The systems and methods discussed herein provide for relative QoS gain measurement, and reduction in variance of QoS during bandwidth contention. In some implementations, the system measures relative QoS gains of, or penalties to, similar connections or network flows due to different factors that affect the transmission throughput and QoS. The system provides scheduling of packets on different connections or flows according to ratios of QoS penalties or gains on the connections or flows, preventing a well-performing connection or flow from cannibalizing throughput from under-performing connections or flows.