Taming Volatility: Stable and Private QUIC Classification with Federated Learning

Abstract: Federated Learning (FL) is a promising approach for privacy-preserving network traffic analysis, but its practical deployment is challenged by the non-IID nature of real-world data. While prior work has addressed statistical heterogeneity, the impact of temporal traffic volatility-the natural daily ebb and flow of network activity-on model stability remains largely unexplored. This volatility can lead to inconsistent data availability at clients, destabilizing the entire training process. In this paper, we systematically address the problem of temporal volatility in federated QUIC classification. We first demonstrate the instability of standard FL in this dynamic setting. We then propose and evaluate a client-side data buffer as a practical mechanism to ensure stable and consistent local training, decoupling it from real-time traffic fluctuations. Using the real-world CESNET-QUIC22 dataset partitioned into 14 autonomous clients, we then demonstrate that this approach enables robust convergence. Our results show that a stable federated system achieves a 95.2% F1 score, a mere 2.3 percentage points below a non-private centralized model. This work establishes a blueprint for building operationally stable FL systems for network management, proving that the challenges of dynamic network environments can be overcome with targeted architectural choices.