Lurker here finally asking a question. So, from what I see a lot and hear from my players locally the ranger is lacking heavily in combat. Especially the Beast Master. I was considering houseruling some changes into the Ranger that would make it better but I am unsure if they're any good, or too good. Anyway here goes.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
I was thinking about changing there regular ability score improvements to the fighters, thus giving hte Ranger better stats and more feats. Namely doing this for the feats, giving them more combat ability. So it would look like.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 6th, 8th, 12th, 14th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
This will be an even bigger deal with what I am about to say for the Beast Master.
When you first get the Archetype at Level 3, your animal companion can share certain feats with you. This would be the list I'd allow.
Alert
Athlete
Charger (Weapon melee attack can be replaced with natural attack)
Dungeon Delver
Grappler
Lucky (Not sure if this was possible, make it so that you can sure your lucky dice with your animal companion)
Mage Slayer (Again, replaced weapon attack with natural)
Mobile
Savage Attacker (weapon to natural)
Sentinel (weapon to natural)
I kinda threw this list together with a spur of the moment kind of thing the other day but I just thought this would help the ranger. Of course animal companions who already have some of the traits the feats give you wouldn't benefit, or in some cases it wouldn't matter. I'm still a new Dm and experimenting with the game, can I just get some thoughts please?
The extra feats/ability score improvement thing is taking away from the fighter. The fighter has always had the most feats, it's his thing. If you really want to, six feats, like the rogue would probably be more appropriate. Though I advise against it. I believe the base ranger is fine. Most people I know just allow the beast master to control his companion as a bonus action or with no action at all. 
There was another thread here where the ranger was outshining not just the fighter but the rest of the party. I think collosus slayer was part of it.
Maybe this is more an issue with the beastmaster rather than the ranger perse?
I'm with CulveDaddy... if I was DMing a Beastmaster Ranger, I would allow her "control" of her beast companion with verbal cues or hand signals (basically a free action). The beast would generally attack a target for free with "basic attacks", however, any special moves would require the Ranger to use either a Bonus Action or Action (don't know which yet for sure). I may allow the Beasts to scale up and gain bonus HP or damage or AC/DR as it "levels" with the Ranger. I may even allow for multiple beasts basically guided by the ranger.
However, although the Ranger may control most of the general actions of the beast (like commanding it to attack, or flee, or something), as the the final arbiter of the creature. If it is really wounded, it may disengage and flee combat. Really loyal beasts would fight to the death for their Ranger companions. It just really depends, depending on the situation, the relationship the Ranger has with the creature, and the personality of the creature itself.
Also having the creatures add more depth and utility to the party will possibly allow the Ranger to "feel" more useful. So having creatures help out in a lot more circumstances, like breaking and entering into places, stealing small objects, adding to intimidation rolls, etc. Really thinking - Beastmaster, the movie...heh.
In my opinion what the ranger is lacking that he had in the past is more attacks like the fighter. Ranger get's a total of 2 attacks per attack action + more under specific situations Fighter gets a total of 4 attacks under every situation.
Extra attacks in this version are a big deal, as most monsters and classes get one or two at the most. It means a lot of more damage. It is why 4 attack + two weapon fighting this edition is outclassing everything else damage wise.
They had other meleecentric nonfighter classes getting more than 2 attacks per attack action but for some reason shut that down during the Next test. Give the ranger another extra attack for a total of 3 and he becomes more competitive. Give him 4 and he'll really shine, although fighter types will whine like there's no tomorrow.
I like the idea of giving armor to Beasty companions to increase their AC. Something about an armored wolf sounds just awesome to me.
4 attacks is the fighter's signature, 3 would be fine for the ranger, or you could go the pally route and get him extra damage somewhere else. BEast master being able to use his beast as a bonus or non-action gets nasty real quaick, and if the hunter's multi-attack abilities were attacks instead of actions so they could double up it would be a different ball game for the ranger.
The ranger's issue is a low amount of synergy, most classes try to have powers that work well together and can be combo'd a bit. Ranger is just all over the map.
Count me with those who eliminate the need for an action to command your beast companion. I allow actions to grant your companion additional attacks/actions beyond what they can normally do (much like a Battle Master has a maneuver or two that grants attacks to allies).
For the Hunter, they can excel if they make heavy use of hunter's mark. According to my calculations, using two-weapon fighting, horde breaker, and hunter's mark a high-level ranger will outdamage everyone but a fighter, assuming multiple enemies to attack. Even without hunter's mark they are right up there with paladin. If you go collosus slayer instead of horde breaker you don't need to focus on two opponents, but you will drop behind paladin in damage output. Also, always go two-weapon fighting with a ranger, unless you are going with archery or aren't too worried about optimization. Rangers also have superior area of effect capabilities. Hunter rangers are extremely effective multiple opponent and area of effect warriors. They drop behind others if they focus on a single target.
(All of this assumes no feats. Feats change everything, and I didn't even attempt to assess their effects.)
okay, thank you all for the suggestions!