[SOLVED] Gigabit Network isn't gigabiting.

[wobbleidz]

Hey there,

I hope this thread finds you all great, cause I need a bit of help right now haha.

So I just finished building up my NAS server and everything is fine and dandy BUT, I'm getting speeds of only 10mb/s, unfortunately. And I have no clue why...

A bit about my setup -
NAS Server Specs: Super Micro Motherboard X9SRH-7TF, SAS controller SAS9201-16i, 128 GB ECC Memory, 1 x 3.7 E5 1620 V2 CPU, Nvidia Quadro P400 GPU, 2 SSD Drives for boot, and 20 x Seagate 3TB 7.2K 6Gbps 64MB SAS Drives. (has dedicated gigabit ports)
Main Server Specs: HP Z600, Xeon Quad Core, 64 GB ECC Memory, 1 NVME drive for boot, 2 SATA 4TB Drives for storage, Nvidia Quadro P5000 GPU. (has a dedicated gigabit port)
I'm using an ASUS RT-N66U Gigabit Router which is connected to the main Virgin Media HUB Router (turned to Modem Mode so I could use my own network equipment and settings. And yes the HUB does have a gigabit port as well, not that it would matter). From the Asus Router, I also have a NETGEAR 8 Port Gigabit Network Switch GS108 connected (needed more ports).

So in my Asus router, I have connected two main UTP Cat5 cables that go straight to two computers in the house, a EUFY Homebase video hub and the gigabit switch.
from my Asus router to my Netgear switch, I ran a 30-meter FTP cat6 cable (would this possibly be an issue for the non-gigabit speeds?)
in my Switch, I have connected an FTP Cat6 that goes into the NAS and another one that goes into the other server.

Both servers have proxmox installed bare metal and I'm virtualizing TrueNAS Scale through them. I also pass through every HDD (as raw images) with each VM and then proceeded to create the pools in TrueNAS VMs. (could this possibly be an issue?)

What I tried doing to troubleshoot:
Switched ports around.
I tried transferring files from my PC to the NAS (10mb/s)
I tried transferring files from my PC to the 2nd server (10mb/s)
I tried transferring files from the NAS to the 2nd server (10mb/s)
I tried setting my ethernet adapter speed & duplex to 1 gig full duplex.

I'm out of ideas, if someone could throw some input, that'd be amazing.

Cheers!

 

[Ralston18]

What was the reason for using FTP cable?

Where did the cable come from - source? Lots of fake, counterfeit cable being sold.

Try replacing the FTP cable with a known working (at Gigabyte speeds) Cat 5e UTP cable. Round, not flat.

Pure copper (no aluminum or copper cladded), 22-24 AWG wire.

 

[wobbleidz]

What was the reason for using FTP cable?

Where did the cable come from - source? Lots of fake, counterfeit cable being sold.

Try replacing the FTP cable with a known working (at Gigabyte speeds) Cat 5e UTP cable. Round, not flat.

Pure copper (no aluminum or copper cladded), 22-24 AWG wire.

Got it from amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BQDLNQ0?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

It'd be so bad if this was the issue as the entire 30m is routed from my house to my shed lmao.

But, even if it was this cable (which is routed from my router indoors to my switch, in the shed) shouldn't I be getting gigabit speeds between my servers? which are both connected on the gigabit switch? with proper cables which I know for a fact are proper because I got them from work and they ship with enterprise servers to customers.

 

[palladin9479]

Reading your description is hurting my brain, too much unnecessary detail.

Can you try a different switch at the location that is having issues? When troubleshooting this stuff you want to first find the location of the problem by testing each segment individually until you run into a problem.

 

[bill001g]

If you look the port status up does it say it is running at 10mbps or is it gigabit. Sometimes you can tell the port speed by the lights on the switch.

Transferring data between 2 devices on the same switch should not be affected by the cable going to the router. This might be a disk/software issue and not a network issue. You can try a old line mode program called IPERF.
It is very simple and does not use disk or much of anything other than the network. It would verify if your drivers/ports/switch were running at gigabit bit. You should see 900mbps+ in both directions.

The cable you purchased is garbage. It has 27AWG wires. In addition I strongly suspect you did not correctly install the shield grounding if you even attempted it. Shielded cables must have the shield connected to a ground and it can not be the same ground as the electrical wires run on it has to be a completely separate data ground and you must have it grounded on both ends. Pretty much shielded cable can only be used in a industrial or data center where they can get the special grounds. In most cases you just wasted your money for nothing. In worst case a ungrounded shield can act as a antenna and actually increase the interference.

Now it may or may not work well at 30 meters with that thin wire. The longer the cable the more problems you have when you buy things that do not meet the standards to be a actual ethernet cable.

BUT as you stated the should no affect 2 machines on the same switch.

 

[gggplaya]

Are you trying to copy a directory of files, or 1 large file?

What network protocol are you using, SMB(SAMBA), NFS, FTP etc...? Some file protocols have more overhead than others. Meaning with every file sent, some back and forth must take place. So transferring many small files would result in 10MB/s transfer speeds.

Try transferring 1 large file to see the speed.

 

[Grobe]

Try transferring 1 large file to see the speed.

Agree, this may actually be the very reason.

The issue here is too little usefu information - the only information provided here is "getting 10mb", that phrase is very little helpful as it gives non insight in where that number comes from. Like, is it the observed bitrate when transferring many files, or is it the NIC set limitation, or something else ?

 

[wobbleidz]

If you look the port status up does it say it is running at 10mbps or is it gigabit. Sometimes you can tell the port speed by the lights on the switch.

Transferring data between 2 devices on the same switch should not be affected by the cable going to the router. This might be a disk/software issue and not a network issue. You can try a old line mode program called IPERF.
It is very simple and does not use disk or much of anything other than the network. It would verify if your drivers/ports/switch were running at gigabit bit. You should see 900mbps+ in both directions.

The cable you purchased is garbage. It has 27AWG wires. In addition I strongly suspect you did not correctly install the shield grounding if you even attempted it. Shielded cables must have the shield connected to a ground and it can not be the same ground as the electrical wires run on it has to be a completely separate data ground and you must have it grounded on both ends. Pretty much shielded cable can only be used in a industrial or data center where they can get the special grounds. In most cases you just wasted your money for nothing. In worst case a ungrounded shield can act as a antenna and actually increase the interference.

Now it may or may not work well at 30 meters with that thin wire. The longer the cable the more problems you have when you buy things that do not meet the standards to be a actual ethernet cable.

BUT as you stated the should no affect 2 machines on the same switch.

Thank you for your kind reply. Due to your comment, I managed to find the issue. It is indeed the cables that I made myself. I either didn't do the RJ45 correctly or something like that. I ended up testing with a laptop directly in the switch and I get the 100mb/s. So a normal cable that's already pre-made, works fine. I will look up online and see if I'm doing something wrong when I do the cable ends myself.

 

[bill001g]

It is even more important when you make the cables yourself that the actual cable you are using meets the standard. If you were to say cut off the end of one of those cables you purchased that have 27awg wire the wires will not work in standard ends. You need wire size 22-24 to match the common jacks you find.