Netgear GS605 Switch - am I missing something?

[Agent0range]

Hi

I've recently bought myself a Netgear GS605 5 port wired switch to go with my DG834G. The instructions for the switch were very brief, as its pretty much a plug and play unit however I'm having lower transfer speeds than expected. I've been transferring files between my PC (Vista 64/Abit IP35 Pro using Realtek on-board LAN) and my Windows Home Server (ASUS P5 with generic Realtek on-board LAN).

I realise that on-board LAN isn't the most ideal solution but I had expected a larger improvement over what I used to see through just the router. When copying files from the home server to my PC I see transfer speeds of around 5Mbps, and the progress bar on my PC frequently pauses for several seconds before continuing to copy the files. Both PC's and connected to the switch using short 2m CAT5e cables. The switch unit indicates (by the green illuminated numbers) that both my vista PC and the home server are connected in gigabit mode.

Is there something I'm missing with the GS605 switch? Is there any way I can configure it to improve the transfer speeds I'm seeing. Is this bottleneck due to the on-board LAN on both motherboards? Would I see an improvement if I used discrete PCI cards instead?

Any assistance or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Snapshot]

Personally, I rarely trust auto-configuration on NICs so I tend to fix them to (in this case) 1000 and full duplex. You should get 250Mbs out of your on-board NICs so something is badly wrong somewhere.

 

[Uhtred]

make sure all updates are applied to vista

 

[DRZ]

The GS605 is a terrible, terrible switch - thats your problem.

I binned mine and bought a decent gigabit switch and got vastly faster speeds all round.

 

[Agent0range]

Thanks for the input guys - as far as I can tell Vista is fully updated. Looks like I might take DRZ's advice and bin the GS605. Anyone got any recommendations on an inexpensive switch that's a good performer?

 

[bigredshark]

Thanks for the input guys - as far as I can tell Vista is fully updated. Looks like I might take DRZ's advice and bin the GS605. Anyone got any recommendations on an inexpensive switch that's a good performer?

Well you get what you pay for in the end, my recollection is linksys aren't too bad if you're spending <£100, wouldn't trust netgear, or really anyone else in that market very much.

 

[m_cozzy]

Hmm well I have the same switch & yes, had massive problems trying to copy files with vista, getting a few % utilization at best.
Vista has a problem with network transfers that I never managed to resolve, despite vista fans claiming it is.
Copying files between 2003 & xp (dual booted on the same hardware) works fine though with upto 60% utilization.
I would also disagree with the previous poster about lynksis, absolute garbage from my experience, not much wrong with netgear at all.
We all have our own opinions though

 

[ste_bla]

Well you get what you pay for in the end, my recollection is linksys aren't too bad if you're spending <£100, wouldn't trust netgear, or really anyone else in that market very much.

What the hell?

You think you need to spend £100+ on a switch to get decent performance @ home

My DG384G Router which cost £50 does fine and that has to more than just a switch!

 

[bigredshark]

What the hell?

You think you need to spend £100+ on a switch to get decent performance @ home

My DG384G Router which cost £50 does fine and that has to more than just a switch!

The cheap home orientated kit has limits and reliability issues, thats a fact. But it's cheap and thats what consumers want, so no, spend £30 on any old switch but below the £100 mark they're all much the same really - mass produced and questionable quality.

Your router isn't a gigabit switch either, which is what we're talking about here.

My point was, yeah replace it if it isn't working. Cheap linksys switches seem to work OK, netgear are just bits of rubbish in my experience (and we have a stock room with 40 or 50 of the damn things we ripped out because they didn't work properly - and those were their expensive ones). But don't expect magic, because in the end a cheap switch is a cheap switch...