Recommendations for a complete OpenWrt noob (Virgin Media, UK)

Hey there guy's.

Firstly excuse my lack of knowledge in this department. I'm normally a plug the superhub in and let it be guy.

My package I am on is the Virgin Media M350 bundle.

But recently I've been experiencing lag when it comes to streaming and gaming (more noticeable in gaming). I done a test on speedtest.net and noticed high download latency.

I had a technician come out from VM and he ended up changing my Superhub 3 to a Superhub 5 and removing an attenuator on the line as he said this was old technology or something.

Since the upgrade nothings really changed other than the wifi 6 performing better than the Superhub 3. I'm still experiencing the same symptoms as before. Today I came across the term BufferBloat. I've got a basic understanding of what it is and do believe that could be my issue.

I ran a DSLreports test today and my results are as follows:

I'm assuming from the c grade and graph details on the results,that BufferBloat is my issue?

My question is what can people reccomend me when it comes to a OpenWRT and SQM. I work in the IT field and am currently studying Networking at University so ease of use isn't really an issue.

I don't mind spending around the £200 mark.

The girlfriend works from home via Wi-Fi so that would be a need, but can be a wireless access point if needed.

Thanks in advance.

Jay

Hi you can switch your hub to modem mode. Wych is how I have mine setup. I use a NETGEAR R7800 as my mane router. How ever your download speed is a bit faster than mine. I use a package called SQM to keep pings low. https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/traffic-shaping/sqm
So put hub to modem mode.
Get new router that runs OpenWrt.
Install SQM.
Set it up and have low pings.
Good luck have fun.

Yep, vm's bloated. There are some really knowlegable people here, notably rainmaker: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/virgin-media-discussion-thread.17701788/page-1179 that have got it nailed.

As for costs - at +400Mbit down something better than most gear is needed, repurposing an old laptop or desktop I often do, or leverage small nuc-like devices, and bridge a separate wifi router close to the user. People here are big fans of the rpi4 as well as the r4s, also.

Thanks for the replies guys, I've never dealt with rpi's myself before. Could you direct me into the right direction regarding these.

Ideally I'm after an out of the box and install openwrt firmware. I'd rather not look into buying a board only version and going from there. Or if there's any off the shelf routers that I can use openwrt on.

I just want the bloating gone.

Regards

iqrouter pro and firewalla gold are both openwrt based and powerful enough.

1 Like

Thanks for the reply, I've decided ill go down the Pi 4 B 4gb model route.

I believe the following is what I would need:

Pi 4
Power adapter
Sd card

UE300 Ethernet Adapter
Wireless access point
Switch

And the setup would be ran something like

Line in > VM Superhub (modem mode) > Pi 4 > Switch > Lan devices & Wireless access points.

Am I along the right sort of lines?

Thanks again

Jay

Depending on the access point you use and the number of wired clients you have, you may not need a separate switch. You could get something like archer c7 which has 5 gigabit ports and use that as an AP/switch.

That's actually a good idea.

Client wise,

Wireless: Thermostat, Google hub, couple of google speakers, and the most important one is my GF's laptop for work. (She is in the living room where the router/modem will be placed so signal isnt too much of an issue.)

Wired client is pretty much only me, maybe 3 at most will be used.

Thanks again for the reply :slight_smile:

Jay