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[SOLVED] ANY strictly LAN activity renders anything else (Such as Internet) unusable.

Aarix

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Jul 15, 2014
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Okay so I have 2 custom built computers, one for my Desktop, another for my NAS. Both have a 1gbps NIC. The NAS is running Windows server 2016 and the desktop is running Windows 10 Pro. I have an Arris modem/router combo.

Whenever ANYTHING happens that involves anything moving files back and forth for backup, everything else is "congested" . Webpages won't load, they try but it's in vain. I kept a latency test up and it goes into the 2000ms, both computers are essentially useless to do anything as long as my NAS is getting files from my Desktop. Both duplex settings are set to auto-negotiate. I bought a NETGEAR-GS108T-200NAS switch and plugged them both into it. Everything is still horribly slow but I can see it effectively bouncing between loading websites and transferring files. Youtube videos barely load at 144p and web pages are slow but doable.

This is not acceptable. I need to be able to freely backup files on a schedule and not have it affect anything else. The transfer speeds are like 7-13mb/sec, That may be enough to fill the pipeline of a 100mb NIC but I have 1gps. I have spent hours, and hours and hours looking into this. I can't find topics other than "Slow SMB speeds", "Poor transfer speeds over VPN" and things that are useless to me. I talked to my coworker that's a network engineer and he said that shouldn't be happening. You would think if this was expected behavior it would be more findable but it's not.

What do I have to research (If anything) to configure this switch to do proper QoS if that is the culprit. Otherwise, can someone explain to me why doing something that is not using the Internet in any regard, takes that big of a hit to access the Internet, is it by design unable to be properly segregated? If so, what are my options to get the result I want.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.
 
Solution
And I'm assuming you are using a 1 Gb/s capable cable that connects the two NICs? What is the cabling situation? Your desktop has cat5e (or better) to your Arris, same deal with your NAS?

What's a speed test result from your desktop? Also, remember MB and Mb are totally different. Does your transfer say 12 MB/s? Because if so, that's about right for a 100 Mb link. (1 MB = 1 Mega Byte = 8 Mb = 8 Mega bits). So 12.5 MB (Mega Bytes) equals 100 Mb (Mega bits).

That would make sense if your link speed is 100 Mb, you're getting 12 MB file transfer to your NAS (which is 100 Mb) and saturating the link, meaning no more bandwidth for youtube or whatever.

Edit: Also remember that a 1 Gb NIC doesn't magically make your network speed 1 Gb...
And I'm assuming you are using a 1 Gb/s capable cable that connects the two NICs? What is the cabling situation? Your desktop has cat5e (or better) to your Arris, same deal with your NAS?

What's a speed test result from your desktop? Also, remember MB and Mb are totally different. Does your transfer say 12 MB/s? Because if so, that's about right for a 100 Mb link. (1 MB = 1 Mega Byte = 8 Mb = 8 Mega bits). So 12.5 MB (Mega Bytes) equals 100 Mb (Mega bits).

That would make sense if your link speed is 100 Mb, you're getting 12 MB file transfer to your NAS (which is 100 Mb) and saturating the link, meaning no more bandwidth for youtube or whatever.

Edit: Also remember that a 1 Gb NIC doesn't magically make your network speed 1 Gb. EVERYTHING in the network has to be gigabit for you to get gigabit. Perhaps your Arris ports are 100 Mb? That would bottleneck everything down to 100 Mb or roughly 12 MB. If this is the case, consider buying a small 1 Gb switch (like a 4-8 port and put it in front of your router. This way, when your desktop talks to your NAS, you'll get gigabit (assuming cabling is good) and then internet traffic will be 100 Mb which might be the bottleneck of your router/switch ports anyway.

So it would be like this: PC and NAS are both connected to the new small gigabit switch. The gigabit switch is then connected to the Arris. Arris is connected to the modem which goes back to your ISP.
 
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Solution
I would try using something like iperf to test/load the LAN - determine if it is a network issue or a file transfer issue.
I would then try it with the router unplugged from the switch - determine if the router is doing something stupid (arp poisoning?).
Thank you for your response. I got the switch AFTER the fact since directly into the router due to it being absolutely unusable not because it can't find it, because the load balance seems to be off. I could do it with only the switch but that won't tell me any proper information,

And I'm assuming you are using a 1 Gb/s capable cable that connects the two NICs? What is the cabling situation? Your desktop has cat5e (or better) to your Arris, same deal with your NAS?

What's a speed test result from your desktop? Also, remember MB and Mb are totally different. Does your transfer say 12 MB/s? Because if so, that's about right for a 100 Mb link. (1 MB = 1 Mega Byte = 8 Mb = 8 Mega bits). So 12.5 MB (Mega Bytes) equals 100 Mb (Mega bits).

That would make sense if your link speed is 100 Mb, you're getting 12 MB file transfer to your NAS (which is 100 Mb) and saturating the link, meaning no more bandwidth for youtube or whatever.

Edit: Also remember that a 1 Gb NIC doesn't magically make your network speed 1 Gb. EVERYTHING in the network has to be gigabit for you to get gigabit. Perhaps your Arris ports are 100 Mb? That would bottleneck everything down to 100 Mb or roughly 12 MB. If this is the case, consider buying a small 1 Gb switch (like a 4-8 port and put it in front of your router. This way, when your desktop talks to your NAS, you'll get gigabit (assuming cabling is good) and then internet traffic will be 100 Mb which might be the bottleneck of your router/switch ports anyway.

So it would be like this: PC and NAS are both connected to the new small gigabit switch. The gigabit switch is then connected to the Arris. Arris is connected to the modem which goes back to your ISP.

I didn't expect that much insight, I appreciate it. The cable is Cat6, speed tests show what my ISP gives me, the issue is mainly latency. I can tell the connection is a gig because the router has an amber light for 100mb and green for 1gb, they both are green and when in the switch, it also tells me that. I did exactly that (buying a switch, NETGEAR-GS108T-200NAS ) and it made things from impossible to a step under acceptable so that told me it's a load balance issue.



What I ended up doing was telling my NAS to backup and sync through the IP address of my wifi card (as that's not really being used). Same speed and no latency with that so since so it may not be what I had in mind when I spent a few hundred building that NAS but I'm content. Probably will get a 2nd NIC card later. Thank you both for your insights.