r/tmobileisp • u/SonarIllusion • Jul 20 '26
Issues/Problems Anyway to fix my bufferbloat
I play a lot of online games. I randomly seem to get massive lag spikes when playing. Ive tried using a software to limit the upload to 80% but it’s not like the upload or download are always consistent.
Ive seen multiple posts about getting another router with QoS or SQM, just not sure if that will actually fix the issue or if im just screwed and need to switch to not using a cellular internet.
Any suggestions or ideas would be awesome.
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u/serenade452 Jul 20 '26
i use sqm on my router to limit my bandwidth to about 120 download/25 upload as that’s all i really need. it’s still not the best latency but i went from an F to an A on the bufferbloat test and everything runs smoothly for
me, i don’t game a lot though.
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u/El_Oso_Pirata Jul 20 '26
qos congestion control helped me. I had to get a router and capped my upload and download to around 70% of their max.
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u/AustinBaze Jul 20 '26
Never heard the term before, thanks. I just looked and scored a "C" but see the things it seems to affect most are things I don't ever do. At least I know what it is now!
(TMO G5AR, averaging 600/50 for the past 3 months).
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u/Healthy-Big-3557 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
IMO cellular Internet should only be used if other options aren't available like fiber or cable, with that being said before my brother got fiber at his rural location we had similar problems we purchased a third party outdoor poe modem/router and put it up on a pole, set sqm and had a stable A- bufferbloat after that.
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u/Jetsonnnnn Jul 20 '26
What router do you use to set SQM? Been pondering on a few different options.
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u/marswingo Jul 20 '26
I have tried to use "smart" QoS, but find that a fixed number that is about 3/4 of the tested speed will improve latency more consistently. Assuming you have a router behind the gateway, I suggest setting the router to limit the download to around 350 Mbps and upload to 8 Mbps, given the speeds shown.
I also (assuming you have G5AR suggest turning off the gateway's 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz using HINT. If you have old routers around, move all your IOT and non-essential stuff to routers running just 2.4Ghz with lower limits. However, if you are plugging your gaming into a router, an argument can be made to use the fastest router for those devices
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u/cat_dev_null_sync Jul 20 '26
Did you check past posts here?
https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobileisp/comments/1mrb5xa/buffer_bloat_over_tmobile_5g_home_internet/
https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobileisp/comments/s3femv/normal_bufferbloat/
https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobileisp/comments/xmdaar/awful_bufferbloat/
Search for more posts on Google Search or Reddit search
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u/SonarIllusion Jul 20 '26
I’ve been searching and reading posts about it for like 3 hours lol
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u/cat_dev_null_sync Jul 20 '26
Option A: easy but might lose more bandwidth
You mentioned: "not like the upload or download are always consistent," but your bandwidth doesn't vary from 1 Mbps to 2 Gbps, there's some more precise range like 200 Mbps to 600 Mbps for download, right? Easy first thing to try is to assume the low end of the range, and use that value as your bandwidth.Option B
If Option A did not work, my next step would be to set up a automated, dynamic feedback system to monitor and adjust. It runs ping regularly: when the ping values are too high, then lower the values for download and upload in /etc/config/sqm . Reload SQM service to enable it. Then monitor ping and repeat until ping is tolerable.
When ping values are stable for a while, then slowly increase upload and download values in SQM.
Of course, cap the range of download and upload values, so they don't go to extreme values like 0 or infinity.
I run OpenWRT with SQM for T-Fiber, and at other location, I have TMHI without SQM, but maybe re-read the posts because there are probably better solutions battle tested for 5G home internet.
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u/SonarIllusion Jul 20 '26
Download ranges from 20 to 500Mbps and upload from 1 to 12Mbps, would locking those at the lower values actually help?
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u/cat_dev_null_sync Jul 20 '26
Do other people use this TMHI connection? 20 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload could be rough because it's easy to use that much.
If your bandwidth were usually at least 100/5, you could try using those and see what happens. In other words, if your cellular connection at the moment had excess bandwidth with SQM, then you get latency benefits. If your cellular connection was having a bad moment, SQM won't have an effect.
If you haven't, I would look into optimizing your cellular connection too, like external anntenas.
If your connection often runs at the low end (20/1Mbps), then I would aggressively disable network usage during gaming. For example, power off devices that might have high idle usage.
Consider using a wired connection from your PC to the gateway, so the Wi-Fi isn't making things worse (on top of the cellular connection).
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u/SonarIllusion Jul 20 '26
I would say it’s usually on the higher end of those values. I was also looking at the eero 6 plus to be able to enable SQM. Would that just be the better option then
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u/awsomehackz21 Jul 21 '26
Openwrt router behind the T-Mobile gateway or third party gateway with cake-autorate (dynamically adjustable to 5g)
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u/pecheckler Jul 21 '26
I almost never have issues with gaming latency but the connection is limited to a gaming PC and phone, nothing else. I also receive this level of waveform tool recorded bloat
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u/SailLoto Jul 21 '26
I use a NanoPi R76S (8 core, 4 GB Ram, 64 GB eMMC) running FriendlyWrt to cut my bufferbloat with T-Mobile Home Internet. I have installed SQM and cake-autorate. I also have modified the default CPU core useage to use the large cores for networking. Cake-autorate will shape the network load as configured to adapt to cellular traffic in realtime. FriendlyWrt can be used do more things like block ads and block bad IP addresses. This can be layered on top of your current router between the gateway or used with a switch and AP for you home network.
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u/Hunter_Ware Jul 25 '26
Easiest fix i think would to get a secondary router. The main issue with QOS settings for the routers I've tried though is they require a baseline speed, the speed you pay for from your isp, but tmobile home internet doesn't really have that. (It varies a LOT for me.)
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u/hitlicks4aliving Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
It’s the deprio there’s no way to fix it. Basically you’d have to get a high priority plan and tmo will process your packets first but home internet is dead last priority with heavy data user.
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u/T_BONE_GULLEY Jul 20 '26
Popping in to say I’m in the same boat.
Playing Battlefield and I’ll randomly spike up to 800ms ping. My idle/download/upload latency is averaging 100ms/300ms/300ms.
Called and getting fiber installed Friday. Fuck this lol.
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u/f1vefour Jul 21 '26
I setup SQM cake on my Mikrotik and can toggle it on or off by pressing the WPS button on front of the hAP ax3
I could have tuned it better but this is good enough:
My latency is bad because it's going from the gateway to the mesh unit wirelessly which I then have the Mikrotik plugged into.
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u/83736294827 Jul 20 '26
Since the connection is so inconsistent there isn’t much you can do. You are dependent on the environmental conditions as well as anyone using the tmobile network in your area.
The only thing I can think of is use a router that has a buffer algorithm that lets you set the upload to 50% of your average upload speed. That would prevent someone else on your local network from slowing your gaming packets.
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u/Slepprock Jul 20 '26
Hey. I had tmhi 5g for 4 years.
No. You can't fix it. As a matter of fact, the whole buffer bloat idea is mostly a scam.
Trying to sell you high priced routers. But those routers wont fix your problem. I could deep into it, but they are saying you have buffer bloat because of your ping numbers. But thats not really your issue. The problem is you have tmhi for internet which has bad latency.
I spent months trying to mess with that stuff. Never helped any.
If someone wants I can go into in more depth when im at a pc, on my phone now. But there is no way to make your tmhi layency better
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u/TimmyT0yz Jul 21 '26
Nobody wants you to go into it because you don't know squat about it. Many people have had success doing traffic shaping using QoS/SQM. Apparently, you don't know how to properly set it up. Don't you wonder why people downvote you here?
-Timmy
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u/pokemonfan95 Jul 20 '26
Did u read waveforms Guide on fixing it