Wifi with Readynas Duo

Considering maybe getting an UPS, but i have a few questions :

- Is it dangerous to plug my UPS into my belkin surge protector ? usually it is not recommanded to plug an extension into a surge protector, is it the same thing with an UPS

- APC and UPS is the same thing or not ?

i'd use my apc with computer with 400w power supply and two ReadyNas Ultra Plus
What APC would you recommend me ?

This one looks interessing and is very popular on newegg:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6842102082

Good choice ? Enough watts for all of my stuff ?

anarchoi wrote:
I meant that when i am transferring files from windows to NAS, windows tell me the speed is 10mb/s. This is really slow and i have same problem on all of my NAS.

Windows reports speeds in megabytes per second (MB/s). This is 80 megabits per second (80 mb/s) which as fast as your Belkin router can go. It is not a gigabit router, and you need a gigabit network to see the speeds the Ultra is capable of.

One option is to replace your router with a Gigabit one - for instance the Netgear WNDR4500 or the Belkin F9K1103. I have the WNDR4500 and find it works very well.

Keeping your existing router and adding in the gigabit switch (finding a way to power it!) is a cheaper way to get the same performance boost with the ultras, and avoids the need to use WiFi with the Duo.

anarchoi wrote:
...Now i'm left with another ReadyNas Duo i didn't know what to do with, so i'm using it to store old files. I really don't care about the speed of my ReadyNas Duo since it is almost read-only.

Got it, that explains things. The WNCE2001 should work with a new N router. Your current Belkin is pre-standard ("Draft N"), which might be a problem. Either way the Duo would probably drop below 10 MB/s, perhaps as low as to 4-6. If you go this route, you might as well get the WNCE3001, as street prices are about the same. The 3001 supports dual band (2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz). Though personally I would go with the gigabit switch.

anarchoi wrote:

Considering maybe getting an UPS, but i have a few questions : - Is it dangerous to plug my UPS into my belkin surge protector ? usually it is not recommanded to plug an extension into a surge protector, is it the same thing with an UPS - APC and UPS is the same thing or not ? i'd use my apc with computer with 400w power supply and two ReadyNas Ultra Plus What APC would you recommend me ? This one looks interessing and is very popular on newegg: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6842102082 Good choice ? Enough watts for all of my stuff ?

APC is a brand of UPS, your link is a Cyberpower. I have two somewhat larger units (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6842102070). I plug them into the wall, not the surge protector. Though I don't think you will do any damage by plugging it into the surge. (You can plug the surge protector into one of the switched outlets of the UPS too).

Connecting your PC and 3 NASes to a single UPS means the UPS won't run very long. Though you are mostly wanting to have it run long enough to get a clean shutdown. The UPS can only be monitored directly by one computer (or NAS) over a USB port. The ReadyNAS can also get the status over the network, but if you do that you also need to connect your router (and switch if you get one) to the UPS as well. There is a software package that can also let the PC monitor the UPS from the ReadyNAS, you might search for it.

anarchoi wrote:
- Is it dangerous to plug my UPS into my belkin surge protector ? usually it is not recommanded to plug an extension into a surge protector, is it the same thing with an UPS

You should buy a UPS with surge protection and not plug it into a surge protector.

anarchoi wrote:
- APC and UPS is the same thing or not ?

APC is one brand of UPS available. They are other brands such as CyberPower.

anarchoi wrote:
Good choice ? Enough watts for all of my stuff ?

Have a look at the watts your devices use. You should not load the UPS with more than 80% load. If you put too heavy a load (over 80%) on the UPS the battery will drain too quickly in the event of a power failure shortening it's life.

mdgm wrote:
Have a look at the watts your devices use. You should not load the UPS with more than 80% load. If you put too heavy a load (over 80%) on the UPS the battery will drain too quickly in the event of a power failure shortening it's life.

Keep in mind that your devices use less than their power supply spec. These UPS units have an LCD panel which can tell you how much power is actually being used.

I would get the somewhat larger unit (the 1350). If there is too much draw either drop the PC for now or buy a second unit just for it.

This forum is so useful ! You are answering questions i've had for months !

Windows reports speeds in megabytes per second (MB/s). This is 80 megabits per second (80 mb/s) which as fast as your Belkin router can go. It is not a gigabit router, and you need a gigabit network to see the speeds the Ultra is capable of.

Oh i didn't know that, and i thought my router was gigabit, damn !

Keeping your existing router and adding in the gigabit switch (finding a way to power it!) is a cheaper way to get the same performance boost with the ultras, and avoids the need to use WiFi with the Duo.

If i buy a switch, would i also need to upgrade my router to get gigabit speed between my computer and my NAS ?

Your current Belkin is pre-standard ("Draft N"), which might be a problem. Either way the Duo would probably drop below 10 MB/s, perhaps as low as to 4-6

Could i still stream divx movies with those speeds or would it be a problem ?

Connecting your PC and 3 NASes to a single UPS means the UPS won't run very long. Though you are mostly wanting to have it run long enough to get a clean shutdown. The UPS can only be monitored directly by one computer (or NAS) over a USB port. The ReadyNAS can also get the status over the network, but if you do that you also need to connect your router (and switch if you get one) to the UPS as well. There is a software package that can also let the PC monitor the UPS from the ReadyNAS, you might search for it.

Ok i get it now...
So let's say i only plug my two ReadyNas Ultra4 into the UPS... How long do you think the battery would last ?

Also, is there a way ReadyNas can detect the UPS is running on battery, so it could automatically clean-shutdown ? If i'm sleeping during a power shortage i will be unable to clean-shutdown my NAS !

Definatly gonna buy an UPS tonight or tomorrow... Just need to decide between CP1000AVRLCD or CP1000AVRLCD ... price difference isn't huge, i might as well buy the best one...


Just wondering, how much watts does an Ultra4 consume ?

Ok i finally decided to buy the CP1350AVRLCD from newegg... One problem solved !

Been looking for a solution to the other problem and i came across this:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6833122446
newegg lists it as a "firewall" and netgear says it is a router :
http://www.netgear.fr/images/FVS318N_fr65-36060.pdf

Can i use it as a router and just replace my belkin with it ? I don't even know the difference between a normal router and hardware firewall :/

anarchoi wrote:

Ok i finally decided to buy the CP1350AVRLCD from newegg... One problem solved ! Been looking for a solution to the other problem and i came across this: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6833122446 newegg lists it as a "firewall" and netgear says it is a router : http://www.netgear.fr/images/FVS318N_fr65-36060.pdf Can i use it as a router and just replace my belkin with it ? I don't even know the difference between a normal router and hardware firewall :/

The FVS318N is a business router with gigabit ethernet and 802.11n (the only one I found when I went looking for 8 ports). There are a couple of older versions (FVS318, FVS318G) that you wouldn't want.

Since it is a business router, it has lots of features you wouldn't need, making it more confusing to setup/configure than an normal home router. Also, it did not score very well in the smallnetbuilder review (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/security ... l-reviewed). A high end home router (including both the Netgear WNDR4500 or the Belkin F9K1103) have about 2x the WiFi speeds of the FVS318N.

However, you certainly could replace your Belkin with it, which would be one way to solve your power limitation. Though the UPS will give you more outlets (4 surge protected, 4 more with surge+battery backup), so maybe that is no longer so critical.

anarchoi wrote:
If i buy a switch, would i also need to upgrade my router to get gigabit speed between my computer and my NAS ?

No. You connect your computer and NAS devices to the switch, and then connect the switch to your existing Belkin. All your home wired devices will get gigabit speeds (the router is needed to set up the connection but all the local wired traffic stays on the switch, and never goes to the router). The link between the router and the switch is not gigabit, but is faster than your internet service and your wifi. If later on you want 5 Ghz wifi, you can upgrade your router to a new dual-band version then.

anarchoi wrote:
Could i still stream divx movies with those speeds or would it be a problem ?

You should be able to stream SD content and some HD content, though likely you would have problems if you were trying to use the Duo for something else at the same time.

anarchoi wrote:
So let's say i only plug my two ReadyNas Ultra4 into the UPS... How long do you think the battery would last ?

The Ultra4 typically uses 52 watts, so you'd have a load around 105 watts if the disks were spinning. If you add in a little more for the router and switch (which you need to do if you want to share the UPS with 2 NAS) you'd have maybe 130 watts. I believe this will get you about 40 minutes of protection with the 1350 - enough for short outages, and certainly long enough for a clean shutdown.

anarchoi wrote:
Also, is there a way ReadyNas can detect the UPS is running on battery, so it could automatically clean-shutdown ? If i'm sleeping during a power shortage i will be unable to clean-shutdown my NAS !

Yes. You plug the USB cable into the back port of one of the Ultras. You can then set up the second Ultra to get the status over ethernet. Of course you then need to make sure that ethernet is working when the power fails. (hence plugging in the switch and router to the UPS as well). I manually set the shutdown on the second NAS to be quicker than the default, because I want to make sure the network doesn't go down first. (There is a UPS configuration menu in Frontview under system->power).

Some UPS models aren't detected/monitored properly by the ReadyNAS, however the CP1350AVRLCD works with my Pro 6 and my Duo/NV+.

Thank you very much for your time ! I think it answers all my question

So i'll either buy the FVS318N-100NAS router or the GS108E-100NAS switch... I'll probably buy but i'll wait until tomorrow to think about it. There's an huge price difference, but all my power outlets are overloaded here so i dont want to add another thing...

It took me 3 days to transfer the files to my NAS when i bought it so i'm really glad i'll get gigabit speeds! hehe

Good to know that the UPS is detected by Raidair, that was my last question !

Last question i promise !

i'm about to buy that belkin router. Only thing i'm concerned about is the wireless standard, like you pointed out.

I made some researshes on "draft n" wifi but i'm confused... From what i understand it is a standard that was released early. Some says you can upgrade firmware and get full speed with latest "n" standard, but others says you can't

Also, you said earlier that this class of router usually have a wireless standard twice faster... what's this standard you were talking about ? is it really worth the difference ? (i'm probably sure all wifi devices in my home are only wifi N but future-proofing is always a plus)

Thanks again!

anarchoi wrote:
i'm about to buy that belkin router. Only thing i'm concerned about is the wireless standard, like you pointed out.

The IEEE is responsible for 802.xx standards, but had trouble locking down 802.11n. Eventually the WiFi alliance decided to stop waiting, and started certifying "draft N" routers. Upgrade paths to the full standard would be the responsibility of the supplier, I am not sure what Belkin did for your current model. Though that is a past issue, 802.11n is fully standardized now.

The newer one I suggested is current, so it should meet the spec. Note I don't own it, so I am only pointing that it has quite good test results. It also appears to be reasonably priced. Test results are here: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless ... r-reviewed 5 Ghz was not a strong point for the Belkin, so that is something to keep in mind.

anarchoi wrote:
Also, you said earlier that this class of router usually have a wireless standard twice faster... what's this standard you were talking about ? is it really worth the difference ?

The 2x difference is what is shown on the performance tests with 802.11n. If you look at 2.4 Ghz downlink speed on routers built by mainstream companies, you will find that the test results range between 20 mb/s and 50 mb/s (again this is based on smallnetbuilder testing). The FVS318N came in at 31.2. Whether this is worth the money depends on what you use WiFi for.