# Insanely Slow LAN Speeds



## Calibretto

Not sure if this actually slow, but I feel like it's slow. I used LANSpeedTest to test my LAN connection. Here's the setup I have:

The main modem/router is a Frontier/Verizon Netgear 7550. It's the one that gets the internet connection from the wall. I have my MacBook plugged into it back in the home office using a Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter.

Out in the living room is an Asus RT-n56u router that's connected to the Netgear router with MoCA adapters. I have my HTPC plugged into the Asus router via Ethernet.

I used the LANSpeedTest app to test the speed of transferring a file from my MacBook to the HTPC and here are the results that I got:






I don't think that's as fast as it should be. Maybe it's the MoCA adapters causing the bottleneck?


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## Geoff

MoCA adapters use coax correct?  I have no idea what sort of bandwidth you are supposed to get between them, but ideally you should be using CAT5e/6 between all the devices and be sure all the devices support 1Gbps ethernet.


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## Calibretto

WRXGuy1 said:


> MoCA adapters use coax correct?  I have no idea what sort of bandwidth you are supposed to get between them, but ideally you should be using CAT5e/6 between all the devices and be sure all the devices support 1Gbps ethernet.



Yeah, MoCA is over coax and the ones I have are rated up to 270Mbps. As for gigabit ethernet, I'm not sure if my Frontier router has it, but I'd be surprised if it didn't. Even if it didn't, the speeds I'm getting still seem extremely slow than what I should be getting.


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## Cromewell

I agree its not as fast as it should be, the coax line itself should have plenty of bandwidth.

The Frontier router is 10/100 I believe.

Does the HTPC have a slow nic?

Can you hook the same 2 systems up to the 7550 and test it there? If that comes back ok, put it on the MoCAs, then add back the asus router (I doubt it's the asus router though). At least that way you can narrow down the slow point.


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## Calibretto

Cromewell said:


> Does the HTPC have a slow nic?
> 
> Can you hook the same 2 systems up to the 7550 and test it there? If that comes back ok, put it on the MoCAs, then add back the asus router (I doubt it's the asus router though). At least that way you can narrow down the slow point.



HTPC has gigabit ethernet.

I could try hooking up the HTPC and my MacBook up to the Asus router together and see if the speeds change. It'd be easier that way since I'd have to haul my HTPC into the office in order to hook it up to the 7550.


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## Cromewell

That works too, the main thing is adding in layers until you hit the one that makes it slow.


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## Calibretto

Alright, so I connected my MacBook via ethernet directly to the Asus router, which the HTPC is connected to as well. Got much better speeds, but still only 36Mbps write speeds..


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## Geoff

Is your router 10/100/1000 or 10/100?  If it's 1Gbps then that's awful, but if it's 100Mbps it's not too bad.


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## Calibretto

WRXGuy1 said:


> Is your router 10/100/1000 or 10/100?  If it's 1Gbps then that's awful, but if it's 100Mbps it's not too bad.



The router is 10/100/1000 (Asus RT-n56u), so is the HTPC. MacBook is connected to ethernet via a Thunderbolt adapter, but that can easily get 1000Mbps.


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## Cromewell

Feels like something else might be amiss. What if you use the wireless on the MacBook?


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## Calibretto

Cromewell said:


> Feels like something else might be amiss. What if you use the wireless on the MacBook?



Connected to the Asus router over WiFi. Better than the original setup, but worse than the second test, obviously.


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## Geoff

Calibretto said:


> Connected to the Asus router over WiFi. Better than the original setup, but worse than the second test, obviously.


That shouldn't be the case, as the first test was well under speeds capable of 802.11n.  Yes it will be slower, but it shouldn't be THAT much slower.

Try doing an actual file transfer between the two computers, instead of a freeware benchmarking program.


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## Cromewell

WRXGuy1 said:


> That shouldn't be the case, as the first test was well under speeds capable of 802.11n.  Yes it will be slower, but it shouldn't be THAT much slower.
> 
> Try doing an actual file transfer between the two computers, instead of a freeware benchmarking program.



LAN Speed Test is ok, you could try iperf (http://code.google.com/p/iperf/) if you want a bit more control of everything.

Try different file sizes as well. It could be something else is limiting the transfer. As WRXGuy suggested, a real file transfer would be the easiest way to tell (send something of decent size).

The speed while some while low, isn't entirely unexpected. It's about inline from what I'd expect off a G network but depending on the range there's any number of reasons the wireless isn't at the spec'd speed.


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## Calibretto

Ok, I did another round of tests:

Transferring a 577MB file from MacBook to HTPC over ethernet between MoCA adapters:

36.8Mbps

Transferring the same file from MacBook to HTPC directly from the same Asus router over ethernet (shorter route, no MoCA adapters):

44.0Mbps

Transferring the same file from MacBook to HTPC directly from the same Asus router over wireless (MacBook wireless, HTPC wired):

39.4Mbps

Transferring the same file from HTPC to MacBook directly from the same Asus router over wireless (MacBook wireless, HTPC wired):

I didn’t even finish the transfer because it said “15 minutes remaining” compared to the other tests that said “2 minutes remaining”. Not sure why transferring from the HTPC takes a lot longer than transferring to it..


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## Geoff

Just curious, but what type of hard drive is installed in the HTPC?


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## Calibretto

WRXGuy1 said:


> Just curious, but what type of hard drive is installed in the HTPC?



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148725


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## Cromewell

Can you try <something> to HTPC where <something> isn't the MacBook? I read something about certain Apple network drivers being slow, just wondering if that might be the case here.


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## Calibretto

Cromewell said:


> Can you try <something> to HTPC where <something> isn't the MacBook? I read something about certain Apple network drivers being slow, just wondering if that might be the case here.



Sadly not. The HTPC is the only non-Apple computer in my apartment


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## Geoff

Calibretto said:


> Sadly not. The HTPC is the only non-Apple computer in my apartment


Do you have another Apple device?  Try two and see if the HTPC is the problem.


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## Okedokey

Make sure you update the router firmware http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTN56U/#support


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## Calibretto

WRXGuy1 said:


> Do you have another Apple device?  Try two and see if the HTPC is the problem.



Yes, I tried it on my wife's older MacBook Pro:

Transferring the same file from MacBook to HTPC directly from the same Asus router over wireless (MacBook wireless, HTPC wired):

Way to freaking slow. Said about "13 minutes remaining" compared to the two minutes it took my MacBook.

Here's where it's interesting..

Transferring the same file from MacBook to HTPC directly from the same Asus router over ethernet:

92.3Mbps, compared to the 44Mbps that my MacBook got. Could it be the Thunderbolt adapter causing the bottleneck? It seems unlikely.


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## Cromewell

Apparently the thunderbolt nic sometimes doesn't automatically switch to gigabit on certain routers or perhaps it's remembering the 10/100 netgear 7550. Can you manually set it's link speed?


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## Calibretto

Cromewell said:


> Can you manually set it's link speed?



There's this menu on my Mac if that's what you mean:


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## Cromewell

That is what I mean. Flip it to 1000baseT and try again.


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## Calibretto

Cromewell said:


> That is what I mean. Flip it to 1000baseT and try again.



Switching it to 1000baseT disconnected me and said an ethernet cable wasn't plugged in. I restarted, but still no luck. Switching it back to the original got me connected again.

EDIT: Seems like a lot of Mac users are having the same problem when switching to 1000baseT, dating all the way back to 2009 without a fix. YIKES https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2170974?start=0&tstart=0


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## Geoff

Calibretto said:


> Switching it to 1000baseT disconnected me and said an ethernet cable wasn't plugged in. I restarted, but still no luck. Switching it back to the original got me connected again.
> 
> EDIT: Seems like a lot of Mac users are having the same problem when switching to 1000baseT, dating all the way back to 2009 without a fix. YIKES https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2170974?start=0&tstart=0


That thread seems to be related to the internal NIC's, and not specifically to Thunderbolt adapters.  I manage thousands of Mac's from MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Mac Minis, iMacs, etc. and they all image fine on a gigabit connection.  However I have never used the Thunderbolt adapters.


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## Cromewell

Calibretto said:


> Switching it to 1000baseT disconnected me and said an ethernet cable wasn't plugged in. I restarted, but still no luck. Switching it back to the original got me connected again.
> 
> EDIT: Seems like a lot of Mac users are having the same problem when switching to 1000baseT, dating all the way back to 2009 without a fix. YIKES https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2170974?start=0&tstart=0


Sounds like this might be the issue http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24084

The hardware is different but the root cause might be the same, the symptoms certainly are...although it's more than new enough that it shouldn't be a problem.


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## Calibretto

Hmm, interesting. I guess it's not a huge deal in the end, but would be to nice to have gigabit speeds. Thanks for your help!


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