Number Of Device Limitation By ISP?? My ISP Suggested Me To Buy One More Plan From Them so They Will Give Me Another Cheap Low Tier Router To Connect

[PCForStreaming]

Hello everyone, pardorn me for basic questions. I appreciate for any help and attention.

I've been having this latency, latency spike and packet loss problems. Especially if someone else in the house is using the internet then I will have a latency spike or even packet loss eventhough I'm pretty sure we have more Bandwith left but it's still affect the latency and not rare also packet loss. At its best my latency is fine and stable at around 30ms. My question would be how do I troubleshoot this to know what I should change or fix? (more info on the bottom)

 

For info I'm using 30Mbit bandwith ISP and the router is ZTE F660. This router is from the ISP itself as part of the package. First there is this device
https://imgur.com/WpWITCV
This defice is also ZTE brand but what is this device and what is it for?
And then from this device it goes through the ZTE F660 router, here is the picture
https://imgur.com/dJxjQtB
Then From This Router it also goes to their TV modem or something to provide some channels to the TV.

 

There are around 5~10 device connected to the router usually and I connect on my PC using USB WiFi adapter up to 100Mbit/s. There are no speed throttling options for each device connected in the router firmware. I have just phone my ISP and their help center telling me that their package is only for maximum 5 devices connected to the router, if it's more than that then they admit that there might be stutter on the connection and the speed will go down. Their business model only suggested me to buy another internet plan from them so I got two of the same router and so I can connect 5 device to router 1 and another 5 to router 2. This solutions doesn't seems like a good idea for me since it's not cost efficient and their router is low tier router. I asked if I were to buy my own router will that help and she answered with router is only to expand the coverage of the WiFi and then they proceed to suggest me to buy one more plan from them to solve it. My question would be is this because of the limitation on their router or they actually can set this limitation through their systems?

 

As for my understanding now what I will do is to try to connect using ethernet cable from the router directly to my PC and if the problem still persist if I do can solve the problem by buying another router, I will buy another router for access point. I was getting advised for ASUS RT-AX55 Black AX1800 and use it as the Access Point while having the ZTE F660 router as DHCP server only (turning off the WiFi). Although for me it seems that the ASUS RT-AX55 is a little too overkill especially since my ISP package is only 30Mbit/s. But what I get was that it is necessary because it has the processing power to handle multiple connection going through it.

 

I'm looking forward to hear what you guys think about it. For any of you who have experience or knowledge regarding it. I will very much appreciate any help

[Electronics Wizardy]

Can you buy a higher speed internet plan? Thats probalby the best option here.

 

Otherwise, id try a router with good traffic shaping so one devices doesn't use all the network.

 

The isp doesn't normally limit devices(and can't limit devices easily eiter.

 

 

[RockSolid1106]

I really dont think if the ISP can actually see how many devices you connect to the router. Bandwidth is shared across the devices you connect to the router. If you arent saturating the bandwidth, there is no reason to have latency spikes or packet loss.

 

Try an ethernet cable to your PC to see if this still occurs.

[PCForStreaming]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Can you buy a higher speed internet plan? Thats probalby the best option here.

 

Otherwise, id try a router with good traffic shaping so one devices doesn't use all the network.

 

The isp doesn't normally limit devices(and can't limit devices easily eiter.

 

 

Unfortunately I have bought their plan for a year (maybe around 6 months left) and there isn't much of a choice either. But I rather would not continue their service after this and I would push so another much better ISP can cover my area.

And again the problem doesn't seems too much of the bandwith but more because of their router firmware cannot throttle speed and how it will start to have problem when more device is connected. I just want to be sure if I buy another router that it will solve the problem because I don't think I can return the router after I buy it even if it turns out doesn't help in my case.

I'm quite unfamiliar with router, I don't know what router is capable of traffic shaping as you mentioned. I am currently resides in Indonesia and usually I buy electronic device from this site https://www.tokopedia.com/ (translate it to english using chrome will help). I was getting suggested to go for ASUS RT-AX55 Black AX1800  But is it necessary to buy something that good while my ISP bandwith is only 30Mbit? I would rather save the money if it's not necessary to be that good.

[PCForStreaming]

14 minutes ago, LTTfan2006 said:

I really dont think if the ISP can actually see how many devices you connect to the router. Bandwidth is shared across the devices you connect to the router. If you arent saturating the bandwidth, there is no reason to have latency spikes or packet loss.

 

Try an ethernet cable to your PC to see if this still occurs.

Okay thank you I have 2 PC at the moment in two rooms close to each other. Will using an ethernet cable take the processing power away from the router?
What ethernet cable do I need? I saw a lot of cat6 cable, I need 20 around meters and will stick to the wall. The pure copper one seems to be quite expensive compared to copper clad alumunium, almost double the price.

[PCForStreaming]

About saturating the bandwith, I don't know but generally I think the latency will go up when someone watch netflix, or even scrolling through instagram videos, and worse if someone download something.

I will update after I install the ethernet cable. However if let's say the problem persist should I change the main router (ZTE f660) or follow the suggestion to keep them just as DHCP server and have the new router for Access Point?

[RockSolid1106]

36 minutes ago, PCForStreaming said:

What ethernet cable do I need? I saw a lot of cat6 cable

Cat5E would work just fine. Cat5E supports upto gigabit ethernet, and that is well over your ISP internet speed. It would give you some good upgrade path in case you plan on upgrading your router. 

You could just get a 2metre cable and hook it up to your PC next to the router just to see if there are any latency spikes as a temporary solution. If that works, you can get a 20m cable for permanent use.

28 minutes ago, PCForStreaming said:

However if let's say the problem persist should I change the main router (ZTE f660) or follow the suggestion to keep them just as DHCP server and have the new router for Access Point?

You could get a new router, but I cant be totally sure if the problem is with the current router.

Also, why are you insisting on getting a new router to work as an access point? That's only going to help you with WiFi coverage, and you dont seem to have any coverage issues. Apologies if I am misunderstanding you.

[PCForStreaming]

1 hour ago, LTTfan2006 said:

Cat5E would work just fine. Cat5E supports upto gigabit ethernet, and that is well over your ISP internet speed. It would give you some good upgrade path in case you plan on upgrading your router. 

You could just get a 2metre cable and hook it up to your PC next to the router just to see if there are any latency spikes as a temporary solution. If that works, you can get a 20m cable for permanent use.

You could get a new router, but I cant be totally sure if the problem is with the current router.

Also, why are you insisting on getting a new router to work as an access point? That's only going to help you with WiFi coverage, and you dont seem to have any coverage issues. Apologies if I am misunderstanding you.

That's a good idea you are suggesting thank you!
I got some short cat6a spare cable that I can use for testing.

I am thinking for a new router because the firmware on this router doesn't even allow me to throttle the speed of each device connected. So whenever someone is downloading something, buffering videos or automatic update their device the internet traffic goes all their way leaving little to nothing for the others. The latency suddenly going skyrocket. Not to mention I still have no idea why we have packet losses sometimes.

And I am thinking if the problem exist because the current router (F660) cannot handle many device connected at the same time and distribute the traffic well. Maybe the processing power?? Someone I asked suggesting me this that I bought another router specifically  ASUS RT-AX55 Black AX1800 because of its processing power. He even the first time around suggested me for mikrotik RB750GR3 and 2 Unifi AP but that's just so ridiculously expensive for my use case.
And yes you got that right, I don't really have coverage issues ^^