Slow network problem.

[ingeborgdot]

As I continue to test the network speed I am truly baffled. My local area connection shows 1.0Gbps. The computer on the other end shows the same but when I go to download to the other computer I get speeds between 16-20 MB/s. I know there are many variables but holy cow. What can I do?

My problem is still that there seems to be a problem between my one computer running vista 64bit and windows xp pro on the other one. I have enabled jumbo frames and nothing changes. The computer is an AMD quad core computer 4400+. That should be able to handle what I was feeding it. I changed hdd and that did not make a difference except to give me my needed space for the computer I was needing. The gig lan is a built in lan to the mobod of the computer. I don't have a NAS yet as I tried one but it was not very good.

Would buying a pci lan card be the way to go for this computer as I will use it for alternative backups etc.

Could a new nic card in each computer maybe make a difference? The cards would be exactly the same. The one mobod is around 6 years old the other maybe 4. The lan that I have are on the mobod. Just a thought.

[VideoRipper]

For 1Gbit LAN to work, you'll need GBLan adapters and cables (yes, these are different than

"Normal" CAT-5 cables) in all devices on your network, including switches & routers.

Greetz,

Peter.

[ingeborgdot]

For 1Gbit LAN to work, you'll need GBLan adapters and cables (yes, these are different than

"Normal" CAT-5 cables) in all devices on your network, including switches & routers.

Greetz,

Peter.

Where do you find these cables? GBLan adapters? switches are 1Gbit, but routers I have been told by everyone is not necessary.

I have read many good things about this nic

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106121

The only problem is that is has no software. Will that matter? What can I do? Thanks.

Edited March 8, 2010 by ingeborgdot

[ingeborgdot]

This is what someone told me in another forum. What is true about this?

For 1Gbit LAN to work, you'll need GBLan adapters and cables (yes, these are different than

"Normal" CAT-5 cables) in all devices on your network, including switches & routers.

I did not think routers would affect it after it is hooked up to the switch.

My network goes like this. Internet in to a 2wire modem/router-----gig switch-----computer-- also from the gig switch------ to another switch in another room------ to another computer, bluray, denon 3808CI, NAS(soon).

[VideoRipper]

Okay, I wasn't really clear about that

All devices inside your LAN (a switch and all your local computers) have to be 1Gb;

a router/modem connecting your LAN to WAN (the internet) doesn't need to have it.

Most of the time, Gigabit LAN (1000BASE-TX) cables can be identified by the metal shielding

around the RJ-45 connectors; they also use CAT-6 cable instead of CAT-5.

Greetz,

Peter.

[CoffeeFiend]

Actually, you DON'T need all your devices to be gigabit. You just won't get extra speed from the devices that have slower connections. Any old switch will happily work with devices operating at various speeds. Cat 5e will work just fine too, no need for 6 with fancy shielding...

As for the low speeds, there's a lot of possibilities. I would try to benchmark the network itself first, using something like iperf as it's not affected by disk speed, RDC and various other possible issues and bottlenecks (there's just so many differences on both ends... SMB 1/2, TCP/IP 4/6, etc). I wouldn't really consider buying another NIC as most onboard (the PCI-e ones at least) get very good performance, a PCI (non-express) NIC would most likely be a bit slower.

As for jumbo frames, that will only give you a boost if all your devices support it, including the gigabit switch (and most cheapos still don't -- no idea what switch you got).

Oh, and if you want speed, then definitely don't buy a NAS. They're not exactly known for performance (nor value)

Last thing, a 4400+ would be a dual core, not a quad.

[ingeborgdot]

Actually, you DON'T need all your devices to be gigabit. You just won't get extra speed from the devices that have slower connections. Any old switch will happily work with devices operating at various speeds. Cat 5e will work just fine too, no need for 6 with fancy shielding...

As for the low speeds, there's a lot of possibilities. I would try to benchmark the network itself first, using something like iperf as it's not affected by disk speed, RDC and various other possible issues and bottlenecks (there's just so many differences on both ends... SMB 1/2, TCP/IP 4/6, etc). I wouldn't really consider buying another NIC as most onboard (the PCI-e ones at least) get very good performance, a PCI (non-express) NIC would most likely be a bit slower.

As for jumbo frames, that will only give you a boost if all your devices support it, including the gigabit switch (and most cheapos still don't -- no idea what switch you got).

Oh, and if you want speed, then definitely don't buy a NAS. They're not exactly known for performance (nor value)

Last thing, a 4400+ would be a dual core, not a quad.

Duh, I was not thinking. That is my other computer that is quad.

Would it be better to get pci or pci express nic cards? Or would it make a difference?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106122

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106036

Will there be a difference?

Edited March 9, 2010 by ingeborgdot

[CoffeeFiend]

Would it be better to get pci or pci express nic cards? Or would it make a difference?

Like I said before, unless your mobo sucks pretty badly, you'll gain very minimal speed over the onboard NIC.

Assuming the GBit NIC on your motherboard has a PCI-e interconnect, you'd gain about 1% speed at most with an external PCI-e NIC. If you're getting a PCI NIC instead, then you'd go down in speed.

Honestly, I don't think changing NIC will give you any performance boost as the problem is most likely elsewhere. I would definitely run iperf first.