OPNSENSE: Difficulty understanding traffic shaping: direct all traffic to certain IP addresses
OPNSENSE: Difficulty understanding traffic shaping: direct all traffic to certain IP addresses
I think this task should actually be straightforward, but I’m struggling to understand how to set it up properly. Essentially, I need to give all traffic going to and from 192.188.0.8 the highest priority compared to everything else on the network, without caring about protocols or ports. I’d like this to mimic real-time routing as closely as possible. On a consumer router, I could just set the device higher in QoS, but OPNSense seems more advanced and detailed—though it’s overwhelming. The manual guidance hasn’t helped much either. My goal isn’t to restrict bandwidth for other users; I just want this client, which handles network streaming for my stereo, to get priority over others. I’ve experimented with pipes and queues on my old router, but audio drops still occur. I’m not sure if a budget consumer device can handle this, yet an enterprise system should manage it without problems. Thanks and sorry for the confusing question. Traffic appears in two main ways: streaming files from 192.188.0.2 using UPNP or streaming music via WAN from Qobuz (an online service). I experience drops with both, and my local network has ample bandwidth, so I’m convinced the problem lies in packet prioritization.
If local storage is dropping, the problem isn't related to the router—local streaming shouldn't affect it. The issue likely comes from the device or Wi-Fi connection.
No problem, just hardwired and everything working fine before installing OPNsense.
Your clients are receiving direct wiring connections. Do you have a switch involved?
router → old router acting as AP/switch → switch in another room → device. I’m considering switching another Ethernet port on the router and removing the switch connected to it. Still interested in traffic shaping questions, but I’ll check if adjusting the setup helps later. Probably a couple of days.
In the end I'll receive a 2.5G switch and stop relying on the AP as a switch too, though that won't occur immediately.
I've only worked with pfSense, so it's hard to compare OPNsense. On pfSense you set up general traffic rules and also define specific firewall rules for certain clients, placing them higher in priority so they're served first. But any QoS control is mainly limited by your ISP—you can mostly manage outgoing traffic. It's like people coming to your door: you can't decide when or if they arrive, but you can control how many and in what order they enter. If you leave your house, you have full control over who enters and when. I’d make sure all routing-related features are disabled on the old router, as things like UPNP or broadcasts might trick clients into thinking the router is the one controlling traffic.
The issue is clear. pfSense behaves similarly to other routers, while opnsense uses complex methods with pipes, queues, and rules that are hard to grasp. Now that pfSense supports my NICs, I’m considering switching away from opnsense for simplicity. I don’t want to reconfigure everything, including VPN clients. Honestly, the opnsense interface is really poor quality. I might borrow a switch from work tomorrow to test it out—it would still be an unmanaged device but could help isolate the AP.
pfSense continues to rely on pipes, limiters, queues, and rules, yet it also offers wizards—though I’m not sure they’re the best choice anymore. It’s strange that OPNsense seems more challenging despite claims of a simpler interface compared to pfSense. Considering streaming issues for local setups, it might be that the problem lies elsewhere, not just with the UI.