Slow lan diagnosis tools

cavemanoc

cavemanoc

cavemanoc

Soldato
Joined
23 Mar 2005
Posts
3,887
I installed a couple of powerline adapters (2nd gen TP-Link 500mbps ones) a while back to get access to my WHS v1 server from the media PC. I ran Lan Speed Test (lite) an got some pretty disappointing results (around 12Mb/s) - weak, but enough for HD streaming. I had an issue yesterday that saw the speed drop to well below 1Mb/s - not enough to watch without first pulling the whole file across (about 1 hour for a 2Gb file!!)

Assuming it was a powerline issue I have run a couple of tests between the laptop and the server which are both connected via lan cables through a Belkin gigabit router. I'm still getting about 12Mb/s :mad:

I took the Hard Drives out of the loop by setting up RAMDrives on both machine and that made no difference. I suppose it could be the router (the powerline adapters come through the router) but I don't have a crossover cable to try a direct connection.

What's my next step? :confused:
 
Now are you mistaking 12Mb with 12MB/s?

12MB/s = 100Mb/s = Bog standard 10/100 LAN connection.

You'll need gigabit ports, or a gigabit switch to utilize the "500mbps" (not a chance in hell you'll get near this using PL adapters in my experience) but you'll definitely get substantially better throughput.

Edit: Check to see if ALL the Ethernet ports are gigabit on that Belkin router.

You also say you're using a laptop, check under LAN connection status > Right click LAN connection in taskbar, open Network and sharing center > click on "Connections: Local Area Connection" > Check under "speed"
 
Last edited:
Also there are 2 types of TP-Link AV500 homeplugs. One with a Gigabit interface and one with a standard 10/100 interface. If you are using the latter, your speed will not get above 100Mbps.
 
All of the tech specs are correct - the Router is all gigabit, the 3 machines (laptop, whs, media) are all gigabit (I've even tried onboard vs add-in cards to no avail. The TP-Link is 2nd gen, so capable of the theoretical 500mbps and not stupidly limited by the 10/100 scam of the 1st gen ones (which idiot came up with that idea?)

I did think newer windows could support direct cable and sorted out the lack of cross-over but wasn't sure - I'll cut the router out and see what I get.

Historically I used to get about 40Mb/s (400mbps ish) between the server and the laptop, but for some reason that is no longer true - the 12Mb/s is suspicious, but actually the write to the server is going much faster that 10/100 would allow so it is definitely synced faster.
 
cavemanoc said:
The TP-Link is 2nd gen, so capable of the theoretical 500mbps and not stupidly limited by the 10/100 scam of the 1st gen ones (which idiot came up with that idea?)
Click to expand...

Presumably someone that appreciated that at that time even the AV500 adapters were unlikely to be limited by a 100Mbps Ethernet port. 80Mbps on a good day was more realistic.

There are adapters available now that just about justify Gigabit ports, and they are fitted with them.
 
Ho-Hum...

Back to the item at hand - I have had a play with the direct connection and the router and I get (using the laptop) Write: 400mbps read: 140mbps (with both variations). Odd as I use to read at about 400mpbs and I would like to work out why I'm getting such slow read speeds :confused:

From the Powerline side, when I first installed it I got the following quick and dirty:

mwvg.jpg


I'm now getting less than a tenth of that speed. I haven't plugged in any new equipment and the house hasn't been rewired since the install 2 weeks ago :D So... leaving the clever comments about powerline adapters aside, and assuming I have a rudimentary understanding of networking can anyone actually suggest some useful ideas for diagnosing the problem?

For reference, with my wiring - I would expect about 80mbps out of the system - not 800kbps that I'm getting at the moment!
 
Last edited:
Remove every other electrical appliance from the wall and re test.

Put things back in until it drops.

They are a terrible invention
 
bledd. said:
Remove every other electrical appliance from the wall and re test.

Put things back in until it drops.

They are a terrible invention
Click to expand...

I wholeheartedly agree PL adapters are the spawn of the devil, but if the guy hasn't got much option we can at least try and help :(

to OP:

The problem with the PL adapters is the interference involved, it doesn't even have to be bad wiring, I've had them crap out on me just by putting it next to a washer/dryer outlet, it also depends on the wiring loop system in your house, amongst other things.

Is it not possible to run some Cat?
 
Thanks for all those. I will give iperf a go and see what it comes up with. Both plugs are on the same ring downstairs and about 8m apart (obviously I can't tell exactly as I can't tell where the cables run. They're both directly into the wall sockets with nothing else hanging off them and not much around them. I will try isolating as many other sockets as possible to see what that does. Unfortunately I can't move the socket in the media pc as it is behind some cabinets :(

I will dig a reel of cat 5 out of the garage tomorrow and try a direct connection between the media and WHS boxes just to confirm it's not an adapter issue.
I have read that there are some heat issues with some of there plugs so I'm hoping it's not frying itself!

Is there any software that gets to the bottom of the issue, rather than just giving raw speed data - ie like we have for line stats? If it is noise surely there must be some software that measures it?
 
PL adapters are actually fine in my experience. I get great throughput, although I had to do a bit of experimenting to fix some issues. For example, having an adapter with a transformer in an adjacent socket was a no-no, it was dropping my speeds right down.

If you don't have dodgy old wiring in your house, it should generally be fine. For context, my house was completely rewired a few years ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom