Read Speed 3 x Slower than Write!!?

Increase TCP window size.

AFAIK (many moons ago) the receiver determines the window size. So 5MB/s is close given a 100Mbps fixed link and increased latency from the wireless. You say you card is 300Mbps, but is your router (you don't specify model)? If not and is only g 5MB/s is great. I would guess that the PC is either not negotiating properly or has a small defined window size and is not scaling properly.

So you could:
- reset the IP stack
- increase the default window size (in many OSes it still defaults to 64K which is far too small)
- lower the wireless speed if it is trying @ 300 and getting errors

If that doesn't help, check the write speed to HDD (or read/copy files to a RAM drive). If all that fails... try different network card.

If you're paying sky money for TV each month call them and ask for a better router (for free of course).

HTH.

TCP window scaling has been enabled by default in all Windows systems since Windows 2000. So that seems unlikely. The TCP window-size theory also doesn't explain the difference in speed between downloading from the netbook and downloading from the NAS. I don't think the laptop HDD write speed theory explains the faster netbook download speeds either.

WiFi errors/retransmission is possible, esp. if the NAS is faster than the old netbook. Lowering the link speed to 150 (or even 72) is worth a try.
anynamewilldo85- when you right-click on the wifi link in the system tray and select status, what link speed are you seeing?

I agree that asking for a better router is worth a try - gigE would of course be nice, and it is quite possible that the root cause of this problem is something not right in the router - insufficient buffering on the LAN->WiFi bridging for instance.

I agree that window scaling should work, but other than the router bottleneck I can't think of much else.

According to netstat it's sending full packets, and looks like it transferred ~350MB during the "test". Not sure if that includes discarded/resent packets, but would be useful to know the time taken and data transferred.

Another option would be to install wireshark. You would then be able to see packet timestamps and should easily be able to see what's causing the issue. You can also become an expert on IP and TCP along the way :-)

ok iv isolated the issue

Its the laptop!

Friend came round today, did same tests using his laptop, he was getting 5MB read and write. The only variable was his laptop (much lower spec laptop too)

wireless: adaptor 150mbs on his 300mbs on mine
Disks: 5400r rpm HDD on his - RAID 0 SSD (Intel 520) on mine
windows 7 pro on his windows 7 pro on mine

any ideas where to look next?

Any ideas of where to look now?

the wifi speed im seeing is 72mbs

If the router has setting for 20/40 mhz channels, try setting it to 20 mhz.

Is the router firmware up to date?

If that doesn't help, maybe contact sky on getter a better router.

Did you reset the Ip stack? It will at least remove any dodgy settings.

yeh reset ip stack

Must be something on my laptop that's odd..... friends laptop using exact same configuration was getting 5MB/s

Well, it could be an incompatibility in the router WiFi also. What you know is that it is the WiFi link, there is no easy way to tell which end is really at fault. If you can find a usb WiFi adapter for the laptop, that might be worth a try.

But you'd get better overall performance if you had a gigabit router, so it is worth asking Sky if you can get another one (free) first.