Queues

Queues

RouterOS has two queue mechanisms — Simple Queue and Queue Tree — both built on the same underlying Hierarchical Token Bucket (HTB) algorithm. The difference is the level of control they offer.

Choosing between Simple Queue and Queue Tree

Requirement	Simple Queue	Queue Tree
Per-IP rate limiting	✓	✓
No firewall mangle required	✓	—
Hierarchical bandwidth sharing	limited	✓
Separate upload / download shaping	✓	✓
Per-application traffic shaping	limited	✓
Multi-level priority classes	—	✓
ISP subscriber tiers	—	✓

Use Simple Queue when you need fast, per-client rate limits with minimal configuration overhead. Rules are matched top-down and the first match wins.

Use Queue Tree when you need packet-mark-based shaping, multi-level hierarchies, or guaranteed bandwidth across traffic classes. Requires mangle marks but offers full HTB control.

Queue types

Both Simple Queue and Queue Tree use queue types to determine how packets are scheduled within a queue. The default is FIFO, but you can assign PCQ, SFQ, RED, CAKE, or FQ-CoDel types.

See Queue Types for a full reference.

In this section

Document	What it covers
Queue Types	FIFO, PCQ, SFQ, RED, HTB, CAKE, FQ-CoDel disciplines
Queue Tree	Hierarchical shaping, HTB, multi-class QoS
Burst Settings	burst-limit, burst-threshold, burst-time mechanics
Priority Queuing	Priority 1–8 in Simple Queue and Queue Tree
PCQ Example	Per-connection fairness for shared links
PFIFO / BFIFO	Basic FIFO queue types
DSCP Queue Integration	Integrating DSCP marks with queue shaping
HTB ISP Tiered Bandwidth	Multi-tier subscriber bandwidth management
Home Bandwidth Management	Practical home/SOHO queue setup
CAKE / FQ-CoDel	Modern AQM algorithms for bufferbloat elimination

Related

• Simple Queue — per-client rate limiting without mangle
• Mangle — packet marking prerequisite for Queue Tree
• Packet Flow — where queues sit in the processing pipeline