How do I limit wifi distribution speeds for other users?

What to do if you run into problems with the Internet when many devices are connected to your home network. The only solution is to limit their traffic. Here’s how to limit wifi distribution speeds for other users on the most popular router models.

What opportunities will traffic restriction provide?

It would be best if you had a speed limit when there is not enough traffic to all home network devices, and some of the devices are having trouble connecting to the Internet. For example, if a single PC downloads a file through a torrent, it can consume all the traffic, and other users will have difficulty using the Internet. To prevent this from happening, you can correctly distribute the speed limits to each customer of the home network or limit traffic for all users connected by air (and you will have no problems with the Internet if you are connected to the router by wire).

TP-Link

First, let’s consider limiting the speed of the Internet on the router for all customers of this network. For such purposes, the TP-Link router has a bandwidth control option (or Bandwidth control). Step-by-step instruction on how to reduce WiFi speed for all connected users:

1. Open the router control panel. To do this, you need to open the browser and enter the address bar on top of the device’s IP address –“192.168.1.1” or“192.168.0.1”. You will also need to write a login and password for authorization. A standard admin/admin combination would be appropriate if you haven’t changed it before.
2. If you wish, you can limit the speed of distribution of the Internet and the number of customers connected at the same time. To do this, we open the “Guest Network” and, in the line “Max Guest Numbers,” prescribe the required number.
3. Now click on the very “Bandwidth Control” item. In the first line, you need to tick to activate the control. Below are two lines to enter the settings. The first is the maximum outgoing connection speed. The second is the full incoming speed.
4. Once the necessary values have been entered, click on the “Save” button and exit the router control panel. It now needs to be rebooted to bring the changes into effect.

In the newer version of the firmware, the Bandwidth Control menu looks slightly different, but the options are the same.

We figured out how to limit the speed of all connected devices without exception, but is it possible to determine the speed of distribution of wi-fi on the router TP-Link for a particular user or several? Yes, here’s a closer look at how to do it:

1. Similarly, we open the router’s web panel by typing the address and authorized.
2. Then we move on to the DHCP section, then click on the “DHCP Clients List” subsection. Here’s a list of devices connected to the hotspot. You need to copy the MAC address of the customer you want to limit the speed.
3. Now we move to another section of “Address Reservation.” We insert a saved address from the clipboard, prescribe a free IP (which will permanently be assigned to that address), and select the “Enabled” option in the third line. Then save the settings by clicking on Save.
4. Now we reopen bandwidth Control and then move to the Rules List subsection. Add a rule for a given IP address and set speed limits. If you’ve added multiple MAC addresses, assign the range of IP addresses for which the rule will apply accordingly.

This method won’t help if the MAC device address changes, and it’s pretty easy to change it on your computer. In this case, you need to do the opposite – prohibit all devices from using the Internet, except for those assigned. Detailed instructions:

1. Open the “Wireless” section, then move to the “Wireless MAC Filtering” section.
2. Activate the MAC filtering function.
3. Add a new rule by clicking on the button at the bottom of “Add new.”
4. We prescribe the address of your PC and install the “Enable” option. The same should be done for other devices that connect to your network.
5. After the action, you need to save the settings and restart the router.

Here is a complete video tutorial that might help-

D-Link

The D-Link routers do not have a function of speed limiting incoming and outbound air traffic, similar to the one implemented in TP-Link. However, you can prevent specific users from connecting to your network, so they don’t spend your traffic, or you can only allow a particular range of devices to connect.

First, let’s look at how to connect only specific devices:

1. Open the web interface, go to the “Wi-Fi” section, then click on the line “MAC filter” and “Filter mode.” The filter has three modes: “Disconnected,” “Allowed,” and “Prohibited.” If the first one is installed, the filter is deactivated, and any device can connect to the access point. If the second one is installed, access is allowed only to those addresses whose addresses are listed in the filter. We choose the second one.
2. Then we click on another subsection of “MAS filter” – “MAS-addresses.” Here you need to specify all the addresses of the devices you want to allow access to (primarily this laptop).
3. Click “Apply” to bring the changes into effect.
4. Then move on to the System tab at the top and click on Save.

To prevent specific devices from accessing your network, you should instead activate “Prohibited” instead of “Allowed” mode. In this case, the listed MAC addresses will not be able to connect to your router.

As for devices connected by cable through the LAN port, they can limit the speed. To do this, go to the “Additional” section, then click on the line “Bandwidth Control.“

Select the port to which a particular device is connected and limit the speed.

Once installed, you need to click on the “Apply” button to bring the changes into effect.

Also, to limit your overall wireless speed, you can set a different mode of operation in WiFi settings.

Let’s go to Wi-Fi and open “Basic Settings.” Instead of the current mode in the Wireless mode line, we choose another one, 802.11g, whose speed is limited to only 54 Mbps.

Asus

This manufacturer’s routers also do not have a traffic restriction feature for specific customers. But there is a tool that allows you to adjust the speed for different types of programs that use Internet traffic.

To control the connection speed, the Asus router has a section called “Traffic Manager” that is on the menu on the left. Here you can manage traffic by setting different priorities for different tasks. For example, if online gaming is more important to you, and web surfing and downloading files through torrent programs are less critical for you, you can manually specify this.

And you, playing online games, will not feel uncomfortable when someone in the home network from another device will watch movies online or download large files because their speed will be limited.

If you want to lower the wireless connection for all air-connected users, change the router’s wireless mode.

In wireless mode, you need to change Auto to any other value and check whether or not the speed has changed. If 802.11n is installed, it will be limited to 150 Mbps if the older protocol 802.11g is 54 Mbps. Thus, if you are connected to the router by wire and other devices – only by air, they will not be able to pick up all the traffic (provided that the speed provided by your provider is high enough).

Huawei

Huawei routers also do not have a speed limit feature for these customers. But you can limit it to all air users. To do this, you need to go to the router control panel on the left to find the “General Settings” section and then go to “WLAN.” Here in the “Mode” line, choose a different Wi-Fi mode, for example, 802.11g (speed will be limited to 54 Mbps) or even 802.11b (up to 11 Mbps).

Once the mode changes, be sure to save the settings.