Abstract This paper is concerned with the design of improved active queue management (AQM) control schemes for time-delay systems taking into account explicitly the presence of delays in the controller design. A robust controller coping with uncertainties on the network parameters such as round-trip time and load variations is proposed. This is based on an appropriate robust reduction method for time-delay systems. A robust observer for time-delay systems is used to estimate online the average transmission window resulting in a robust output feedback stabilization scheme for AQM. The resulting control law is validated and tested firstly through numerical simulations and then pseudo-experimentally by network simulator (NS-2).