× Introducing the Orbi 970 Series Mesh System with WiFi 7 technology. For more information visit the NETGEAR Press Room.
Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
Reply

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

Hello everyone,

 

I recently purchased

1. RAX120 AX6000 router (connected to CM1200 cable modem with monoprice CAT8 ethernet cable)

2. 15 feet Monoprice CAT8 ethernet cable connects the RAX120 router multigig port with the 10/5/2.5 gbe port of the thunderbolt 3 dock below.

3. Akitio Thunder3 Pro Dock (this has 10/5/2.5 gbe ethernet connection interface).

4. Samsung T3 500 gb SSD connected to RAX120 router through USB 3.0 port.

 

All this set up is connected to my 2016 15 inch macbook pro by a thunderbolt cable from the dock above. 

 

I normally get 400 mb/sec when I connect my SSD directly to my computer, however when this SSD is connected to the RAX120 router and 5gbe connection is active through my wired set up, I only get 160-170 mb/sec. 

 

I have all required equipments for full speed 5gbe connection and shouldn't I get 400 mb/sec with this 5Gbe set up through this router? Blackmagic speed test also gives me the same numbers when this SSD is connected to the router. 

 

Thanks

 

 

Model: RAX120|Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi Router
Message 1 of 18

Accepted Solutions

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

Just to close the topic.
I tested large file transfer on network with another ssd and top speeds are same around 150mb/sec and there was no speed slow down on the way.
I realized that speed slow down problem is related with my current ssd. I tested my current ssd with a direct connection to my computer and shows the same gradual slow down.

As a result, this router is able to provide around 150mb/sec with fastest hard drives without any geadual slow down. If anybody experience gradual slow down during large file transfer, I recommend them to check their hard drives.

View solution in original post

Message 17 of 18

All Replies

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection


@mesencephalon wrote:

I normally get 400 mb/sec when I connect my SSD directly to my computer, however when this SSD is connected to the RAX120 router and 5gbe connection is active through my wired set up, I only get 160-170 mb/sec. 

 


Interesting point. I have never tried running speed tests on USB devices attached to a router. It is all just background stuff here. But I would not expect it to match local speeds. Too many things to get in the way.

 

 

Message 2 of 18
avtella
Prodigy

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

If on a client with an Intel AX200 or 9260ac expect to get around 135-155 MB/s (1,080-1,240 Mbps). I also have a T5 connected to my RAX120 and also a NAS connected to the 5Gbps port. I find that the write speeds (135-155 MB/s are much faster than the reads (75-90 MB/s) which is opposite of the RAX80 where reads are (140-155 MB/s) and writes are (65-70 MB/s). Guess it might down to some SAMBA configuration issue in firmware regarding slower reads on the RAX120.

I wouldn’t expect anywhere near 400 MB/s even wired as I believe it’s peak is 200-250 MB/s for USB storage according to some reviews. You need to realize this is a router and not a high end NAS as it has an ARM Cortex A53 CPU cores and not a high power desktop Intel/AMD x86 or mobile CPU/Chipset.
Message 3 of 18
avtella
Prodigy

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

To clarify I have a Samsung T5 1 TB SSD connected to the RAX120’s USB port which I used for tests above. My NAS oddly for some reason (connected via a n-base T 2.5/5/10 Gbps capable Netgear SX10 switch) can’t provide much more than a 114 MB/s even though it’s more than powerful enough (Netgear ReadyNAS 524X with an x86 CPU).
Message 4 of 18

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection


@avtella wrote:
You need to realize this is a router and not a high end NAS as it has an ARM Cortex A53 CPU cores and not a high power desktop Intel/AMD x86 or mobile CPU/Chipset.

You can state that one too often.

 

@mesencephalon hasn't fallen into that trap, but a lot of people seem to think that a USB device can deliver Ethernet performance, even though a decent NAS box can cost as much as a router, even without an y drives installed.

Message 5 of 18

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

To clarify, if netgear provides two usb 3.0 ports which are capable of 5gbe data speed and 5gbe ethernet port at the same time, I would expect this router to provide that full speed with sufficient cpu power.
I just accept this as marketing falsification for this router then since the speed is not near usb 3.0, even though it is advertised as a usb 3.0 port.
I purchased this router due to existence of 5gbe port and wifi6 features along with usb 3.0 ports on it.
Message 6 of 18
avtella
Prodigy

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

USB 2.0 tops out at real world (not the theoretical) speeds of 35-40 MB/s so with a USB 3.0 port you are still getting much faster than that.

No router on the market from any vendor claims you will reach peak USB 3.0 throughput. Also you assuming that because it has a 5Gbps port for some reason USB storage speed should hit close to 5Gbps. Thing is no vendor associates USB capability to wired speeds. If you want faster speeds you need to connect a good NAS to the 5Gbps port, which is pretty much what is expected. They never made any false claims in this regard.
Message 7 of 18
avtella
Prodigy

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

My NAS has a 10Gbps port, doesn’t mean I’ll get anywhere near that, but still much faster than just gigabit. And the manufacturer for example never claimed I’ll get anywhere near 8-9 Gigabits.

Message 8 of 18
avtella
Prodigy

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

Lastly I’d like to point out that the RAX120’s storage performance eats out even many low to mid range dedicated NASes and also beats out almost any other consumer oriented router that I’ve seen.
Message 9 of 18

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

One other question in this regard,

I noticed another problem with large file transfer to the router connected ssd with my set up today.

When file transfer (one 20gb file) into the ssd starts, I get the 120-130mb/sec speed but after a while the speed gradually decreases to 25-30 mb/sec. This does not happen when the ssd is directly connected to my computer.
Is it related to less efficient cpu of the router compared to computer cpu?
Message 10 of 18

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection


@mesencephalon wrote:
Is it related to less efficient cpu of the router compared to computer cpu?

@avtella is clearly the expert on these things – thanks for that useful background – but I am puzzled that you expect a "remote" USB port to come anywhere near a direct connection.

 

It isn't just the CPU, but the link between the PC and the router and then the link between the router and the USB device. Both links require data handling to check for corruption and to account for other things that are happening along the same connection.

 

Your USB to PC link is a dedicated connection. There can be any number of things sending simultaneous traffic along a single cable on a network.

 

Message 11 of 18

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

I understand that router is not designed to reach max usb 3.0 speeds now, thanks for explanations, however it does not explain the significant gradual speed slow down with large file transfers. I really want to understand the source of speed slow down from a network expert. It goes down to 20ish mb/sec from 120-130 mb/sec during the large file transfer.
Message 12 of 18

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

Could be the same thing. When copying a file, the operating system is doing all sorts of checks to guarantree the integrity of the data.

 

There is so much going on that it slows down the process.

 

You might be able to improve things by tweaking stuff like the buffer size.

 

 

 

 

Message 13 of 18
avtella
Prodigy

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

Yeah that does seem odd, just a guess but maybe the router is adjusting the link rate lower to compensate for interference. I assume you mean a single large file. If it’s a large data set mixed with small/big files then yeah you will see a variance but if it’s a single file then it’s not as normal to drop down unless there’s interference/lots of retransmits.

How far are you from the router and are there any walls in between? Also try using the latest WiFi drivers from Intel/Qualcomm/Broadcom. At least on the AX200 two of the previous drivers don’t recall which version, were a bit finicky.

One more thing is try with AX enabled and disabled. I know a few people had issues with AX mode enabled a while back.
Message 14 of 18

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

It happens when I transfer a large single file (10 to 20 gb). There are no walls and walls should not be important since my connection is wired everywhere with monoprice cat8 cables. Cable is around 20 feet long from the router to the thunderbolt dock which has a 10gbe port.
I haven't tried these transfers through wifi, though..
Message 15 of 18
avtella
Prodigy

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

Oh yeah, if it’s wired then that is odd. I would open a ticket with support.
Message 16 of 18

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

Just to close the topic.
I tested large file transfer on network with another ssd and top speeds are same around 150mb/sec and there was no speed slow down on the way.
I realized that speed slow down problem is related with my current ssd. I tested my current ssd with a direct connection to my computer and shows the same gradual slow down.

As a result, this router is able to provide around 150mb/sec with fastest hard drives without any geadual slow down. If anybody experience gradual slow down during large file transfer, I recommend them to check their hard drives.
Message 17 of 18

Re: RAX120 router - SSD file transfer slow with 5gbe ethernet connection

Good feedback.

 

Sound advice.

 

Message 18 of 18
Top Contributors
Discussion stats
  • 17 replies
  • 6373 views
  • 5 kudos
  • 3 in conversation
Announcements

Orbi WiFi 7