LAN speeds vary - help

[pdxrealtor]

I have a netgear n-600 router, gigabit. It's in my office as is my cable modem and server, and main laptop.

I can get 110 MB/s from server to laptop ssd when in the office, about 30 ft of cable length.

From laptop to server I get 50 MB/s most likely due to the parity drive. No problem, happy with those numbers.

I ran a total of 180 ft. from my office to my down stairs theater room, directly into a giga switch (mono price).

When I go down stairs with the laptop and hook up through the switch (or direct for that matter) I drop to 100 speeds.

I find it hard to believe (from reading) that I'm losing the giga speed on the length of the wire. Plus, it sounds like running the main wire into the giga switch should act as a repeater/booster.

Any ideas as to what is going on ? What should I check? Or am I just stuck with the 100 speeds?

 

[coxhaus]

Providing all equipment is gig and the wire is cat5e or better then you should have a gig connection down stairs. If you are still getting 100meg then I would bypass the switch and see if the laptop gets a gig connection. If the laptop does not get a gig connection I would check termination of the wire. I don’t think it is interference because it would be more intermittent showing a gig connection not 100meg. A 180 feet should not be a problem for cat5e. I guess it could be a low grade of wire so the equipment is connecting at 100meg.

 

[pdxrealtor]

Providing all equipment is gig and the wire is cat5e or better then you should have a gig connection down stairs. If you are still getting 100meg then I would bypass the switch and see if the laptop gets a gig connection. If the laptop does not get a gig connection I would check termination of the wire. I don’t think it is interference because it would be more intermittent showing a gig connection not 100meg. A 180 feet should not be a problem for cat5e. I guess it could be a low grade of wire so the equipment is connecting at 100meg.

It's cat6 wire. I did bypass the switch and no go. Exact same speeds. I bough the wire pre-assembled from mono price.

The only way I've tested speeds is to initiate a file transfer between server upstairs and computer down stairs.

I thought interference too, I am run on the same run as some cable from the cable company and on top of a couple plastic conduits that carry A/C voltage. I just don't see that dropping down to an almost precise 100 speed.

 

[coxhaus]

It is always a good idea to test terminated cables before installing. I bet is a bad cable. Do you have any IT friends with a cable tester? If not then I would pull the cable and test it. It probably needs to go back and get replaced.

 

[PrivateJoker]

A couple things. . .

- first I agree w/ @Coxhaus to verify cable integrity, ideally both before and after it is pulled. Other things I'd sort of check as you diagnose the health of the cable might be:

- does your switch or laptop w/ gigabit port have a visual (or software in the case of the laptop) indication of 100 vs 1000Mb connection? Some switches and/or NICs can perform varying levels of diagnostics on the cable (yet few can seemingly report them with much more than the LED)

- you mentioned dropping "down to an almost precise 100 speed" that's as you measured it? (just verifying if that speed/auto-neg connection was confirmed by the ethernet adapters at either end)

- is it shielded or unshielded cat6 cable? Improperly terminated shields at either end can introduce noise

Then, if a basic "dumb" Cat5/6 cable tester passes your cable, the situation could be a bit tougher to resolve. . .

- "run on the same run as some cable from the cable company"
I can't visualize exactly how your runs are pulled, but 75ohm RG6 is very resilient in its abilities to resist outside interference, it is basically insulation upon shielding upon insulation. . .so just because it's in tandem with coax doesn't mean the route is also good for cat6

- "on top of a couple plastic conduits that carry A/C voltage"
How many X# linear feet is your pull in Y# proximity to Z# amperage of A/C power? Any combination of a high X# and/or Z# with a low Y# could be the culprit. This jumped out at me when I visualized 180 feet of Cat6 in close proximity to A/C wires, that and the fact that plastic conduit is only providing an electrical safety insulation to the A/C wires inside it, not a grounding safety or an RFI/EFI mitigation capacity.

- isolate the A/C circuit that is running in tandem with the Cat6 and try turning of its breaker at your panel and re-test the Cat6. You can get a cheap non-contact voltage detector ($10 or so at Amazon for a name brand one) to help determine if you're de-energizing the proper circuit.

If it does look like the A/C is the culprit, you might have to physically re-do the run. Either re-do it by re-routing it, or run thin-wall (EMT) conduit for it to be pulled in (2x the diameter of your cable bundle, so 1/2" OD EMT is ok for 1-3 Cat6 cables) and then it could still follow in somewhat close proximity to your A/C lines.

Also, well grounded and intersystem ground (unified ground for A/C mains, CATV, and POTS telephone, etc.) are best practices when chasing down these kind of gremlins. I'm kind of a nut and do things like ground all my coax splitters and stuff.

hth

 

[coxhaus]

I would not recommend a dumb tester. You need a tester that can certify the wire. These kinds of tester can pickup fluorescence lights and AC cables which can cause problems. Since you said you are getting 100 meg connections and not gig connections that leads me to believe it is a bad wire. It is probably a bad termination, I have seen this many times. Maybe you can haul the wire somewhere to get it certified.

I assume you tried a different port which is working in your master switch just to make sure you don’t have a bad port.

 

[PrivateJoker]

I would not recommend a dumb tester. You need a tester that can certify the wire. These kinds of tester can pickup fluorescence lights and AC cables which can cause problems. Since you said you are getting 100 meg connections and not gig connections that leads me to believe it is a bad wire. It is probably a bad termination, I have seen this many times. Maybe you can haul the wire somewhere to get it certified.

I assume you tried a different port which is working in your master switch just to make sure you don’t have a bad port.

@coxhaus You're suggesting like a Fluke handheld tester? I gotcha now, yes if you have access to one, or someone who has one, they are amazing.

They are also available for rental all over the net.

 

[coxhaus]

Fluke would be fine. I would test from both ends to see which end is giving you trouble. If you can’t send the wire back just reterminate it while you have the tester.
A friend of mine hired a Direct TV guy to cable his house. If you don’t want to do the work yourself you might want to consider getting someone to fix it while you have the tester onboard.

 

[matthelm]

I ran a total of 180 ft. from my office to my down stairs theater room, directly into a giga switch (mono price).

When I go down stairs with the laptop and hook up through the switch (or direct for that matter) I drop to 100 speeds.

I find it hard to believe (from reading) that I'm losing the giga speed on the length of the wire. Plus, it sounds like running the main wire into the giga switch should act as a repeater/booster.

I've had issues on and off when I went over 100 feet. I know the spec says 100m, but that's my input. Personally I think it's mainly the driver/receiver chips in some products.

 

[coxhaus]

I've had issues on and off when I went over 100 feet. I know the spec says 100m, but that's my input. Personally I think it's mainly the driver/receiver chips in some products.

If this is true, then I would try a high end gig switch before I pull the wire out. I worked with lots of Cisco switches and never saw a problem with a switch not making the distance. Consumer gear is a whole different animal than real Cisco gear. I have had problems with cheap wire not meeting the spec and causing problems. I have seen lots of termination problems. Some plugs just go bad after a while on the wire. I think the crimp releases just enough to cause problems.

Please let us know what you figure out.

 

[pdxrealtor]

A couple things. . .


- does your switch or laptop w/ gigabit port have a visual (or software in the case of the laptop) indication of 100 vs 1000Mb connection? Some switches and/or NICs can perform varying levels of diagnostics on the cable (yet few can seemingly report them with much more than the LED)

I pulled up the screen on the router and it did in fact show a 100 connection for that port. So I pulled it off port 1 and put it on port 3. Got an instant 1000.

Ran down stairs with the lap top, hooked it up, and initiated a file transfer from my server. 110 MB/s.

I'm not sure what happened but my guess is this.

I have the cable going through a surge protector. It's not giga rated. I took this out of the loop when I first realized I was only getting 100 speeds. The router must not have reset for whatever reason.

I am getting 1000 speeds off the wall plate and also on the other end of the switch, so all is good.

I really don't need 1000 speeds down there unless I'm for some odd reason doing file transfers to the server. But someday that could change and I wanted to make sure I have it if I need it.

To answer your question on how it's ran. Imagine the outside of a home that has cable or satellite installed. Wires get run horizontally and vertically to there end point. In my office I have cable TV, so I simply followed the cable cord with a cat 6 cord. Nothing fancy, no conduit etc.... just a regular cat 6 cord.

When it reaches the back side of our house all the cable runs, and the the cat 6 run, are bunched up to two plastic conduit runs that carry 220 to the A/C and a tanning bed. All that is also connected to a gas line we had installed. But..... doesn't seem to be an issue.

Thanks for all your input and suggestions.

 

[PrivateJoker]

Hooray! I'm thrilled the fix was so easy.

 

[pdxrealtor]

Thanks. Me too.

Thanks again to all who provided input.

 

[coxhaus]

I am glad it worked out without having to pull the wire.