Vista Wireless Performance Questionnaire

Just got a ReadyNAS Duo with 2x 500GB drives, and am connecting to it via a wireless router using two laptops, one XP, the other Vista. XP works fine. Vista has had two problems:

1) Initially had very slow transfer speeds between Vista and the NAS, but after changing Vista's MTU to 1492 transfer speeds gone up to about 1 Mbps, which is useable.

2) When uploading from the Vista machine to the NAS, after a few MB the wireless router actually disconnects all computers, not just the Vista machine. After about 30 seconds, all computers reacquire IP addresses, but this is a major annoyance and an obstacle to using the NAS.

No similar problems when using the XP machine. When transfering between the Vista and XP machines via the same wireless router, files transfer with no problem regardless of file size. So it doesn't seem to be a router problem.

I've tried MTU changes, throttling, jumbo frames, channel changes and forcing various 802.11 standards (B/G/n). All to no avail so far.

I may be stuck with this router which Sky (my ISP) provided. (Some settings are embedded in the firmware.) However, as I mentioned earlier, wireless transfers between laptops via the router have no problem so I'm not sure the router is the culprit.

This router issue seems to be uncommon based on other posts here, so I'm at a bit of a loss. Any suggestions?

0) Updated to Windows Vista SP1? Yes 1) Tried changing MTU on ReadyNAS and laptop to 1492? Yes. This improved Vista wireless transfer speeds dramatically. However, it didn't help the router dump problem. 2) What model of Wireless Router and firmware is being used? Sagem F@st 2504, firmware A2pB023o.d20h 3) What Wireless Card model and firmware being used? Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN, Driver 11.5.1.15 4) What connection speed are you seeing for Wireless Adapter (i.e. 54 Mbps)? 54 Mbps 5) What's the connection speed between ReadyNAS to Router (10/100/1000 Mbps)? 100 Mbps 6) What's the throughput from Windows XP to ReadyNAS and Vista to ReadyNAS? XP: 2 Mbps, Vista: 1 Mbps Both Machines at or near same location? Yes 7) Whats the throughput from Windows XP to Vista? Transferring between computers = 2 Mbps. No router dump. 8) Does disabling firewall help? One user reported problem solved by disabling Symantec firewall. Nope. Only Windows firewall installed. Turning off doesn't help. 9) Does uninstalling anti-virus help? One user reported problem solved by uninstalling CA anti-virus. Haven't tried. 10) Does enabling jumbo frames work? Several folks reported problem solved by enabling jumbo frames, and this also had the effect of speeding up wired transfers. Nope. Tried but didn't help speed or router dumping. 11) Are you able to try another router? A couple users reported replacing current router/switch solved the problem. Wouldn't be surprised if this fixed the problem, but I am stuck with my current router because it's ISP issued and my login info is embedded in the firmware.

A special thanks to everyone who posted in this thread. With Firmware 4.1.4, I can get decent speeds with the ReadyNAS DUO and my Vista wireless laptop, even using an aging but reliable Linksys WRT54G.

However, a special warning to all Vista users. Currently, something is amiss with firmware 4.1.5. After I did the upgrade, my wireless performance with Vista dropped to the "unusable" levels. I reverted back to FW 4.1.4 and am back in business again.

So I'd caution you against being an early adopter of 4.1.5....clearly, something changed that makes your Vista wireless problems come back.

Filetransfer from my ReadyNAs Duo to my Vista PC is extremly slow (about 280 KB/Sec max)
Internetacces is around 14'000kbits/sec downstream. So the connection to the router looks ok.


ReadNas Duo, RAIDiator 4.1.5 [1.00a043] , 1024 MB [2.5-3-3-7]
Data Journaling turned off, CIFS activated.
PC OS: Vista SP1
PC Network: Wireless Netgear WG311T, Driver 7.6.1.204 (tryed MTU 1492 and 1460)
Router: Netgear WGR614 v9, Firmware V1.2.6_18.0.17 (tryed also with deactivated firewall)

NAS is attached trough Netgear Powerline kit HDXB101

Downgrading to 4.1.4 would get problems with my PS3 Firmware 2.7 again..

This is really frustrating..

Any help would be great

Hi,

My questionnaire is below, and the suggested tips didn't work, but I found something that does:

In 4.1.4, lowering the MTU on the ReadyNAS to 1492 sped up wireless. In 4.1.5, this does not help. I then raised the 4.1.5 MTU back up to 1500, and I lowered the MTU on the Vista wireless to 1492 and that didn't help. So I tried lowering it even more to 1430, and the speed jumped up. Now it's at ~1.8MB/s. Then I just slowly tweaked up the MTU -- it's now at 1450. Still a bit slower, but at least it's usable.

So glad everything is usable!

Chewbacca wrote:

0) Updated to Windows Vista SP1? SP1 contains a number of network changes that improved overall throughput with the ReadyNAS. Yes. 1) Tried changing MTU on ReadyNAS and laptop to 1492? Instructions on how to change Vista MTU at http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/vistaMTU.htm . A couple users had success keeping the ReadyNAS MTU at 1500 and switching Vista MTU to 1460. Yes, did not help. 2) What model of Wireless Router and firmware is being used? Buffalo 54G, DD-WRT 24sp1 3) What Wireless Card model and firmware being used? Intel 4965agn, unknown. 4) What connection speed are you seeing for Wireless Adapter (i.e. 54 Mbps)? 5-500KB/s 5) What's the connection speed between ReadyNAS to Router (10/100/1000 Mbps) -- you can see this in FrontView's Network page. 100 Full Duplex 6) What's the throughput from Windows XP to ReadyNAS and Vista to ReadyNAS? Both Machines at or near same location? No XP machine Vista: ~9MB/s 7) Whats the throughput from Windows XP to Vista? No XP machine 8) Does disabling firewall help? One user reported problem solved by disabling Symantec firewall. None installed. 9) Does uninstalling anti-virus help? One user reported problem solved by uninstalling CA anti-virus. Disabled, and did not help. 10) Does enabling jumbo frames work? Several folks reported problem solved by enabling jumbo frames, and this also had the effect of speeding up wired transfers. No. 11) Are you able to try another router? A couple users reported replacing current router/switch solved the problem. No.

Thanks, that worked for me too. On 4.1.5 MTU 1500 and on Vista 1450.

Are there infos on a new firmware yet?
I still got pretty unusable transfersspeed.

It is interesting that streaming music trough upnp to my itouch is fast while it takes minutes to get one song to start playing on my ps3...

Well, tried pretty much everything with multiple computers. Latest firmware, different MTU's, etc. Even wired performance is abysmal under vista. Basically the ReadyNAS has been a silver brick with Vista and I'd resorted to having a WinXP box next to it and connecting to it via terminal services client...hardly elegant.

Majority of problems seem to be CIFS related. FTP is almost usable. Found a little gem piece of freeware that allows an FTP folder(s) to be mapped to a drive (Vista just doesn't map FTP folders properly).
http://www.killprog.com/FDinst.exe

I'm now getting a sniff under 450KBps. It's not great but it's usable and miles better then the 4KBps I was getting under CIFS.

scracha

Silver brick, my ReadyNas is black (is there a different version out there), but I must agree about the brick.

I've gave up in using my ReadyNas, and even tried an update yesterday to version 4.5.1, and after leaving the computer on all night it still hadn't completed the update.

If I could get a refund on the ReadyNas, I wouldn't hesitate to get rid of it and look for a new solution (manufacturer).

Sorry to say, but my experiences to date with the ReadyNas have put me of all Netgear products for ever, it really is one of the worst pieces of equipment I have ever bought for my computer - I feel that bad about the product.

Yes, I've tried all the changes noted on the forum, but still very little progress. I can't understand why plugging an external HDD directly to the ReadyNas still produces such abysmal transfer rates.

Netgear = Nogoodgear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(PS Did anyone notice how dejected I am with this product)

I just recently purchased a ReadyNas RND2150 and have experienced all of the problems listed above. Laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium over wireless link. Oh, and, by the way (way we used to say it), wired worked like a champ. I did/checked all of the recommended changes: Throttling, Sidebar, Computer Browser, IP Helper, tongue, left arm above nose no more than 5cm... but to no avail. I already have SP1 installed so X that. I have solved my problem, but more of that later.
I agree with a certain individual who posted earlier or in another post, didn't write down name; This looks like a Netgear ReadyNAS forum so the moderator should have some knowledge about the problems discussed herein and should take a more proactive role in describing the problem and solution. Funny that the problem is only discussed here and you must read a lot of posts to figure out the solution. Didn't find it on the regular Netgear web site. Sorry for the digression... I work daily in the area of machinery failure and root cause analysis. From what I have read here the physical root cause of this is the NAS/VISTA WIRELESS network's inability to adjust the MTU (whatever that means) to match proper network perfomance. After trying all of the changes listed in this thread (except FW 4.1.4 to 4.1.5 changes) and then reverting to original settings, all I changed was my MTU on the wireless card in my laptop from (the default? 1500 BTW, what does AUTO mean?) to 1460. Volia! The boxes magically started talking to each other at 2.5MB/S. I got that with my Vista box talking to my Ubuntu 8.10 box without any hand wringing or gnashing of teeth. What can I get if I tweak the 1460 value? Probably alot... If this k-rap turns belly-up later I will post but for now I am satisfied with my system but not with the supposed experts who created this skit.

Just to give information to help solve this, here are the answers to the questionnaire:

0) Updated to Windows Vista SP1? SP1 contains a number of network changes that improved overall throughput with the ReadyNAS.
ANS: Windows Home Vista Premium SP1

1) Tried changing MTU on ReadyNAS and laptop to 1492? Instructions on how to change Vista MTU at http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/vistaMTU.htm . A couple users had success keeping the ReadyNAS MTU at 1500 and switching Vista MTU to 1460.
ANS: All systems on network were set at MTU = 1500. Setting Vista laptop to 1460 fixed my problem. Haven't tweaked yet.

2) What model of Wireless Router and firmware is being used?
ANS: WRT54G v.3 FW:v3.03.6

3) What Wireless Card model and firmware being used?
ANS: Dell Wireless 1510 Wireless-N Wlan Mini-Card R4.02
Chipset BCM432b/BCM32056000

4) What connection speed are you seeing for Wireless Adapter (i.e. 54 Mbps)?
ANS: 36 Mbps

5) What's the connection speed between ReadyNAS to Router (10/100/1000 Mbps) -- you can see this in FrontView's Network page.
ANS: 100 Mbps

6) What's the throughput from Windows XP to ReadyNAS and Vista to ReadyNAS? Both Machines at or near same location?
ANS: Wired through above router. NAS-> XP 6.5 Mbps

7) Whats the throughput from Windows XP to Vista?
ANS: Vista wireless MTU = 1460 2.5 MB/sec

8) Does disabling firewall help? One user reported problem solved by disabling Symantec firewall.
ANS: Didn't try

9) Does uninstalling anti-virus help? One user reported problem solved by uninstalling CA anti-virus.
ANS: Didn't try

10) Does enabling jumbo frames work? Several folks reported problem solved by enabling jumbo frames, and this also had the effect of speeding up wired transfers.
ANS: Didn't Try

11) Are you able to try another router? A couple users reported replacing current router/switch solved the problem.
ANS: Didn't try