Configuring QoS

Quality of service (QoS) tools allow management of data traffic to reduce packet loss, latency and jitter on a network. This improves the user experience and ensures that important traffic gets the necessary bandwidth while less critical or non-essential traffic is limited.

The Airlink OS router controls and manages network resources by setting priorities for specific data on the network. The QoS tools available in AirLink OS are traffic classifiers, bandwidth policies, interface service policies and thermal mitigation policies.

To configure QoS settings, go to Networking > Quality of Service (QoS)

To create a complete QoS policy, you must

1. Create one or more Traffic Classifiers.
2. Create one or more Bandwidth Policies.
3. Optionally create one or more Interface Service Policies that include your configured Bandwith Policies.

Traffic Classifiers

Traffic classifiers allow you to analyze and identify the types of traffic to which you want to apply QoS.

To create a Traffic Classifier, click CREATE CLASSIFIER.

SETTING	DESCRIPTION	DEFAULT SETTING	RANGE
CLASSIFIER NAME	Name of the Classifier	n/a	n/a
DESCRIPTION	Description of the traffic classifier for your own use. Appears in the Traffic Classifiers table.	n/a	n/a
PRIORITY	Priority of the Classifier. If there is more than one classifier attached to the same interface, the classifier with the lowest value will be processed first compared to the higher values.	0	0 is the highest priority
IP VERSION	IPv4 or IPv6 traffic type	IPv4	IPv4 IPv6
SOURCE IP	The source IP address of the traffic	Any/All Source IPs (if empty)	Any/IP Address with network prefix
DESTINATION IP	The destination IP address of the traffic	Any/All Destination IPs (if empty)	Any/IP Address with network prefix
DSCP	Differentiated Services Code Point(DSCP) value of the IP traffic	Any/All DSCP values (if empty)	af11 af12 af13 af21 af22 af23 af31 af32 af33 af41 af42 af43 cs1 cs2 cs3 cs4 cs5 cs6 cs7 default (Any/All DSCP values) ef
PROTOCOL	Protocol field in the IP header	Any	Any TCP UDP ICMP ICMPv6
SOURCE PORT	The source port in the TCP or UDP header	Any/All Source Ports (if empty)	Positive number
DESTINATION PORT	The destination port in the TCP or UDP header	Any/All Destination Ports (if empty)	Positive number
ICMP TYPE	The type value in the ICMP or ICMPv6 header	Any/All ICMP types (if empty)	0 to 255
ICMP CODE	The code value in the ICMP or ICMPv6 header	Any/All ICMP Codes (if empty)	0 to 254

Bandwidth Policies

A bandwidth profile defines how a particular traffic classifier should be treated, such as assigning a Maximum Download or Upload Bandwidth Rate, etc. You can create a particular bandwidth restriction for a given service or traffic type using the Traffic Classifier Table and the Bandwidth Profile Table.

To create a Bandwidth Policy, click CREATE BANDWIDTH PROFILE.

SETTING	DESCRIPTION	DEFAULT SETTING	RANGE
PROFILE NAME	Name of the Bandwidth Profile	n/a	n/a
DESCRIPTION	Description of the bandwidth profile for your own use. Appears in the Bandwith Policies table	n/a	n/a
DOWNLOAD SETTINGS	Enable when you want to set the maximum bandwidth for a particular traffic type in the Ingress direction. If enabled, you must specify the Download Max Bw.	Disabled	Disabled, Enabled
DOWNLOAD MAX BW	Specifies the upper limit of bandwidth during periods of high traffic. (Required if Download Settings is enabled). Enter in KBps (kilobytes per second)	n/a	100 to 1000000
UPLOAD SETTINGS	Enable when you want to set the minimum and maximum bandwidth for a particular traffic type in the Egress direction. If enabled, you must specify the Upload Max Bw and Upload Min Bw.	Disabled	Disabled, Enabled
UPLOAD MAX BW	Specifies the upper limit of bandwidth during periods of high traffic (Required if Upload Settings is enabled). Enter in KBps (kilobytes per second).	n/a	100 to 1000000
UPLOAD MIN BW	Specifies the minimum guaranteed bandwidth assigned to a traffic type during congestion (Required if Upload Settings is enabled). Enter in KBps (kilobytes per second).	n/a	100 to 1000000
CLASSIFIERS	A list of classifiers that will have the same bandwidth treatment. More than one Traffic Classifier can be added if it needs the same bandwidth treatment.	n/a	select from list
DSCP MARK SETTING	Enable if you want to use DSCP	Enabled	Enabled, Disabled
DSCP MARK VALUE	DSCP mark	Best Effort or DSCP 0, also known as Default	af11 af12 af13 af21 af22 af23 af31 af32 af33 af41 af42 af43 cs1 cs2 cs3 cs4 cs5 cs6 cs7 ef
SCHEDULING PRIORITY	This sets the priority for a classifier. One or more classifiers can have the same priority scheduling during congestion.	Normal	Lowest Low Below Normal Normal Above Normal High Higher Highest

Interface Service Policies

When you create an Interface Service Policy, you specify the maximum upload/download bandwidth. This is the quota or total upload/download bandwidth available on that interface. Each bandwidth policy gets a portion of that quota/total depending on what it defines as its maximum bandwidth and priority.

When setting up an Interface Service Policy, bandwidth limitations should be based on measured network performance, not advertised network performance. If your QoS settings/limits exceed your actual network bandwidth, the policies will have no effect.

To create an Interface Service Policy, click CREATE INTERFACE SERVICE POLICY.

SETTING	DESCRIPTION	DEFAULT SETTING	RANGE
INTERFACE NAME	Select a WAN interface to which the QoS settings will apply.	n/a	Only enabled and operating WAN interfaces will be in the list
QOS State	Enables or disables QoS on an interface	Disabled	Disabled, Enabled
DOWNLOAD POLICING	Enable this option if you want to apply a QoS policy on downloaded data traffic	Disabled	Disabled, Enabled
DOWNLOAD MAX BW	Rate limit on all the downloaded traffic. Required if Download Policing is enabled	Number (in KBps)	100 to 1000000
UPLOAD SHAPING	Enable this option if you want to apply a QoS policy on uploaded data traffic	Disabled	Disabled, Enabled
UPLOAD MAX BW	Rate limit on all the uploaded traffic. Required if Upload Shaping is enabled	Number (in KBps)	100 to 1000000
PROFILE LIST	Select one or more Bandwidth Policies

Thermal Mitigation Policies

A Thermal Mitigation Policy is automatically defined by the Airlink OS when certain conditions are met, allowing the device to continue to operate when it is approaching or exceeding its operating temperature limits. The thermal mitigation policy is applied to the interface and it will throttle the data throughput for optimal processing depending on how hot or cold the interface is.

SETTING	DESCRIPTION
INTERFACE NAME	Interface to which the QoS settings will apply
QoS State	Shows the state of the QoS
DOWNLOAD POLICING	Shows as enabled when a QoS policy is applied on downloaded data traffic
DOWNLOAD MAX BW	Shows the rate limit on all the downloaded traffic as calculated by the AirLink OS
UPLOAD SHAPING	Shows as enabled when a QoS policy is applied on uploaded data traffic
UPLOAD MAX BW	Shows the rate limit on all the uploaded traffic as calculated by the AirLink OS
PROFILE LIST	Lists one or more Bandwidth Policies that are being applied

Implementation Considerations

• Setting your bandwidth limitations should be based on tested network performance, not advertised network performance. The average or lowest reported values should be used. If your QoS settings/limits exceed your actual network bandwidth, the policies will have no effect.

• Highest priority traffic is not always sent before all other traffic. Instead it is averaged over time. The highest priority traffic will receive its Upload Minimum Bandwidth, and as long as it is not excessive, other traffic will be transmitted or received. If the amount of high priority traffic exceeds the Upload Minimum Bandwidth, the excess traffic will still have to compete with other lower priority traffic for available bandwidth.