Does all traffic on a network flow through the router??

[StevieP]

My network is set up as follows:

My modem/router is in my living room on the ground floor - some devices are connected via ethernet either directly to the router or via a switch (TV, PS4, Sky box, NAS etc)

One of the ethernet cables goes into a 1200mbps homeplug/powerline adapter that connects to another powerline adapter that in turn feeds into another switch in my computer room which is on the top floor of 3 storeys.

From this switch I pipe the internet connection to my main desktop PC and a couple of other devices - including at the moment a Dell T410 server running unRAID.

Basically what I want to do is to copy the contents of my NAS (currently on the ground floor) onto my unRAID server and I'm thinking that the powerline adapters will likely be a bottleneck speed-wise and so I'm wondering, if I bring the NAS to the top room so it is connected to the same switch as the server, will the data go straight from the NAS to the server or does it still get piped down through the homeplugs to the router and then the router sends it back up to the server??

Sorry if I've not explained this very well!

Thanks for any pointers!

 

[StevieP]

Thanks - I left a test copy going and Krusader reported between 7.5 and 8.5 MiB/s via the homeplugs so at least I'll have a point of reference when I start copying over when they are on the same switch!

 

[StevieP]

Wow, does it make a difference - I'll say!

It's gone from 8.5 MiB/s to 111.8 MiB/s

Thanks for the advice guys!!

 

[StevieP]

Swap out the homeplugs with a cable if you can.

Yeah, it's the next thing on the list to be honest! It's always been fine for just sharing the internet connection upstairs but looks to be a bit lacking for any data transferring!