Hi All, Firstly please understand that I am COMPLETELY new to all this so I apologies if I’m talking rubbish!
My Goal
I have recently purchased a RUT951 on the recommendation that I should be able to use it to set up a short range public Wifi network that allows low data volume (e.g. FTP and HTTP) traffic upload/download, but restricts access to high data volume usage (e.g. video streaming - YouTube etc.), from “public” mobile devices. I’m hoping it can offer something more targeted than simply chopping down the bandwidth which is I believe is then vulnerable to contention ratio.
Background
I provide bespoke mobile app solutions to construction companies. Like most mobile apps they rely on cellular data access which is often very poor in remote areas like construction sites so my intention is to link this router to a Startlink system for it’s data access but want to prevent my “public” users (e.g. construction workers) sitting on YouTube all day using large amounts of data. In the same breath I don’t want these restrictions to reduce the performance of my apps.
I have quite extensively looked into simple website restriction rules but (unless anyone can correct me) this is only really effective for desktop browsing and seemingly very difficult to achieve on Mobile apps like YouTube.
Anyway, I hope, a) I have explained it well enough, b) it’s achievable and c) someone may be able to help me achieve it!
Great question, and you’re on the right track! The RUT951 does support traffic management - the best approach for your use case is a combination of two built-in features.
Dual SSID + SQM Speed Limiting
The cleanest solution is to create two separate Wi-Fi networks:
• A “Business” SSID for your app devices - unrestricted, full speed.
• A “Public” SSID for construction workers - speed-capped to make HD video streaming impractical, while still allowing lightweight data usage.
You can apply a speed cap to the public network using SQM (Smart Queue Management), which limits throughput on a selected interface. Setting this to around 5–8 Mbps makes YouTube/Netflix frustrating to use while leaving your app traffic completely unaffected.
How to set this up:
Create a separate network interface for the public SSID:
Network → LAN
Attach a new Wi-Fi SSID to that interface:
Network → Wireless
Apply SQM speed limiting to the public interface:
Network → Traffic Shaping → SQM
Note: SQM must first be installed via System → Package Manager.
The RUT951 also has a QoS (Quality of Service) tool that can deprioritize traffic by port or IP. However, YouTube and your business app both communicate over HTTPS (port 443), so QoS cannot reliably tell them apart - making it an unreliable solution on its own.
Additionally, you can set up Firewall Blocking If a speed cap isn’t enough, you can also block known streaming service IP ranges entirely using firewall traffic rules:
Network → Firewall (Traffic rules tab)
This is more aggressive but more effective if you want a hard block rather than just throttling.
The dual SSID + SQM approach is the most practical and reliable path forward.
Feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions or face any issues in the setup. I will be more than happy to help!
Thank you so much for helping me so far today. I have attempted to implement your configuration however I can’t get it to work and I think I have come to the end of my ability. Could I take you up on your offer of further assistance please? including maybe a remote access session?
Thank you for your message. I’m glad to hear that the assistance so far has been helpful.
I understand that the configuration can be challenging. To continue troubleshooting, could you please describe which part of the setup is not working as expected and whether any error messages appear? If possible, please also share relevant screenshots of the configuration pages.
Once I review the information, I will gladly continue assisting you and determine the best way to proceed.
I have completed stage one (I think successfully) and worked, to the best of my ability, through the following 2 stages but there are so many possibilities beyond that, it is very difficult to know where any problem might be. In this instance I would be sharing screenshots of pretty much every part of the process. All I can say is that what I have done so far is not having the desired effect during testing.
As mentioned on the phone I have a deadline of tomorrow (Wednesday) to set this up and test ready for delivery to my customer on Thursday so any further help would be very welcome.
For troubleshooting purposes, we will require more sensitive information from your end, such as the troubleshoot file, which may contain passwords, public IP addresses, serial numbers, and such. To avoid leaking this information, we have sent you a form to fill out, which you will receive in your e-mail inbox that you have registered your account with in the forums. In the Ticket ID field of the form, please enter the ID of this thread, which is 18679.
