What QoS means on your router and whether to turn it on
QoS is a Wi-Fi router feature that prioritizes certain types of internet traffic. It can help on slower connections but is usually unnecessary on fast ones.
Many Wi-Fi routers include a setting called QoS (Quality of Service) that affects how a home network performs. An explainer by the technology site Engadget says the feature decides which data packets are handled first, and that it is mainly worth enabling when an internet connection is slow and the household has many devices.
What QoS does
Data from the internet arrives in packets. Without prioritization, a router generally treats email, video streaming and smart home traffic with the same urgency. QoS identifies the type of packet and chooses which to send first. Priority usually goes to streaming, including voice and video calls, and to online games, where even an extra 20 milliseconds of lag can affect the outcome. Some routers let users set priorities themselves.
If no QoS option can be found, it may be worth looking for SQM (Smart Queue Management). It is a more advanced approach that tackles "bufferbloat", the lag that occurs when packets wait in a queue to be processed. SQM uses advanced scheduling and traffic shaping, but it needs a more powerful processor than some routers have. It can be found in Eero mesh systems and in gaming routers.
When QoS helps and when it doesn't
QoS can be important if an internet plan offers less than 500 megabits per second and the home is full of demanding devices. For comparison, 4K HDR video typically needs a minimum of 15 to 25 Mbps, and some PC game downloads run to dozens or hundreds of gigabytes.
On faster connections, such as a gigabit plan, there is usually enough bandwidth for every device, so QoS or SQM can be redundant. They can also backfire if they prioritize the wrong traffic or overload the router's processor. Standard QoS does not solve bufferbloat.
If speeds are limited and real performance problems appear, QoS is worth trying. If everything runs smoothly, it will not noticeably improve the experience.
