[SOLVED] Help Troubleshooting Slow Transfer to External Hard Drive via Wireless Home Network

[jeffy3]

I would appreciate help narrowing down possible causes for a recent issue.

I have a Nighthawk Router with a 1TB external hard drive connected via USB3. For the past several days whenever I try to send a file from my laptop to the external hard drive it takes MUCH longer than it used to. A 1.03GB file took over 35 minutes. Transfer speeds range from 350 KB/s to 700 KB/s.

I connected the hard drive directly to the laptop via USB and transfer was lightning quick. So I am assuming this rules out the hard drive as the culprit.

I also connected the laptop to the router via Ethernet and the transfer was very fast. I am also assuming this rules out the USB3 port in the router as a problem?

I rebooted the router and Arris modem multiple times.

Downloading speed and internet speed seem fine.

What troubleshooting steps do you recommend to narrow down the possible issue(s)? I feel like the problem has been narrowed down to the wifi on the laptop or the wifi in the router. Anything involving Ethernet works fine.

 

[kanewolf]

I would appreciate help narrowing down possible causes for a recent issue.

I have a Nighthawk Router with a 1TB external hard drive connected via USB3. For the past several days whenever I try to send a file from my laptop to the external hard drive it takes MUCH longer than it used to. A 1.03GB file took over 35 minutes. Transfer speeds range from 350 KB/s to 700 KB/s.

I connected the hard drive directly to the laptop via USB and transfer was lightning quick. So I am assuming this rules out the hard drive as the culprit.

I also connected the laptop to the router via Ethernet and the transfer was very fast. I am also assuming this rules out the USB3 port in the router as a problem?

I rebooted the router and Arris modem multiple times.

Downloading speed and internet speed seem fine.

What troubleshooting steps do you recommend to narrow down the possible issue(s)? I feel like the problem has been narrowed down to the wifi on the laptop or the wifi in the router. Anything involving Ethernet works fine.

It may be the CPU on the router instead of the WIFI. But it might be WIFI. WIFI is a bad network technology for transferring large files. It is 1/2 duplex. That means that every time the router needs to confirm a packet, the laptop has to stop transmitting. Only one device can transmit at a time. That is very inefficient.
You would also need to look at the link speed you are getting on your wireless connection. Maybe you are connected via 2.4Ghz. That could be limited to about 70Mbit / s throughput. WAY less that USB.