How do you manage Wi-Fi speed or device performance when guests stream or play games?

[Baxley1]

Hi everyone,

I recently noticed that some of my Airbnb guests spend quite a bit of time gaming or streaming on their devices. It got me thinking does anyone here actively manage their Wi-Fi bandwidth or set up a separate network for guests to avoid lag or slowdowns?

For example, one of my guests mentioned they were playing ** and said the game ran slowly whenever multiple devices were connected.

I’m curious if anyone else has run into this do you tweak your router settings, limit bandwidth, or just rely on a stronger plan from your ISP? Any practical tips for balancing guest gaming and streaming without affecting the host’s connection?

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[Joan2709]

@Baxley1 

Just a bit confused? Your profile says "Guest" - are you a Host and do you have a home share listing (renting a room in your home)?

[Mary1523 · Accepted solution]

Hi

Not sure of your hosting situation, but you have a few ways to manage this:

1. Be very clear in your listing that your WIFI is not suitable for gaming, and its tuned for the number of people you take in the booking for streaming only/browsing...

2. Setup a different network and tune it for gaming including higher ISP speeds (sounds like you know what you are doing) and then PROMOTE that as part of your offering. Can't remember if you can charge optional extra for this in airbnb or if you really want, duplicate the listing with this for Gamers and charge more

But either way, if you are getting guests complaints, it means you need to clearly communicate your boundaries on your offering and what the expectation should be.

Good luck

Kind regs MK

[Zheng49]

You could always just get a better plan from your ISP, and combine it with a better router. Then they can enjoy a good time when gaming as gaming is sensitive to both download/upload speed as well as jitter/latency. 

Edit: Meant to reply to OP and replied to the wrong comment. 

[Nicole4305]

I’ve definitely noticed the same thing with some guests—especially when multiple people are gaming or streaming at the same time, it can really slow down the connection. A few approaches have worked for me:

1. Separate Guest Network: Setting up a separate SSID for guests is a simple way to keep their traffic isolated from your main devices. Some routers even let you control bandwidth for each network.

2. Quality of Service (QoS): If your router supports QoS, you can prioritize traffic for certain devices or types of use. For example, you could prioritize your own work devices or streaming needs while still allowing guests decent speed.

3. Bandwidth Limits: Some routers let you cap the speed per device or per network. This can prevent a single gamer from hogging all the bandwidth.

4. Upgrade Your Plan or Hardware: Sometimes a stronger router or higher-speed ISP plan is the easiest fix, especially if multiple guests frequently stream or game.

For me, a combination of a separate guest network and QoS settings seems to strike the right balance—it keeps guests happy without affecting my own connection.

Curious—does anyone else actively tweak these settings, or do you just rely on a strong ISP plan?