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Forum Discussion
ReadyNAS 214 Slow Transfer Speeds (Over Network and Direct-Connect)
I just purchased a ReadyNAS 214. I followed the quick start guide: installed two Seagate Ironwolf 3TB hard drives, connected Ethernet and power cable, powered on the unit, and went to http://read...
davidnvisuals wrote:
Connected the laptop to my router using (original) Ethernet cable #1, accessed the unit via Windows Explorer and was getting 11 MB/sec transfer speeds!
So running fast ethernet to the NAS (100 mbit link) works as it is supposed to. Running gigabit isn't.
davidnvisuals wrote:
ReadyNAS <New Ethernet Cable> Router > MacBook Air (802.11n) = 5 MB/sec
This is curious, since the NAS connection to the router is the same. But it could simply be rounding or some such.
I'd say we've
-probably ruled out the cables
-ruled out the router
-NIC in the tower CPU seems unlikely
If you share a folder on the laptop, and access it from the tower, you should see 11 MB/s speeds over ethernet. If you do, then you've ruled out the tower NIC for sure.
I say "probably" ruled out the cables, since I don't know their origin. Fast ethernet only needs 4 of the 8 pins in the cable, gigabit needs all 8. If you have home-built (or IT-built) cables it is possible that some pins in both cables weren't properly connected to the plug. Also, if both cables are CAT-5, then cables might still be a factor. CAT-5E or better is recommended for gigabit. The rating is usually printed on the cable - if it's not, assume it's CAT-5.
So if you have purchased Cat 5E or better cables, you've already ruled the cables out. If not, perhaps purchase cat-6 cable just to be certain.
Assuming that the laptop->tower connection runs at 11 MB/s and that the cables are purchased and CAT-5E or better:
It sounds like a NIC issue in the RN214. The RN214 has a three year warranty - if you are the original purchaser you should be covered. I suggest contacting support (my.netgear.com) and asking for an RMA. You could reference this thread I guess.
StephenB wrote:if both cables are CAT-5
That seems unlikely as the ethernet port of the NAS do show 1Gbps in the logs.
I don't know what's the problem, but I don't think it's the NAS NIC either. As the 11MB/s throughput is seen sometimes (with the laptop).
Unless the issue is that its NIC behave properly in FastEthernet but not in GigabitEthernet, which would be weird, but I guess possible.
Could you directly connect the NAS to the Tower and force the Tower's NIC to 100Mbps Full-Duplex? (Under the drivers advanced properties.)
Alternatively, use a CAT-5 cable between both machines, to enforce FastEthernet.
And test the speeds again.
jak0lantash wrote:
Unless the issue is that its NIC behave properly in FastEthernet but not in GigabitEthernet, which would be weird, but I guess possible.
That is exactly what's happening, the data is quite clear. The only question is what component is misbehaving - the cable(s), the tower PC NIC or the RN214 NIC. It looks to me that the odds favor the problem being with the RN214 NIC, but it would be good to definitively rule out the other two before trying to convince support to do an RMA.
jak0lantash wrote: That seems unlikely as the ethernet port of the NAS do show 1Gbps in the logs.Gigabit is negotiated over cat-5 with no problem, so that is not relevant. If there is a connection problem with some of the twisted pairs in any grade of cable, then sometimes fast ethernet is negotiated. In other cases, gigabit is negotiated, but you end up with no data transfer at all in one direction or the other. So several outcomes exist there, it depends on the details of the cable problem.
A duplex mismatch also might be occuring, though that is pretty rare with current ethernet chips. I guess Auto MID-X could be misbehaving too, but I've never seen that one, and the direct connection behaves the same as the router connection.
With CAT-5, the twisted pairs don't have as many twists per inch, which results in the shorter pulses used by gigabit being smeared out at the receiver. It can also increase the cross-talk between the pairs. Gigabit is supposed to work anyway, but CAT-5e or better is more reliable.
StephenB wrote:
jak0lantash wrote:Unless the issue is that its NIC behave properly in FastEthernet but not in GigabitEthernet, which would be weird, but I guess possible.
That is exactly what's happening, the data is quite clear. The only question is what component is misbehaving - the cable(s), the tower PC NIC or the RN214 NIC. It looks to me that the odds favor the problem being with the RN214 NIC, but it would be good to definitively rule out the other two before trying to convince support to do an RMA.
Are you thinking about dead/defective/loose pins in the RJ45 connector of the RN214? Defective chip maybe... The behavior is weird enough to suggest a low level issue.
Do you have the same behavior regardless of which port you use on the NAS?
Do you confirm that you did a Factory Default after updating the F/W to 6.6.1? (To exclude corrupt image on the flash)
jak0lantash wrote:
Are you thinking about dead/defective/loose pins in the RJ45 connector of the RN214? Defective chip maybe... The behavior is weird enough to suggest a low level issue.
Certainly it looks like layer one. A NIC failure or internal connection to the socket perhaps. Something about the cables, conceivably. Something in the connector seating is possible too, especially if the retaining clips on the plugs are broken off.
The lack of errored packets in the log doesn't fit that, though I don't think TCP retransmissions will show up in network_settings.log.
Could you directly connect the NAS to the Tower and force the Tower's NIC to 100Mbps Full-Duplex? (Under the drivers advanced properties.)
I applied the change to the Tower's NIC (and restarted just in case). I also checked the NAS Admin page's Network tab and eth0 "Bandwidth" at 100 Mbps.
Transfer speeds were still around 4 Mbps. I tried the direct connection with both ethernet cable #1 and #2 (i.e. CAT 5e patch cables).
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