Solving: Slow LAN speeds and directing traffic by NIC

[Hoochee]

Setup

• HP laptop
• Win10 Home v1909
• Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
• Intel Dual Band Wireless AC3160
• WD easystore external USB connected thru 3.0
• Connection to network: ethernet via TP-Link powerline w/ Gigbit capability**
• Internet speedtest: 75-83Mbs (100Mb down is the ATT plan I'm on)
• VPN installed and running

• AT&T w/ Pace 5268 has direct internet connection and is set in DMZ Plus mode and wireless radios turned off; connected via ethernet to
• Netgear X4S R7800 router*, indicator lights show the connection is gigabit; connected via TP-Link powerline w/ Gigabit capability** to
• Linksys Max-Stream AC200 MU-MIMO Tri-Band (set in reapeater mode) connected thru Netgear GS108 switch (passive) via ethernet to
• Thecus N5550 NAS connected via USB 2.0 to
• WD easystore (NAS is getting full)

* At the Netgear I get 97-99Mbs internet download speed)
** TP-Links are used because there are too many firebreaks to drill through run cable (for now)
The Netgear and Linksys have Smart Connect and Band Steering enabled, respectively (so they decide which band a device connects to depending on signal strength)​

Problems I'm trying to solve:
1) Slow file transfer from Win10 to Thecus: for file transfer from Win10 easystore to the Thecus, max speed I see is ~4Mb/s but it heavily fluctuates between that and a few hundred kb/s with an average of ~2MB/s

2) Slow file transfer from Thecus to direct connected USB easystore

3) Slow wifi internet speed from Win10 to both the Netgear and Linksys routers: 18-27Mbs


For #1 I've tried:
Win10 machine ethernet NIC set to use Google's Public DNS addresses, and disabled LSO IPv4 (IPv6 is not installed)

Using WinSCP to transfer files via ftp between Win10 machine and Thecus. I get the same avg of ~2Mb/s transfer using WinSCP or drag and drop with Win10's File Explorer


For #2 I've tried:
Using WinSCP to transfer files via ftp between Win10 machine and Thecus. I get the same avg of ~2MB/s transfer using WinSCP or drag and drop with Win10's File Explorer

Don't know what else to try


For #3 I've tried:
using inSSIDer Home; however, I just installed it and have not done the work to understand what it's telling me other than the 2.4 signal strength in the room with the Win10 machine is -54 dBm. It has a Co-Channel : 8 and Overlapping: 3. This is for the Netgear router set on Ch 11 which looks to provide the fewest overlaps which I understand to be a bigger issue than co-channels.

I can stand in the room with the Pace and Netgear routers and start a speed test on my iPhone 6S - I get ~60-70Mbs. As I walk toward the room with the Win10 machine the speed drops to ~60Mbs. That test ends, I'm standing in the room with the Win10 machine, I start a new speed test and I get ~18-27Mbs. This appears to be because while I'm standing close to the router I'm on 5GHz and I stay on that while the test completes, while I'm walking to the room with the Win10 machine. Then when I run the speed test again the phone has switched to 2.4GHZ.

If I can sort out #1 and #2 I'd be golden. The only reason I was looking at the wifi issue is because I thought I'd set the Win10 machine to use ethernet for internet and wireless for LAN traffic. It's quite possible I'm SOL on improving the LAN transfer speeds without running cable, but thought I'd ask here before beginning demolition.

 

[calvin tran]

What antivirus SW do you have? my cousin had a similar issue until we disabled the antivirus ( avast or avg free version) then I told him to use bitdefender.

 

[Hoochee]

Might seem arrogant, naive or foolhardy but I don’t need AV so don’t use it.

 

[MichaelCG]

Might seem arrogant, naive or foolhardy but I don’t need AV so don’t use it.

You have Windows and an Internet connection....yes you need AV of some sort. Windows Defender which is included in Win10 is more than enough these days.

I am not able to understand what is connected to what here? What is the data transfer path being tested here?

Internet -E-> Pace -E-> Netgear -P-> TP-Link -P-> Netgear -E-> Thecus -U-> WD

- how is the laptop connected to the network during testing?
- DNS, VPN, etc....should have no bearing here...this is all internal LAN transfers correct??

You have waaaaay too many variables to be able to troubleshoot here. You have WiFI, PowerLine, USB 2.0, and USB 3.0 connections in play here. All of them may have have major performance issues

You need to remove the WiFi and PowerLine from the discussion first. Test the file transfer via a wired connection between the Laptop and the NAS. Then start adding in the other components one by one until the performance tanks. Once you can confirm the component causing such slow transfer rates, maybe then we can start helping to troubleshoot and give advice.

 

[Hoochee]

You have Windows and an Internet connection....yes you need AV of some sort. Windows Defender which is included in Win10 is more than enough these days.

No, I don't. My systems have never been breached in a little over 40 years of operating in Windows (and other OSs). I have never had a virus or malware and 100% confident it will never happen. Hopefully we can move on from that and focus on the actual issues.

What's connected to what and how? I suppose I could draw a diagram, but you have it correct @MichaelCG

Data path being tested? See the numbered list in my OP, primarily focused on #1 and #2, so two paths for troubleshooting.

1) Slow file transfer from Win10 to Thecus: for file transfer from Win10 easystore to the Thecus, max speed I see is ~4Mb/s but it heavily fluctuates between that and a few hundred kb/s with an average of ~2MB/s

2) Slow file transfer from Thecus to direct connected USB easystore​

How is the laptop connected during testing? See the 6th bullet under the first set of bullets. Arguably I should have indented the 2nd thru 7th bullets to probably make it clearer those all relate to the laptop. "Connection to network: ethernet via TP-Link powerline w/ Gigbit capability**"

Too many variables in current set up to test? Meh. I've already tested a direct wired connection between the laptop and NAS and speeds are as expected. I've slept a couple of times I posted this issue and can;t recall all the speeds with the various components connected so will re-check and come back.

 

[degrub]

In the use of MB/s and Mb/s, which is it Bytes or bits ? Both seem to be used interchangeably but there is a factor of 8 difference.

Usage of usb 2 for a connection to a disk connected to a NAS to transfer data will be very slow. Have you tested the data rate for this transfer while directly connected to the NAS ?

it makes a huge difference if you are transferring a bunch of small files by copy or if you are transferring one large file. Look at the NASPT tests for directory versus large file - it is an order of magnitude usually.

your wireless from the 6s appears to be functioning as expected so lets take that out of the testing.

Link rate indication on a lan port does not indicate actual data rate.

powerline is notorious for being flakey and variable depending on the electrical noise in your power system internal to the house and from outside. It can be very slow. Using the latest standard devices can sometimes help. Also, if you have any other active elements in the power system, like AFC breakers or GFCI (less of an issue) or surge arrestors, etc, the system will have issues.

get two machine capable of running iperf to determine what is going on in your lan. Set one to run server and the other to run client.
Starting at the router, connect the two devices and get a base line data rate through the lan ports. Document. Then move the client out one leg of your network. Test again. Document. Repeat until you get out to the last leg of your hardwired network. If you are using your laptop as one of the devices, make sure the wireless card is disabled.