Traffic Shaping & QoS

Traffic shaping and QoS

Firecradle's traffic shaping engine applies bandwidth limiters, hierarchical priority queues, and per-flow classification on every interface - so voice and video stay smooth while bulk transfers get out of the way, without proprietary hardware or a separate license.

IT Director / CIO

Predictable bandwidth for business-critical applications
VoIP and video calls prioritized automatically with one-click presets
No separate QoS license or add-on hardware
Same engine and console across every appliance

Network / Security Admin

Full control over limiters, queues, and classification rules
DSCP marking and priority bands per rule
Per-interface, per-direction, and per-IP shaping
Egress shaping native; ingress shaping supported per interface

System Administrator

One-click presets: VoIP priority, ACK prioritization, gaming low-latency
Live per-queue stats: sent, dropped, and backlog
Enable or disable a rule without deleting it
Centralized rule management from the cloud dashboard

Four Building Blocks of Traffic Shaping

Combine limiters, queues, and classification rules to express anything from a simple per-VLAN bandwidth cap to a full voice-and-video priority hierarchy.

Limiters

Bandwidth pipes per interface, direction, and optional per-IP mask. HTB, TBF, or cake scheduling with configurable AQM (FQ_CoDel, cake, codel, pfifo).

Hierarchical Queues

HFSC, HTB, or strict-priority (PRIQ) trees. Each interface gets one default queue; child queues share bandwidth without exceeding their parent.

Classification Rules

Match traffic on protocol, source/destination, port range, or existing DSCP marking - then route it to a queue or limiter.

DSCP & Priority Marking

Mark or match DiffServ code points and assign priority bands, so downstream QoS-aware switches and routers honor the same classification.

Example Shaper Rule

Priority 50Direction: outProtocol: udpPort: 10000-20000Action: set_dscp=efQueue: voip

"Prioritize RTP media traffic" - matched, marked with DSCP EF, and assigned to the realtime voice queue before any bulk-traffic default queue.

One-Click Presets

No Manual Curve Math Required

Hierarchical queue scheduling can mean hand-tuning service curves - not on Firecradle. Built-in presets seed a working queue tree and classification rules for the traffic patterns that matter most, so you get priority handling in one click instead of an afternoon of tuning.

VoIP Priority

Marks voice traffic with DSCP EF (Expedited Forwarding) and routes it to a realtime queue - so calls stay clear even when the WAN link is busy.

ACK Prioritization

Fast-tracks TCP acknowledgments so a large upload in progress doesn't stall every other connection on the same link.

Gaming Low-Latency

Assigns a high-priority band with minimal queuing delay (FQ_CoDel), intended to keep round-trip times low for latency-sensitive traffic.

Per-Queue Statistics

See What Each Queue Is Actually Doing

Every limiter and queue reports live sent, dropped, and backlog counters, so you can confirm a preset is actually protecting voice traffic instead of just assuming it. Egress shaping runs natively on the interface; ingress shaping is applied through a mirrored path so both directions can be shaped without dropping legitimate traffic.