Openwrt on virtual box while gaming only

So as of right now, my gaming pc is directly connected to the modem from internet provider with an ethernet cable. All other devices in the home connect to the same modem through wifi.

I'm wondering if I can run openwrt virtually through my gaming pc while playing (to reduce latency), but not shutting down wifi connections to the modem at the same time.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

effective latency control requires operation at a network choke point.

the wild card in your equation is the "only while gaming"... to be effective all other traffic will need to be routed via the same choke point.

other than routing, are you relying on your providers device for any other services or functions?

welcome to the community!

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Hey, thanks for the welcome and the quick reply!

So we're using the modem (Technicolor cga0101) provided by our isp solely for our internet connection through both wifi and ethernet. I opened the modem earlier to see what kind of bios chip it has since I have an eeprom sop8 programmer that I've used for pc graphic card bios flashing gone wrong. Thought I could try flashing openwrt firmware on the modem and just revert if it didn't work but this bios chip is massive....its an soic 16 chip which is twice the size of the chips I'm used to seeing. And not finding a lot of info on the net regarding this modem either.

What I think you're saying is that all devices would need to connect through the pc in order to get internet access. So would I need a wireless access point hooked up to the pc??

Thing is that I don't have the pc on all the time and would rather not. So it's probably better just buying a compatible OpenWrt router isn't it?

Yup, that's exactly what i'm saying. They don't "need to" connect via the "pc vm router"... but if they don't..... SQM applied to the PC has to "contend/share" at the provider device... and the whole point of the SQM is "controlling" less critical stuff....

only (non-critical) traffic from your PC would be effected... assuming your pc was on all the time... the simplest method would use the existing wireless... but route all traffic via the "vm router" before it hits the real router... cheap... but like you say... needs the pc on all the time... it would not hurt do SQM in this way just for your PC.... but any other device will have a direct path...

yes, an additional/alternate router is the only option really if your current one has limited/no prioritization.

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Thanks for the help!

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As far as I know, all cable modem firmware is closed source. The cable company will push the firmware they want you to use to your modem. Periodically the firmware may be updated, the modem will directly receive the update over cable and install it in the flash chip.

Generally you'd want to use a dedicated router device between the modem and all the users. The modem can be relegated to a "bridge" role where it does little more than convert packets from Ethernet to cable. Replacing the modem with a simple model with one Ethernet port and no wifi (on the list approved by the company) can save money versus renting their modem / gateway.

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Well, luckily I'm not being charged for the crappy modem :smile:

I wondered how to go about updating the firmware on the thing; makes sense that it would be done by the company themselves and not the end user. One may be waiting forever in that case perhaps...

Are there any decent budget routers you'd recommend for someone with 20mb download and 5mb upload speeds?

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