Internal HDD slow speeds

[dj_khalsa]

Hello, I've recently purchased WNDR4700 and WD Red 3TB HDD. I got it all setup and the HDD is formatted via the internal default formatting scheme of the router - ext4. However the R/W speeds I am getting (via mapped drive OR FTP) are ~ 7/10 MBPS. I tried formatting it in NTFS outside the router but the speeds remains the same. What is the issue? I have the latest firmware V1.0.0.52

[Devor]

Are you saying approximately seven 10ths (7/10) of a MB or do you mean 7-10 MBps? If it's the latter, that's about right. Although I'm a bit surprised that NTFS performance is the same as EXT4. Based on performance, from best to worst, usually the preferred format order is EXT(2|3|4), FAT32, NTFS and FAT16.

Admittedly I'm not that familiar with Linux. Supposedly Journaling shouldn't make a difference, however have you tried without Journaling? How about formatting with Ext3 to see if there is any performance difference?

[dj_khalsa]

I meant around 7 to 10 MBPS at max which is very slow. I have experimented with different formats, but it seems nothing more than a waste of time and the resolution of this issue is something else (probabily some settings in the router itself) ?

Also, what is journaling?

[Devor]

Now that I think about it, it's possible that the WNDR4700 has newer NTFS driver than the older routers, which used a crippled free version. FWIW, there is a difference between a big 'B' and a small 'b', when it comes to MBps or Mbps. I was guessing that you meant big 'B' in your initial post.

[Devor]

Have you tried formatting the hard drive with Ext3 or Ext4 outside of the router?

[Devor]

For more information about Journaling, see here.

[dj_khalsa]

I meant bigger "B" in the initial post, so its 7-10 MBPS

As for the formatting, I tried both internal & external formatting. The thing is - externally formatting gives the option of only Fat/Fat32/NTFS with a partition size (which I leave as default).

All the above different scenarios yield the same effect - slow transfer rates

[dj_khalsa]

Also, does "fragmentation length" in the wireless settings makes any difference? Current value is 2304.

And does specifying different channels also matters? I dont want to mess up the current config (which is working well for internet). Current channel is # 6 and mode is upto 300 MBPS.

PS - I tried with both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands!

[Devor]

I presumed that you were doing your speed tests with a wired connection. If you are doing your tests over wireless, well shoot, any number of factors could be slowing it down. Try testing with a wired connection to establish a base for comparison.

[dj_khalsa]

I wish I could test via wired ethernet, but I cant, i have Macbook Air :confused:

Might try with some other's notebook and post results, but for the time, can you give me which factors are responsible over wireless?

1. The distance/range is not an issue (I am sitting next to the router).
2. There is no interferance with any other wireless device (none in our surrounding)
3. wireless band is not an issue - tried with both 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands
4. Bandwidth is not an issue - nothing else going with the router apart from HDD file transfer (internet, etc)

[dj_khalsa]

Ok, I tested on a wired connection and the speed remains the same (~ 7-10 MBPs). So Wifi is not making the data limit slow.

What can be the issue now?

[ihacki]

Using Gigabit wired connection from my Windows 7 desktop to NTFS formatted drive, I'm getting Read:60MBytes/S and Write:30MBytes/S. That's on par with everyone else.

I will report back after testing on my Mac using:
http://www.totusoft.com/lanspeed.html