (router, switch) using priority class settings — and this will perfectly complement the tools provided by the provider.

Tips for subscribers on QoS configuration

To ensure that the QoS function works to your advantage, it is important to configure it correctly. Here are a few simple tips to help you optimise Internet traffic distribution in your home network:

• Make sure that your user equipment (router, firmware) supports the QoS function:

Manufacturer	Where to find QoS	Features
TP-Link	Advanced → QoS or Bandwidth Control	Simple interface, you can set the speed for IP
ASUS	Adaptive QoS → QoS	There is a setting for traffic types: Gaming, VoIP, Streaming
Keenetic	Internet → Rules → Speed limit	You can set a priority for each device
MikroTik	Via WinBox or WebFig → Queues	Very flexible, but complex — more for experienced users
D-Link	QoS Engine → Rules	Selected by MAC/IP or service

• Start with the basic settings: create three classes — high, medium, and low — and assign rules (for example: high for voice and IPTV; medium for browsers; low for updates).
• Don’t allocate too much priority reserve — so that the rest of the traffic doesn’t remain «starved».
• After configuration, test whether video, voice, and games work stably even at peak load.
• If you encounter any difficulties, contact Maxnet support: here you can get advice and assistance on the optimal settings, taking into account the specifics of your provider's network.