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File transfer speed: Upload doesn't match download

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onesnark

New Around Here
I have a weird one.

Asus RT-AC66U_B1 router.
WD EX2 Ultra NAS

Internal network is running fine. Communication speeds consistent with a gigabit network.

Speedtest.net gives a 20MB Down/5MB up transfer speed for my home network.
Speedtest.net gives a 10MB Down/2MB up transfer speed for a remote network. (I have tried three different remote networks, each with different ISP's)


The problem. . . if I try to stream (say, using PLEX) from my NAS on my home network to a PC on the remote network, I consistently see a really low transfer speed (Resulting in stuttering video)
IF I try a simple file transfer (connected via VPN to my ASUS router), I see 400-800 kps transfer speed
Using the WD.com website from outside my network results in similar speeds.

Now, on the router I see the QOS-WAN/LAN bandwidth monitor. The monitor is showing the NAS transferring at 3-5MBS. . . consistent with speed test limit for upload on my home network. HOWEVER, the files appear to be transferring at the paltry 400-800kbps speed.

Any thoughts?
 
Speedtest.net gives a 20MB Down/5MB up transfer speed for my home network.
Speedtest.net gives a 10MB Down/2MB up transfer speed for a remote network. (I have tried three different remote networks, each with different ISP's)
What is this, megabytes per second or megabits per second?

Are you transferring over a VPN connection?

Have you enabled QoS on the router? If so try turning it off.
 
Thanks for the quick response.

QoS is off. When I do a direct file transfers. . . I am using a VPN. When I try to use Plex, or the WD.com website, I am not on a VPN

I may indeed be dealing with MBps and Mbps confusion.

Sooooo. . .going into full noob mode. . . .if I have 5 Mbps service. . . . .I will get file transfer at 0.625 MBps rate = 625 KBps rate?
Speed test reports. . . . Mbps? File transfer in Windows Explorer is MBps?

I guess the bottom line (why am I not surprised) is that I need to upgrade my internet service?
(in my defense. . . I find the most *reliable* method is to bring a small hard drive with media with me; so I have not devoted much time to comprehending this side of things)
 
Yes, internet speedtest sites report the rate in bits per second whereas Windows Explorer file copies are in bytes per second.

Just to add a bit of extra complication, speedtest numbers are in multiples of 1000 whereas Windows Explorer uses multiples of 1024.

So, 5 Mb = 5,000,000 bits = 625,000 bytes = 610 kBytes (using base 1024). Of course if you're using a VPN there are additional overheads that will reduce the throughput further.
 
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Yes, internet speedtest sites report the rate in bits per second whereas Windows Explorer file copies are in bytes per second.

Just to add a bit of extra complication, speedtest numbers are in multiples of 1000 whereas Windows Explorer uses multiples of 1024.

So, 5 Mb = 5,000,000 bits = 625,000 bytes = 610 kBytes (using base 1024). Of course if you're using a VPN there are additional overheads that will reduce the throughput further.

GOT IT.

I just had never bothered to understand just HOW SLOW my ISP upload speed (5 Mbps) really was.
Internet here in the US is stupid slow, and has always lagged Europe.

When I got my NAS, I was focused on internal network needs and ignored internet access capability.
But in all my more recent playing to get DNS, port forwarding, VPN, and all that jazz working. . . . I never encountered the fact that my basic ISP speed was going to give me *crud* performance.

I honestly was expecting 5MBps and thinking that was the compromise for not being on the home network. Yes - - - a noob error.

Eh. While I could upgrade my ISP service ($$); the more practical solution is to continue bringing media on an external drive when I travel away from home.

Bottom line: Thanks for the quick feedback and for straightening me out.
 
To find out the speed on your personal network/LAN, you have to use iPerf. The results can vary depending on what is going on at that time during the test. The same with VPN’s and the Internet itself. With VPN’s, there have to be enough connections and server space to handle the load.
 
You mentioned Plex above as well so another option may be to generate lower quality media for remote playback.
 

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