UniFi QoS: Optimizing Network Performance
UniFi’s Quality of Service (QoS) tools empower you to align your network with your organizational priorities by allocating bandwidth strategically and preserving critical traffic. From advanced traffic shaping to simple WiFi Speed Limits, UniFi provides flexible solutions to ensure essential applications perform reliably while optimizing overall network efficiency.
For a full overview of UniFi’s Traffic Management capabilities, see here.
UniFi Network 8.6.9 (Official Release)
To manage and optimize your network traffic:
- Navigate to Settings > Security > Traffic & Firewall Rules.
- Create a Simple rule.
- Create a rule for your desired outcome:
- Action: Select “Speed Limit”
- Source: Choose a Network, Device, etc.
- Destination: Choose a specific App, Domain, IP, or Region.
- Once added, your rule will appear in the table and take effect immediately.
Example Configuration
-
Bandwidth Limit Devices: Restrict specific devices or applications from consuming excessive bandwidth.
- Action: Speed Limit
- Source: Select Devices
- Destination: Select an app like Windows Update
- Download/Upload Limits: 10 Mbps each
- Schedule: Always
UniFi Network 9.0.92+ (Early Access)
For users on UniFi Network 9.0.92 or later:
- Navigate to Settings > Routing > QoS.
- Create a rule for your desired outcome, including Source and Destination.
- Source: Choose a Network, Device, etc.
- Destination: Choose a specific App, Domain, IP, or Region.
- Once added, your rule will appear in the table and take effect immediately.
Example QoS Configuration
-
Bandwidth Limit Devices: Restrict specific devices or applications from consuming excessive bandwidth.
- Source: Select Device
- Destination: Select an app, like Windows Update
- Download/Upload Limits: 10 Mbps each
- Schedule: Always
Audio/Video QoS and DSCP
UniFi has several pre-configured port profiles enabling optimal performance when integrating A/V equipment from common providers such as Dante, Q-SYS and SDVoE. For more information on this and custom QoS using DSCP tags, check out our Pro AV guide.
WiFi-Only Bandwidth Restrictions
For those without a Unifi Gateway, we also have WiFi Speed Limits which only requires a UniFi AP. These are found in Settings > Profiles > WiFi Speed Limit, and can be applied to individual WiFi instances.