Need Help: Slow transfer speed over LAN

[musicbee]

I think both repeater and WDS modes can potentially reduce the network throughput to half since both are store and forward based mechanisms which uses the same stream for storing and re-transmitting effectively reducing the actual throughput of the network.

Probably similar to the above post... but network throughput does not reduce. At least not for the networks on the AC router (I run 2 networks on it, 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz) and the N150 runs as a repeater to the 2.4 GHz (I run 3 networks, all with different SSIDs). Never had any throughput issues on the AC router even with this bridging. I probably need to test HD video streaming on the N150, but it primarily serves as a repeater and used only for ISP services to smartphones, tablets and laptops and for that it works very well, it includes a lot of video chatting on Skype, Facetime and Google Hangouts, tons of video streaming on YT and the usual social media. Video streaming for SD content (400 MB files) also works very well on it. HD video, probably not, but that's the reason I bought an AC router to stream HD video.

PS - My stressing on WDS is because the N150 is a pain to configure as a repeater wirelessly without WDS. It either needs to be connected via LAN (not an option to use with a router) or simply needs to be retired, as manual configuration for connecting wirelessly is a pain, in fact it is non-existent and also there is no firmware upgrade via DD-WRT or Gargoyle either. That said I was able to configure it as a repeater using WDS and with WPA2 security despite all the misinformation on the internet.

 

[mowgli80]

One of your problems is even if your laptop wifi is connecting, its only connecting at 65 mbps. You need to find why its not connecting at higher speeds. I am able to watch 10-15GB movies with caching enabled on xbmc over N150 without any breaks.

In case you are planning to buy new router, I would suggest tp-link WDR-3600. This is a high spec router with high performance CPU and 128 MB of ram. Your run of the mill router comes with 16 - 32 MB ram and slower CPU. I have the same and am very happy with its performance.

 

[mowgli80]

I faced similar problems with my router. My clients could only connect at 65 - 72 Mbps. I had to force enable 40 MHz channel to get my clients to connect at higher data rates. You may want to check that as well.

 

[musicbee]

I faced similar problems with my router. My clients could only connect at 65 - 72 Mbps. I had to force enable 40 MHz channel to get my clients to connect at higher data rates. You may want to check that as well.

Unfortunately Netgear N150 has no option to change the Channel width. Only options are channel, mode, security, etc. in the GUI.

 

[mowgli80]

Unfortunately Netgear N150 has no option to change the Channel width. Only options are channel, mode, security, etc. in the GUI.

Time to upgrade to openwrt/ddwrt if supported

 

[manniraj]

One of your problems is even if your laptop wifi is connecting, its only connecting at 65 mbps. You need to find why its not connecting at higher speeds. I am able to watch 10-15GB movies with caching enabled on xbmc over N150 without any breaks.

In case you are planning to buy new router, I would suggest tp-link WDR-3600. This is a high spec router with high performance CPU and 128 MB of ram. Your run of the mill router comes with 16 - 32 MB ram and slower CPU. I have the same and am very happy with its performance.

Yes I use the same router flashed with DD-WRT and its a very nice router with superb speeds and also gigabit LAN for all the ports. With DD-WRT I enabled the USB ports for acting like network shares by connecting an external HDD and another USB port to connect to my printer which is not a network printer.

 

[bullet.350]

install wifi analyzer app on android phone.
check for traffic on your router channel, if traffic is high change to different channel.

use 5 Ghz you will get more data transfer speed.
If you can afford make your security open (not a safe option), this will also improve speed.

 

[haisaikat]

Unfortunately Netgear N150 has no option to change the Channel width. Only options are channel, mode, security, etc. in the GUI.

Try changing the encryption to WPA2 with AES, if that does not work please also try with removing the encryption (just for testing)

 

[haisaikat]

At least not for the networks on the AC router (I run 2 networks on it, 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz) and the N150 runs as a repeater to the 2.4 GHz (I run 3 networks, all with different SSIDs). Never had any throughput issues on the AC router even with this bridging.

Yes, you have a privileged setup with simultaneous dual bands that is why you are unaffected

But had you used only a single band N router as primary definitely you would have been impacted.

I tried my luck with wifi streaming for last 4 years including simultaneous band routers and have concluded that wifi is best for wireless internet only May not always be the best suited option for setting up a reliable local network within house especially if there are lot of walls and obstructions. Recently I shifted to Cisco WRT54GL router and upgraded its dual antennas to 9 dbi high gain and it is able to cover a 3 storeyed house perfectly. I downgraded but for good, although I still retain my old WRT610N router and use it primarily as managed switch as the gateway to internet

720p Youtube videos stream perfectly from remotest corner of the house

 

[koushik]

Do you guys think that if I connect both the PC & lappy with Ethernet than it will be able to stream HD videos even on this router?

As I don't have another Ethernet cable, I am not able to check it. I will buy one today and check.

 

[haisaikat]

Do you guys think that if I connect both the PC & lappy with Ethernet than it will be able to stream HD videos even on this router?

As I don't have another Ethernet cable, I am not able to check it. I will buy one today and check.

Yes, of course. I have checked 25 GB + Rips over Ethernet 100 mbps wired network to be working just fine.

 

[koushik]

Yes, of course. I have checked 25 GB + Rips over Ethernet 100 mbps wired network to be working just fine.

Ahh ok, Thanks. So that will do for me as I am just trying out the networking thing for taking decision about future builds like NAS, HTPC etc

 

[musicbee]

Do you guys think that if I connect both the PC & lappy with Ethernet than it will be able to stream HD videos even on this router?

As I don't have another Ethernet cable, I am not able to check it. I will buy one today and check.

Yes and no, the router's LAN and WAN ports can be a limitation too.

802.11n wireless is faster than the 10/100 LAN/WAN ports most routers still come with. That means no gigabit speeds. Even I have used an AC750 router that came with 500 mbps speeds at 5 GHz (that's half gigabit speeds on wireless), but the wired connection was limited to 10/100. Simply put I could stream HD content wirelessly, but not with wires.

For your requirement of 1.5 GB files, yes LAN will work. If you are looking to stream larger files then not.

But I would like to mention that you test where the bottleneck is occurring. Since this discussion began I've tested and I'm able to easily stream 2GB files on the N150 and over a distance of 20 feet. As such you should not be having a problem streaming wirelessly and there is no guarantee that ethernet cable will solve this problem.

 

[koushik]

802.11n wireless is faster than the 10/100 LAN/WAN ports most routers still come with. That means no gigabit speeds. Even I have used an AC750 router that came with 500 mbps speeds at 5 GHz (that's half gigabit speeds on wireless), but the wired connection was limited to 10/100. Simply put I could stream HD content wirelessly, but not with wires.

I am transferring a 22GB file from PC to Lappy (all wired) while writing this and I am getting 10.5 MBps speed. I tried a 1.9GB file to stream and it is working without any hiccup. My all biggy HD files are on ext HDD which not with me right now so I could able to test that.

For your requirement of 1.5 GB files, yes LAN will work. If you are looking to stream larger files then not.

1.5 GB is not my requirement, I wouldn't want to build a system with bottle neck.

But I would like to mention that you test where the bottleneck is occurring. Since this discussion began I've tested and I'm able to easily stream 2GB files on the N150 and over a distance of 20 feet. As such you should not be having a problem streaming wirelessly and there is no guarantee that ethernet cable will solve this problem.

I am sure there is bottleneck occuring somewhere. I am having trouble streaming a 700+MB file, leave alone 2GB! May be my router itself is the bottleneck.
This is my router

 

[musicbee]

1.5 GB is not my requirement

Start with your current requirement. Future proofing is never really possible.

I wouldn't want to build a system with bottle neck.

Bottlenecks will occur. Only a matter of time till 4K (or something more) becomes the norm. Also, budget will be the biggest constraint. Its very easy to stream anything with a dual band or a tri band router... but they cost upwards of 15K and 20K.

I am transferring a 22GB file from PC to Lappy (all wired) while writing this and I am getting 10.5 MBps speed. I tried a 1.9GB file to stream and it is working without any hiccup. My all biggy HD files are on ext HDD which not with me right now so I could able to test that.

That's pretty much the peak performance from your present router, 100 mbps. Unlikely the wifi will ever do that, though its rated higher. Most likely it will peak at 60-70 mbps. Also, the network cards on the PC and laptop would be limited to that, most don't come out of the box with a Gigabit NIC.

 

[mowgli80]

I don't think high quality rips with work with ethernet as well without efficient caching. Most videos are encoded with variable bit rate. In other words, at any instant, if the amount of data required to render the frame is greater than your ethernet capacity, it will break. I have high quality HD movies which go upto 35 mbps which will easily overpower your ethernet as well. Copying a file only gives you the max bitrate that can be supported. For your all ethernet setup, I dont think you play a video with bitrate above 8-9 mbps.

 

[haisaikat]

I have high quality HD movies which go upto 35 mbps which will easily overpower your ethernet

is this "mbps" mega bits per second? In that case I think we should be good with ethernet. I have a 45 GB Avatar 2D m2ts rip which I had tested with my primitive ASUS OPlay Air player whose LAN port is ethernet and not gigabit, it had played flawlessly. May be in the weekend i can also try to refresh my mind by playing with same setup, since i am assuming that although my rest of the wired network is gigabit the ethernet port at the back of ASUS OPlay Air will be enough bottleneck to test this situation. But yes with upcoming UHD videos and 3D I think a higher network bandwidth will never harm. After all "Bada hai to behtar hai" and all the current argument is just for shining our own knowledge base

 

[koushik]

Which router do you use, Saikat, for the gigabit LAN?

 

[musicbee]

I don't think high quality rips with work with ethernet as well without efficient caching. Most videos are encoded with variable bit rate. In other words, at any instant, if the amount of data required to render the frame is greater than your ethernet capacity, it will break. I have high quality HD movies which go upto 35 mbps which will easily overpower your ethernet as well. Copying a file only gives you the max bitrate that can be supported. For your all ethernet setup, I dont think you play a video with bitrate above 8-9 mbps.

is this "mbps" mega bits per second? In that case I think we should be good with ethernet. I have a 45 GB Avatar 2D m2ts rip which I had tested with my primitive ASUS OPlay Air player whose LAN port is ethernet and not gigabit, it had played flawlessly. May be in the weekend i can also try to refresh my mind by playing with same setup, since i am assuming that although my rest of the wired network is gigabit the ethernet port at the back of ASUS OPlay Air will be enough bottleneck to test this situation. But yes with upcoming UHD videos and 3D I think a higher network bandwidth will never harm. After all "Bada hai to behtar hai" and all the current argument is just for shining our own knowledge base

Actually gigabit is not required for HD video. 4K streams at 20 mbps (that's bits) and I've tested it successfully, both with online streaming and local streaming. Any N router will work for 4K and HD streaming via ethernet and AC routers will kill it for wireless streaming (especially on 5 GHz).

10/100 is still 100 Mbps and therefore no problem for 4K or HD video streaming locally.

BTW, mbps, Mbps, MBps, etc. all are bits. MegaByte per second is typically abbreviated as MB/s.

 

[haisaikat]

Which router do you use, Saikat, for the gigabit LAN?

Its wired network, 4 year old Linksys WRT610N is used as primary internet gateway flashed with dd-wrt whose wifi is disabled. It also serves as DHCP server in network with WRT54GL connected just as Access Point. I had once modded it with high gain antennas to improve coverage http://www.hifivision.com/diy/26039-diy-modding-wrt610n-router-high-gain-antennas.html and recently I shifted the two high gain antennas to my newly bought WRT54GL (courtesy thanksgiving offers in US and the friend who carried it back) which is finally covering my entire house very nicely but even close to AP the throughput was better on N. Like i said earlier, I realized for a house with multiple floors and wall obstructions the benefit of the bandwidth enhancement which N brings did not appear fit for me so I shifted to G which is working just fine for internet and youtube 720p streaming