What are QoS Settings?

Rosslyn Elliott / Updated Sep 30, 2024 | Pub. Sep 27, 2024

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Quality of Service (QoS) settings are a powerful tool for optimizing your home network performance. If you’ve ever experienced choppy video calls or laggy online gaming while someone else in your household was streaming movies, QoS can help solve those frustrations.

Here are the basics you need to know about QoS settings and how to use them effectively.

What is Quality of Service (QoS)?

Quality of Service refers to technology that manages data traffic on a network to reduce issues like packet loss, latency, and jitter [1]. In simple terms, QoS settings allow you to prioritize certain types of internet traffic over others.

Without QoS, your internet connection is like a busy, free-for-all highway with all data competing for “lanes” of bandwidth. QoS acts like a smart traffic control system, giving some data types priority lanes while directing others to slower side streets.

Why QoS Settings Matter

QoS settings are crucial for several reasons:

Optimized Performance: QoS ensures that high-priority applications like video calls or online gaming get the bandwidth they need, even when other devices are using the network [2].
Improved User Experience: By reducing latency and jitter for important traffic, QoS leads to smoother video streaming, clearer VoIP calls, and more responsive online gaming.
Efficient Bandwidth Usage: Instead of upgrading to a more expensive internet plan, QoS helps you make the most of your existing bandwidth.
Fairness: QoS can prevent a single device or application from hogging all the available bandwidth, ensuring a more equitable distribution of network resources.
Business Critical Applications: For home offices or small businesses, QoS can prioritize mission-critical applications to ensure they always have the resources they need.

By implementing QoS, you’re essentially creating a smarter, more efficient network that adapts to your specific needs and usage patterns.

person adjusting QoS settings on router

How QoS Works

QoS operates by examining data packets as they flow through your network. It looks at information in the packet headers to determine:

What type of data it is (video streaming, gaming, web browsing, etc.)
Where it’s going (which device or application)
How time-sensitive the data is

Based on rules you set, the QoS system then prioritizes these packets. High-priority packets get sent first, while lower-priority data waits its turn [3].

Types of QoS

There are two main approaches to QoS:

Application-based QoS

This method prioritizes specific applications or services. For example, you might set your video conferencing software to have top priority during work hours.

Device-based QoS

With this approach, you assign priorities to specific devices on your network. Your work laptop might get priority over other household devices.

When to Use QoS Settings

Changing your QoS settings can help you prevent the bottlenecks where your data traffic “jams” on your network [4]. QoS becomes especially valuable in these scenarios:

You have multiple users sharing a network
You frequently use real-time applications like video calls or online gaming [5]
Your internet connection is relatively slow (under 100 Mbps for upload or download)
You run a home office and need reliable performance for work applications

Even on faster connections, QoS can help during peak usage times or when running bandwidth-intensive applications.

lights symbolizing data traffic on internet connection

QoS sets your priorities

How to Enable QoS on Your Router

Enabling QoS varies depending on your router model, but here are general steps [6].

Access Your Router’s Admin Page:

- Open a web browser and enter your router’s IP address (often 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1)
- Log in with your admin credentials

Find QoS Settings:

- Look for a section labeled “QoS," “Traffic Control," or something similar
- This is often under an “Advanced Settings" menu

Enable QoS:

- There’s usually a simple toggle or checkbox to turn on QoS

Set Your Internet Speeds:

- Many routers ask you to input your actual download and upload speeds
- Use a speed test site to get accurate numbers

Choose Your Priorities:

- Depending on your router, you may be able to prioritize specific applications, devices, or types of traffic
- Some routers have preset options like “Gaming" or “Video Streaming“

Save and Apply Settings:

- Make sure to save your changes before exiting

Test and Adjust:

- Monitor your network performance and tweak settings as needed

Remember, the exact steps and options will vary based on your specific router model. Consult your router’s manual or support website for detailed instructions.

Person attending a videocall on tablet for remote work

Never drop a video call

Best Practices for QoS Settings

To get the most out of QoS, keep these tips in mind:

Don’t over-prioritize: If everything is high priority, nothing is. Be selective.
Update regularly: Your usage patterns may change over time. Revisit your QoS settings periodically.
Test different configurations: What works best can vary based on your specific network and needs.
Don’t set bandwidth limits too low: This can unnecessarily throttle your connection.
Consider time-based rules: Your priorities may differ during work hours versus evenings and weekends.

Common QoS Myths Debunked

Let’s clear up some misconceptions about QoS:

Myth: QoS will speed up my internet connection. Reality: QoS optimizes your existing bandwidth but doesn’t increase it.
Myth: Setting up QoS is too complicated for average users. Reality: Many newer routers have user-friendly QoS interfaces.
Myth: QoS will fix all my network problems. Reality: While helpful, QoS can’t solve issues like a weak Wi-Fi signal or faulty hardware.

Limitations of QoS

While powerful, QoS isn’t a magic bullet. Be aware of these limitations:

QoS only works on your local network. It can’t prioritize traffic once it leaves your router.
Some encrypted traffic may be difficult for QoS to categorize accurately.
QoS settings can sometimes conflict with each other if not set up carefully. Most of today’s routers will make settings user-friendly for beginners, though.

The Future of QoS

As our homes become increasingly connected, QoS will play an even more crucial role. We’re likely to see more advanced, AI-driven QoS systems that can automatically adapt to changing network conditions and usage patterns.

As internet bandwidth increases, we also won’t see as much need for manually adjusting QoS. But in homes that don’t have fiber internet yet, QoS settings will remain important. You will want to customize which of your activities get top priority. For example, if you work from home, you don’t want your teenager’s online gaming to throw you off your videocall for work. So, check your QoS settings for best results!