Gaming House Modem/Router

[Zeta333]

Australia internet and ISPs are damn right bad in general. Good luck demanding anything. But I am aware how bad it is.

So my main options are Wired Modem hooked up to Asus router
OR
Wired Modem/Router with wifi, then hooked up to switch

go wired modem then hook up to asus router, its what i do here in america and your best bet. Never take the isp modem router combo.

[Kagthul]

The Netgear Nighthawk routers are also very good.

I believe the X8 and new X10 have more ethernet ports than the standard 4. The X10 even has a 10 Gigabit port for attaching a super fast NAS enclosure if you want.

They have lots of QoS options and the like.

Like everyone suggested, though, i'd get your own wired modem (that is just a modem) if your ISP will let you use your own hardware (Comcast doesn't like to let us here in the US, but it is legal and they have to if you push them - i just bought a new Motorola modem on sale and now i dont have to pay their 15$ modem rental fee every month and its a better modem).

the ASUS router linked is fine, i was just offering the Nighthawk series as a good alternative.

[Blueobelisk]

(40Mb/s Down / 30Mb/s Upload)

Since everyone else is talking about routers and switches, I'll be the first one to comment on this.

If you guys are all streaming, that doesn't sound like enough. If you include phones/tablets/people over, and hardcore gaming and streaming, for five people I think you may want a more than 40/30. Have you considered paying for better internet speed? Like a 5 GHz network?

((Lol at a facebook page being your website. Sorry but even lame WoW guilds host their own websites. If money isn't an issue then you can setup a free one for less than $20.))

Just some advice, while we're on the subject.

[Lathais]

Since everyone else is talking about routers and switches, I'll be the first one to comment on this.

If you guys are all streaming, that doesn't sound like enough. If you include phones/tablets/people over, and hardcore gaming and streaming, for five people I think you may want a more than 40/30. Have you considered paying for better internet speed? Like a 5 GHz network?

((Lol at a facebook page being your website. Sorry but even lame WoW guilds host their own websites. If money isn't an issue then you can setup a free one for less than $20.))

Just some advice, while we're on the subject.

30 up should be fine for 5 people. It's really only the up that matters, down is mostly irrelevant for streaming. I know my stream was limited when I had 10/1 speeds, upgraded to 50/5 and everything was fine with some headroom. So if you figure each streamer needs 5 up, 5 people needs 25 up and there's still 5 up of headroom. Should be plenty.

[Blueobelisk]

30 up should be fine for 5 people. It's really only the up that matters, down is mostly irrelevant for streaming. I know my stream was limited when I had 10/1 speeds, upgraded to 50/5 and everything was fine with some headroom. So if you figure each streamer needs 5 up, 5 people needs 25 up and there's still 5 up of headroom. Should be plenty.

I don't think so. I googled around and there's no definitive answer. First of all, who knows if the 30 MBps will consistently be that high all the time.

Second of all, he wants to limit bandwidth per streamer. Isn't that going to give them a hit in performance just by doing that?

And if they're a team and stream at the same time, depending on the game, colors, FPS, and resolution, they need more than 6 MBps each.

Really though, there are so many phones/tablets/consoles/laptops in people's houses (especially one with 5+ people) that there needs to be a lot more wiggle room than what you said.

[Lathais]

I don't think so. I googled around and there's no definitive answer. First of all, who knows if the 30 MBps will consistently be that high all the time.

Second of all, he wants to limit bandwidth per streamer. Isn't that going to give them a hit in performance just by doing that?

And if they're a team and stream at the same time, depending on the game, colors, FPS, and resolution, they need more than 6 MBps each.

Really though, there are so many phones/tablets/consoles/laptops in people's houses (especially one with 5+ people) that there needs to be a lot more wiggle room than what you said.

First of all, if it is not 30 up all the time, then that is something that can be fixed. They are not getting what they are paying for and can take that up with the ISP. Typically, if someone says those are their speeds, those are the speeds they get all the time. I test mine at home all the time, and typically, though I am supposed to get 50/5, my tests are typically closer to 60/6.

Second of all, no not really. Sure, there will be some, but there is already more than enough wiggle room just in the 5 per person to handle that.

No, they don't really need more than 6 each. Like I said, my stream was fine with only 5 up, and that's with me streaming, my wife watching youtube videos and my daughter watching netflix all at the same time. There was still headroom for me in this situation.

As for wiggle room for the phones/tablets/consoles/laptops, well, do you really think they are heavily using those things WHILE they are streaming? Doubtful. They need to wi-fi so they can use those devices on wi-fi when they are not streaming, not during the stream.

[Blackmist]

If you're professional (i.e. it pays your bills), I'd get two connections. One for the streaming (especially if you're all streaming), and one for the gaming.

[Kagthul]

I don't think so. I googled around and there's no definitive answer. First of all, who knows if the 30 MBps will consistently be that high all the time.

Streaming 1080p/60 requires ~3.5-4.5Mbps up. Depends on the codec used. Unless they are Twitch partners, they cant get 1080p/60 anyway, so it wont even be that much. Why do i know this? I work part time for a buddy who supplies equipment to tournaments, conventions, and other live events. Just back in November, we had:

2 League Streams (streamed from the comentator's computer) at 1080p/60
4-6 Fighting Game streams with commentary and overlays (1080p/30 for games that support 1080p, 720p/30 for those that dont)
2 FPS streams (1080p/60) with overlays and commentary.

all running on 20 up, simultaneously. (You'd be surprised - or maybe not - at how awful the internet is at venues like hotels and convention centers). No lag, no drops, nothing. The FGC streams dont use nearly as much (particularly a lot of the older popular PS3/Xbox 360 games which only run native in 720p) but theyll be fine with 30 up for 5 guys.

Second of all, he wants to limit bandwidth per streamer. Isn't that going to give them a hit in performance just by doing that?

No, he wants to insure they are all getting a minimum amount of bandwidth so other sources on the network (like TVs, phones, tablets) cant eat up bandwidth. That's what QoS is for.

And if they're a team and stream at the same time, depending on the game, colors, FPS, and resolution, they need more than 6 MBps each.

I think you have an idea that online games take a lot of bandwidth. League, in particular, uses about 25K up. Yeah.. 25Kbps. Most games dont use much more. The streaming will be using 99% of the bandwidth, not the game. All the game cares about is latency and packet loss. Again, this is what QoS settings are for.

Really though, there are so many phones/tablets/consoles/laptops in people's houses (especially one with 5+ people) that there needs to be a lot more wiggle room than what you said.

Not if you set up multiple SSIDs (this is the easy way without having to use QoS and static IPs) and then limit the "Phone" SSID to a particular amount of bandwidth. Thats what i do in my place.

I can run 4 SSIDs off of my Nighthawk R7000 (the original); when guests are over, they have access to the SSID i have set up for that purpose. That SSID is not allowed to use more than 15% of the bandwidth. (Mind, i have 120 down/35 up, so its not like im strangling them).

But it prevents any guests from causing slowdowns on my streaming (since i now use Sling TV & Netflix for TV) or other activities.

If they got that ASUS or a newer Nighthawk (the X8 or X10) they could set up a wireless SSID for all the misc. crap and leave it with only 2-3 up (upstream bandwidth for TV shows/downstreaming/browsing is negligible) and 5-6 down and be perfectly fine.

Or they could get really hands on with static IPs and QoS settings.

[Knaar]

@Kagthul Wow, that is some amazing infos, very nice!

[Skyraz]

Since everyone else is talking about routers and switches, I'll be the first one to comment on this.

If you guys are all streaming, that doesn't sound like enough. If you include phones/tablets/people over, and hardcore gaming and streaming, for five people I think you may want a more than 40/30. Have you considered paying for better internet speed? Like a 5 GHz network?

((Lol at a facebook page being your website. Sorry but even lame WoW guilds host their own websites. If money isn't an issue then you can setup a free one for less than $20.))

Just some advice, while we're on the subject.

No need to jump to the conclusion that we don't have a Website just because I linked a facebook page lol. Our website is www.abyss.gg and depending on when you click the link, you will certainly see that we have a website. (currently going through server migrations).

40/30 is pretty much the best internet you can get in Australia. The NBN (our fiber) is only to the node and not to the premise, so the maximum speed is 100/40 but no amount of money is going to increase our speeds unless I pay for a dedicated fiber line to be connected connected from the Node to the House and even then, the nodes don't have the equipment to extend the line to the premise. We looked into all of our options.

I don't think so. I googled around and there's no definitive answer. First of all, who knows if the 30 MBps will consistently be that high all the time.

Second of all, he wants to limit bandwidth per streamer. Isn't that going to give them a hit in performance just by doing that?

And if they're a team and stream at the same time, depending on the game, colors, FPS, and resolution, they need more than 6 MBps each.

Really though, there are so many phones/tablets/consoles/laptops in people's houses (especially one with 5+ people) that there needs to be a lot more wiggle room than what you said.

It will be constantly that high. We have tested our connection at all times and under maximum load. The only time we were unable to reach that amount was when it was raining. On an average day we sit at 50/35 but due to the copper lines, we can drop to as low as 20 upload during storms.
It's very unlikely that all the players in the house will be streaming at the same time. I highly doubt this will ever happen tbh and it's something we can easily work around. At most there would be 3 players at any one time.

First of all, if it is not 30 up all the time, then that is something that can be fixed. They are not getting what they are paying for and can take that up with the ISP. Typically, if someone says those are their speeds, those are the speeds they get all the time. I test mine at home all the time, and typically, though I am supposed to get 50/5, my tests are typically closer to 60/6.

Second of all, no not really. Sure, there will be some, but there is already more than enough wiggle room just in the 5 per person to handle that.

No, they don't really need more than 6 each. Like I said, my stream was fine with only 5 up, and that's with me streaming, my wife watching youtube videos and my daughter watching netflix all at the same time. There was still headroom for me in this situation.

As for wiggle room for the phones/tablets/consoles/laptops, well, do you really think they are heavily using those things WHILE they are streaming? Doubtful. They need to wi-fi so they can use those devices on wi-fi when they are not streaming, not during the stream.

I am glad you can see what is going on. Our highest speeds were around 55/35. The number I quoted was our 'worst day' amounts (although it will still drop during a storm)

Streaming 1080p/60 requires ~3.5-4.5Mbps up. Depends on the codec used. Unless they are Twitch partners, they cant get 1080p/60 anyway, so it wont even be that much. Why do i know this? I work part time for a buddy who supplies equipment to tournaments, conventions, and other live events. Just back in November, we had:

2 League Streams (streamed from the comentator's computer) at 1080p/60
4-6 Fighting Game streams with commentary and overlays (1080p/30 for games that support 1080p, 720p/30 for those that dont)
2 FPS streams (1080p/60) with overlays and commentary.

all running on 20 up, simultaneously. (You'd be surprised - or maybe not - at how awful the internet is at venues like hotels and convention centers). No lag, no drops, nothing. The FGC streams dont use nearly as much (particularly a lot of the older popular PS3/Xbox 360 games which only run native in 720p) but theyll be fine with 30 up for 5 guys.



No, he wants to insure they are all getting a minimum amount of bandwidth so other sources on the network (like TVs, phones, tablets) cant eat up bandwidth. That's what QoS is for.



I think you have an idea that online games take a lot of bandwidth. League, in particular, uses about 25K up. Yeah.. 25Kbps. Most games dont use much more. The streaming will be using 99% of the bandwidth, not the game. All the game cares about is latency and packet loss. Again, this is what QoS settings are for.



Not if you set up multiple SSIDs (this is the easy way without having to use QoS and static IPs) and then limit the "Phone" SSID to a particular amount of bandwidth. Thats what i do in my place.

I can run 4 SSIDs off of my Nighthawk R7000 (the original); when guests are over, they have access to the SSID i have set up for that purpose. That SSID is not allowed to use more than 15% of the bandwidth. (Mind, i have 120 down/35 up, so its not like im strangling them).

But it prevents any guests from causing slowdowns on my streaming (since i now use Sling TV & Netflix for TV) or other activities.

If they got that ASUS or a newer Nighthawk (the X8 or X10) they could set up a wireless SSID for all the misc. crap and leave it with only 2-3 up (upstream bandwidth for TV shows/downstreaming/browsing is negligible) and 5-6 down and be perfectly fine.

Or they could get really hands on with static IPs and QoS settings.

You are spot on!

For reference, all our players are partnered with Twitch, so we will be trying to stream at 1080p/60 but there will very rarely be a time in which all 5 players are streaming at one. I highly doubt more than 3 will stream at once.

[AlbertRalph95]

It's 2017 and a lot have been changed about wifi routers. Don't know about modems but I have a router in my mind right now. It's asus AC-88U. It's expensive and can cost you more than $250. But It'll fullfil all of your needs. It can cover more than 4500 Sq. Ft area, has 8 ethernet ports and good QoS abilities. From what I have learned, you can even install a 3rd arty open-source firmware such as DD-WRT frimware on it. Labeled by many as the best wifi router for 2017, it can certainly solve your gaming woes.

[Cilraaz]

Do not bump 5 month old threads. Locked.