Updating *OS and network performance

[Egk]

Whenever I download anything from the App Store (mostly issue on macOS) or updates on any devices (regardless of Apple *OS), the network performance grinds to a halt. The network traffic from updating and big downloads is so aggressive that other devices lose connectivity.

Any thoughts on how I can change settings on the network or otherwise to avoid such issues?

 

[2984839]

What does your network setup look like?

 

[Egk]

The line itself is 150-200 mbps, around that. I easily get around 20 MB/sec down.

Router: D-Link DIR-818LW

Connected devices

• Apple TV (wired)
• iPhone Xs
• iPad
• MBP 15" 2018 (wired)

I know that it could be as simply as upgrading the router, however, I have experienced the same issues on other networks itself. Though my friends might also have had inferior routers.

 

[2984839]

If you want to stick with your current router, I'd suggest 2 things:

1.) Implement QoS rules to allow high priority traffic for Youtube, VoIP, etc. Page 120 of your router's manual has details: https://eu.dlink.com/-/media/Consumer_Products/DIR/DIR-818LW/Manual/DIR_818LW_A1_Manual_v1_00.pdf

In a perfect world, you could just throttle bandwidth going to the App Store servers, but this is not going to work because Apple uses a CDN, so the IP range will always change. If you could define QoS rules based on the destination domain name, this would be possible. If there's no way to do that (and based on the manual, it doesn't look like it), you may have to just make your QoS engine give high priority to traffic you definitely want getting through and hope that it de-prioritizes traffic to the App Store.

2.) Make sure wireless devices are normally on the 5 GHz band. If you are updating one of them and wifi is still slow, you can put the one you're updating on the 2.4 GHz band to limit its interference with the others.