Mastering UniFi Bandwidth Management: Tips for Throttling and Prioritizing Devices

Bandwidth bottlenecks are frustrating, especially when a single device hogs the network or critical traffic gets buried under background downloads. If you’re running UniFi gear, you don’t have to just “deal with it.” UniFi has powerful tools built in to control bandwidth per user, per app, and per device.

Let’s dive in !!

Why bandwidth management matters

You could have a 1 Gbps fiber line and still run into network issues. Why? Because bandwidth isn’t just about the total, it’s about how it’s shared. If one device or app consumes too much, everything else suffers.

Some real-world examples:

• Zoom calls lag because a backup is running
• IoT devices flood your LAN with junk
• A guest downloads 60 GB of Steam updates on your network
• Video streaming trashes your upload bandwidth

UniFi gives you tools to fix all of this, without buying extra gear or changing ISPs.

Where to configure bandwidth controls

In your UniFi Controller, go to:

UniFi Network > Settings > Internet > Traffic Rules

From here, you can create custom rules that:

• Throttle upload/download speeds per device
• Prioritize traffic types or apps
• Block unwanted traffic
• Shape network behavior per VLAN or network

Step 1: Throttle devices by bandwidth

Example: Throttle a backup server

Let’s say your Synology or NAS keeps stealing upload bandwidth during the day.

1. Go to Traffic Rules

2. Click Create New Rule

3. Name it “Limit NAS Upload”

4. Rule type: Match

5. Source:
   • Network: LAN
   • Client: Choose your NAS

6. Action: Throttle

7. Set bandwidth limits:
   • Upload: 2 Mbps
   • Download: 100 Mbps (or none)
8. Save

Now backups can still run, but they won’t choke your WAN link.

Example: Throttle a guest’s laptop

You’re hosting guests or clients and want to keep them from draining your network.

1. Create a rule “Guest Laptop Limit”
2. Match the MAC or IP of their device
3. Set Download to 10 Mbps, Upload to 1 Mbps
4. Save

Perfect for limiting bandwidth without totally cutting people off.

Step 2: Prioritize important traffic

UniFi lets you apply QoS (quality of service) tags to certain traffic so it gets sent first when bandwidth is tight.

Example: Prioritize video calls

1. Create a new rule called “Zoom Priority”
2. Type: Match
3. Protocol/Application: Choose Zoom or your video app
4. Action: Prioritize - Higher
5. Save

Your calls now take priority, even if someone’s watching YouTube in the background.

You can do the same for:

• Microsoft Teams
• VoIP phones
• Gaming consoles
• Office 365 or G Suite traffic

Tip: Use “Lowest” for background traffic

Create a rule that matches known backup tools or update services, and set the priority to Lower. That way, they back off during heavy use.

Step 3: Use VLANs for automatic shaping

If you already have VLANs for different device types (like IoT, guests, work devices), you can apply traffic rules per VLAN.

Example: Limit IoT VLAN bandwidth

1. Create a rule “IoT Bandwidth Cap”
2. Match source: VLAN 20 (your IoT VLAN)
3. Action: Throttle
4. Set Upload/Download to 5 Mbps / 10 Mbps
5. Save

Now your smart fridge won’t steal bandwidth from your work laptop.

Step 4: Schedule rules for time-based shaping

You might want throttling only during work hours, or give kids full bandwidth only after school.

Example: Throttle YouTube during school hours

1. Create a rule for the kids’ devices
2. Match app: YouTube
3. Throttle to 1 Mbps
4. Add schedule: 8 AM – 3 PM, weekdays
5. Save

You can lift limits automatically after hours.

Step 5: Monitor rule effectiveness

Once your rules are active, go to:

UniFi Network > Traffic Rules

Each rule has a “Hits” counter showing how many times it’s triggered. You can also go to:

Insights > Traffic Stats

Here you’ll see who’s using bandwidth and which rules are doing work. This helps you refine things over time.

Bonus: Create user groups with bandwidth limits

If you prefer profile-based control over MAC-specific rules:

1. Go to Settings > User Groups

2. Create a group “Throttled Users”
3. Set max rate:
   • Download: 10 Mbps
   • Upload: 2 Mbps

4. Assign this group to clients in Devices > Client Details > Settings

Great for managing groups without needing custom rules for every device.

Combine rules for layered shaping

Here’s a strong combo:

• Throttle NAS uploads (device-specific)
• Prioritize Zoom traffic (app-specific)
• Limit guest bandwidth (user group or MAC)
• Tag IoT VLAN and throttle it
• Set lower priority for OS updates

This setup keeps important traffic smooth, limits junk or idle traffic, and avoids slowdowns when things get busy.

Gotchas and limitations

• Rules apply top-down. Order matters, move important rules to the top.
• Rules don’t apply to IPv6 (yet). Most shaping is IPv4-based for now.
• Traffic classification isn't perfect. Not every app is always identified correctly.
• Some UniFi gateways have limits. Older USG models may struggle with heavy rule sets.

If you're on UDM, UDM-Pro, or a Dream Router, you’re fine. But avoid piling too many complex rules on older gear.

When you might need more

UniFi handles most SMB and home needs out of the box. But if you need deep app control, DPI-based shaping, or enterprise policies, look into:

• External DPI engines
• Firewall-level shaping (pfSense, OPNsense)
• SD-WAN if you manage multiple locations

For most setups though, UniFi’s built-in tools are enough.

Final thoughts

Bandwidth management doesn’t need to be a nightmare. With UniFi’s traffic rules, you can throttle heavy users, prioritize critical apps, and keep your network flowing, without killing performance or installing extra tools.

You’ll spend less time firefighting, and your users (or family) will stop asking why the internet is so slow.

Conclusion

With the right UniFi bandwidth settings, you take back control of your network. Whether it's keeping a backup server in check, making sure your voice calls are clear, or stopping one guest from tanking everything, you’ve got the tools built in.

If you’re managing client networks, don’t wait until someone complains. We use all of these techniques every day at Unihosted to keep our hosted UniFi environments running fast and fair for everyone. If you want help getting set up or just don’t want to host this stuff yourself, take a look at UniHosted.