Strange results from BQM

I have had some strange results using BQM, I have a Zyxel VMG1312-B10A acting as a modem in bridge mode and a Sam white box on the network in the DMZ responding to pings, I did it this way as I was originally using a BT HH5 as the PPPoE router. Here is Todays graph.using an Asus RT-AC66U_B1 using Merlin firmware as the router. Horrible isn't it?

Here is the result from a couple of days ago using an i.net travel router, a bit more latency but no dropped packets. However from testing with both they both feel responsive, netflix is not problem with either and download speeds I'm geting are the same for both at about 20 Mbps, if I really had 40% packet loss surely these would be affected?

What changed at around 5pm today? Packet loss went away.

I put the travel router back on

So seems if you don't actually have packet loss when using the Asus router that it is just being slow to the point of ignoring some ping responses when in use.

On some routers this is down to DoS protection

I wondered that and tried to test it by putting a device in the DMZ to respond to pings instead of router but I guess that if the router is trying to protect against DoS then it's going to effect all devices on the LAN. The other thing that threw me was that I've looked for others with the same problem and I can't find any evidence that Asus routes don't play well with BQM.

I've asked for a replacement under warranty so I'll soon know if it was just my router or an Asus router feature (or with my luck I get a replacement with an identical fault!)

In reply to a post by 7cfmts:

I wondered that and tried to test it by putting a device in the DMZ to respond to pings instead of router but I guess that if the router is trying to protect against DoS then it's going to effect all devices on the LAN. The other thing that threw me was that I've looked for others with the same problem and I can't find any evidence that Asus routes don't play well with BQM.

I'm using an Asus router with Merlin firmware, and I would suggest trying with the firewall option set to Off, if you've not tried that yet. The adaptive firewall could easily consider the BQM to be a hostile attacker just due to the regularity of the pings.

Also using a device such as a Samknows box in the DMZ to ping is an interesting idea, but the Samknows box itself is often very busy so may ignore responding to pings. As an interesting experiment try another device in the DMZ.

I've just read a similar post from MrSaffron from 2014, a rookie question, how are you protecting your network if the firewall is switched off?

Edit: I didn't think there was a firewall on the modem but there might be, I'll check properly tomorrow

Edited by 7cfmts (Fri 03-May-19 17:57:43)

In reply to a post by 7cfmts:

I've just read a similar post from MrSaffron from 2014, a rookie question, how are you protecting your network if the firewall is switched off?

Edit: I didn't think there was a firewall on the modem but there might be, I'll check properly tomorrow

The Asus firewall is in addition to the firewalling effect you get from network address translation (NAT) where a single IP address is shared with your domestic network. If you are with one of the less common ISPs whom can provide a routed subnet, then you have a more advanced setup.

Currently I'm only suggesting this as an option to see if it works, if it does you might need to add a rule to permit the BQM. The problem with most domestic (rather than enterprise grade) is the amount of customisation is limited.

It depends what you are protecting inside your network, depending on the number of users and their internet experience. If you have a house with some 40+ year old IT professionals it would be different to a family of children / teenagers whom do not understand internet risks.


The modem cannot have a firewall enabled as it doesn't see the internet TCP/IP traffic. It only handles the wholesale network / ISP internal layer, acting as a bridge between the Ethernet layer and the DSL layer. The PPPoE login that you define in the Asus is where the internet TCP/IP connection "exists" and the PPPoE is a link between your Asus and the ISP's boundary.

Thanks for that, the last paragraph confirms what I believed.

House with a 50+ year old ex IT professional who has been in service delivery rather too long

Edited by jchamier (Fri 03-May-19 19:41:35)