100Mb/s speeds in Gb network?

[ChalkChalkson]

Hi!

 

Recently I put down some Cat7 in the house so my NAS in the basement finally has a decent connection. Both my PC on the 1st floor and my NAS in the basement tell me their connection is Gb, but when I start a transfer it's very close to 100Mb/s (slightly below) with only very minimal fluctuations. The NAS has a (SATA sadly) SSD as cache, so it shouldn't be shitty drives, and when I use a PC that's hooked up to the same switch as the NAS I do actually get my Gb transfers.

 

Any idea how to troubleshoot this?

[TheKDub]

Did you mean MB/s? Or was Mb/s intentional? (b = bit, B = byte. 8 bits per byte)

 

Do both your NAS and PC have gigabit ethernet?

 

If you go to Network and Sharing Center, then click 'Ethernet' next to Connections for your current network, what does it say the speed is?

 

 

[Ezzy-525]

Something on one end is crapping out and making the entire connection default down to 100mbit.

 

What's the make and model of the NAS?

[Windows7ge]

Cat6a would have been fine for 10Gbit, Cat5e would have done the job fine for mere 1Gbit. I think you could have better allocated your money than putting it into Cat7.

1. Did you try another cable?
2. Are you sure you're reading it correctly? (~115MB/s is 1Gbit)
3. Did you try connecting it directly?
4. Did you try booting another OS and doing a transfer?

[ChalkChalkson]

DIY thingy made from left over PC parts and a couple WD Red drives. But I did validate that I can write to it at Gb when I am on the same switch

[ChalkChalkson]

Just now, Windows7ge said:

 I think you could have better allocated your money than putting it into Cat7.

Well, it was significantly cheaper than the Cat6e for some reason (reduced price and free shipping)....

Just now, Windows7ge said:

1. Did you try another cable?

You mean the switch to the decive or the cabling in the walls?

Just now, Windows7ge said:

1. Are you sure you're reading it correctly? (~115MB/s is 1Gbit)

~ 11.1-11.4 MB/s

Just now, Windows7ge said:

1. Did you try connecting it directly?

Will do next

Just now, Windows7ge said:

1. Did you try booting another OS and doing a transfer?

Not yet, guess I need to get another OS ready

[Arttu89]

So how many devices (switches/routers etc.) does the connection go through when you're not on the same switch? Sounds like it could be a bad connection ie. a badly terminated cable or keystone connector on one of the ethernet sockets in your house.

[Windows7ge]

2 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

Well, it was significantly cheaper than the Cat6e for some reason (reduced price and free shipping)....

Cat6a would have been for 10Gbit networking. Cat5e would have been sufficient here.

 

4 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

You mean the switch to the decive or the cabling in the walls?

Run a known good cable directly between the NAS and your computer. Eliminate all the networking equipment from the equation.

 

5 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

~ 11.1-11.4 MB/s

Yep that's 100Mbit.

 

5 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

Will do next

Let us know how that goes.

 

6 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

Not yet, guess I need to get another OS ready

You can boot something off a USB. It doesn't have to be a complete install. (faster/easier)

[ChalkChalkson]

4 minutes ago, Arttu89 said:

So how many devices (switches/routers etc.) does the connection go through when you're not on the same switch?

Router -> Switch upstairs -> my PC

Router -> Switch downstairs -> (switch that was temporarily there for trouble shooting) -> NAS

4 minutes ago, Arttu89 said:

Sounds like it could be a bad connection ie. a badly terminated cable or keystone connector on one of the ethernet sockets in your house.

Weird then that both devices report Gb though. Guess I could check by plugging my laptop in each of the switches

[Arttu89]

5 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

Router -> Switch upstairs -> my PC

Router -> Switch downstairs -> (switch that was temporarily there for trouble shooting) -> NAS

Weird then that both devices report Gb though. Guess I could check by plugging my laptop in each of the switches

The PC and NAS would normally just report the speed to the nearest network device they're connected, that would be the switches, which leaves the connection between the switches and the router.

 

I'd start with plugging the laptop with the cable that goes to the PC you're having problems on and then try to go towards the NAS, to see where the speed picks up.

[ChalkChalkson]

1 hour ago, Arttu89 said:

I'd start with plugging the laptop with the cable that goes to the PC you're having problems on and then try to go towards the NAS, to see where the speed picks up.

 

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

Let us know how that goes.

Turns out the run from the router to the basement is only 100Mb/s. For now I have moved the NAS directly to the router, but that might not do the trick. My TV is in the basement and 4k blue rays are around 100Mb/s bit rate as well IIRC

[Windows7ge]

11 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

Turns out the run from the router to the basement is only 100Mb/s. For now I have moved the NAS directly to the router, but that might not do the trick. My TV is in the basement and 4k blue rays are around 100Mb/s bit rate as well IIRC

Do you know if it's the wiring or is the routers interfaces only 100Mbit?

 

Re-terminating wall jacks isn't hard. If you know that's the issue its a 20~30 min fix.

[ChalkChalkson]

3 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Do you know if it's the wiring or is the routers interfaces only 100Mbit?

Yeah, now I have the nas hooked up to the router directly and I can write to it at Gb speed (I use the same model switch in the basement and upstairs and I checked direct transfer through the router->basement cable so I'm pretty sure that's at fault)

3 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Re-terminating wall jacks isn't hard. If you know that's the issue its a 20~30 min fix.

Yeah I know, I wired it up originally after all But that'll have to wait until tomorrow, spent too much time with this already

[ChalkChalkson]

4 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

Re-terminating wall jacks isn't hard. If you know that's the issue its a 20~30 min fix.

Ended up being more like an hour since the better half made sure that everything is hidden (aka inaccessible) 

Still sitting at 100Mb/s... Maybe the wire is bad (wouldn't be surprised considering it's literally bargain bin) or the run is too long or a combination of both.

 

Nobody here happens to know a piece of software that I can test a cable with? I checked if all the wires are hooked up correctly and whether they conduct, but that obviously doesn't say anything about signal integrity...

[Alex Atkin UK]

Yeah its probably gonna be a problem with the wiring/connection in the socket.  One of mine has the same issue because I struggled to crimp it correctly and didn't leave enough spare cable to redo it.  Fortunately the other end of that cable is only a 100Mbit switch at the moment anyway.

[Windows7ge]

1 hour ago, ChalkChalkson said:

Ended up being more like an hour since the better half made sure that everything is hidden (aka inaccessible) 

Still sitting at 100Mb/s... Maybe the wire is bad (wouldn't be surprised considering it's literally bargain bin) or the run is too long or a combination of both.

 

Nobody here happens to know a piece of software that I can test a cable with? I checked if all the wires are hooked up correctly and whether they conduct, but that obviously doesn't say anything about signal integrity...

Have you verified this section of cable is the limiting factor? Cat5e can do 1Gbit up to 100m(328ft) so unless you're running a UTP line across a very active high voltage electrical wire then a basic cable tester that says all four pairs are good should mean the issue isn't in that section of line.

 

If it is I'd leave it up to an imperfection in the wire or damage during installation. Solid core Ethernet cable will work harden if it's bent too much. If the installation was rough a wire may have snapped inside giving goofy readings.

[ChalkChalkson]

25 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

If it is I'd leave it up to an imperfection in the wire or damage during installation. Solid core Ethernet cable will work harden if it's bent too much. If the installation was rough a wire may have snapped inside giving goofy readings.

that's what I suspect, too. Will do proper measurements tomorrow, check if the resistence of one line is significantly higher than the others. Hopefully I don't need to redo the run

[Windows7ge]

13 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

that's what I suspect, too. Will do proper measurements tomorrow, check if the resistence of one line is significantly higher than the others. Hopefully I don't need to redo the run

Drop ceiling?

[ChalkChalkson]

4 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Drop ceiling?

worse, in the room with the router we had to drill through the floor behind a cabinet since the walls are fully solid, then we had to route the cable under the basement ceiling diagonally through the entire house. No cabel channels in the walls or ceilings/floors - when they built it, they wired electricity up before casting the concrete for the basement

 

Edit: "under" means "fixed to the underside of" in this case

[Windows7ge]

1 minute ago, ChalkChalkson said:

worse, in the room with the router we had to drill through the floor behind a cabinet since the walls are fully solid, then we had to route the cable under the basement ceiling diagonally through the entire house. No cabel channels in the walls or ceilings/floors - when they built it, they wired electricity up before casting the concrete for the basement

Jesus. Well, if that's the only section of wire in question and re-terminating the ends didn't help replacing the whole line is the next course of action.

 

You might as well run a couple extras while your at it. Run 3 or 4 between the plates. Future-proof.

[ChalkChalkson]

Just now, Windows7ge said:

Jesus. Well, if that's the only section of wire in question and re-terminating the ends didn't help replacing the whole line is the next course of action.

Yeah, really hope I find that I was dumb in some way.... But at least the other line is working great, for that we had to uncover part of the roof^^

Just now, Windows7ge said:

You might as well run a couple extras while your at it. Run 3 or 4 between the plates. Future-proof.

That's a nice idea, should probably do that. Not wanting to ever do this again was why I wanted to get at least Cat6 to start with

[Windows7ge]

39 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

Yeah, really hope I find that I was dumb in some way.... But at least the other line is working great, for that we had to uncover part of the roof^^

If it was going to be that much work for you you probably could have used outdoor rated cable and tacked it along the side of the house. Would have been easier.

 

41 minutes ago, ChalkChalkson said:

That's a nice idea, should probably do that. Not wanting to ever do this again was why I wanted to get at least Cat6 to start with

You should be good for 10Gbit if you ever choose to go that route. It'll also raise the homes value should you ever choose to sell it.

[ChalkChalkson]

11 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

If it was going to be that much work for you you probably could have used outdoor rated cable and tacked it along the side of the house. Would have been easier.

Was my first suggestion, but someone else was vehemently against that ^^

11 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

You should be good for 10Gbit if you ever choose to go that route. It'll also raise the homes value should you ever choose to sell it.

Yeah, wanted to be able to go 10Gb once switches get down to the 100$ range

[Windows7ge]

1 hour ago, ChalkChalkson said:

Was my first suggestion, but someone else was vehemently against that ^^

Figures.

 

1 hour ago, ChalkChalkson said:

Yeah, wanted to be able to go 10Gb once switches get down to the 100$ range

The MikroTik 5-Port Desktop Switch is $130.

[ChalkChalkson]

On 12/29/2019 at 8:09 PM, Windows7ge said:

The MikroTik 5-Port Desktop Switch is $130.

I know, we are getting close

 

BTW:

After redoing the wiring it now behaves VERY weirdly. When I start a file transfer from windows it shows 10-12Mb/s. But when I rip 2 BD directly to the NAS it does ~20Mb/s on both... Same thing for multiple file transfers, together they can reach ~40Mb/s....