The transfer speed between my NAS and PC was about the same, but the size of the video files was much larger on my NAS.
I downloaded a program called LAN Speed Test, which had gotten excellent reviews, and found that my download speed was less than 40 MB/s. Note that this is megabytes per second, not megabits per second. I’ll go into more detail on Mbps vs MBps and all that technical stuff. ..
After doing some research, I found out that I was using a transfer rate that was too slow. I increased my transfer rate to a super-speedy 85 MB/s and 110 MB/s so that I could get the best performance possible with Gigabit Ethernet.
If you have 10 Gigabit Ethernet, then you could theoretically be getting a whopping 10 times faster upload and download speed. I’ll explain more about that below too.
LAN Data Rate Units
Now let’s talk about the new standard. There is a new ethernet called 1000 Mbps ethernet. 1000 Mbps is 1000 megabits per second. That is translated into 125 MBps or MB/s. It’s much easier to convert to MBs since that is something we are all familiar with rather than bits. So what does this mean for you? If you have a 100 Mbps ethernet at home, your internet will only be able to download at 12.5 MBps or 1.25 megabytes per second. If you have a 1000 Mbps ethernet, your internet will be able to download at 125 MBps or 12.5 megabytes per second! ..
If you don’t have a gigabit router or switch, the maximum speed you’ll be able to transfer a file across your home network is 12.5 megabits per second. ..
In the real world, it’s impossible to actually get that theoretical maximum. You’ll probably end up somewhere around 4 to 8 MBps. If you are getting something really low like 1 MBps or less, there are reasons for that which I will mention below.
Even if your computer has a gigabit ethernet card, you won’t get those higher transfer speeds unless all the devices that the data is being transmitted through support gigabit. ..
If you have a gigabit ethernet card on your computer, your router or switch is gigabit and the receiving device also has a gigabit ethernet card, your max transfer speed jumps to a much better 1000 Mbps or 125 MBps (125 megabytes per second).
Depending on the type of files you are transferring and your network setup, you can expect to get anywhere from 70 to 115 MBps when transferring them. ..
The latest devices are upgradeable with a 10GBe network card. You’ll need a switch that can also handle 10GBe, but as you can see from the chart, the transfer speed is 10 times faster than what most people use right now.
If you’re working with a lot of video files that need to be transferred over the network, upgrading your hardware will greatly improve your workflow. Luckily, Cat5e cable can handle 10GBe over shorter distances. If you need to lay down new cabling, it should be Cat 6a or Cat 7. ..
Transfer Speed Depends on What?
First, the type of ethernet in your network. If you have an Ethernet cable that uses copper wires, your transfer speed will be much slower than if you have an Ethernet cable that uses fiber optic cables. This is because copper wires are not as fast as fiber optic cables when it comes to transferring data. Second, the distance between your devices. If you are transferring data between two devices that are close to each other, your transfer speed will be the same as if you were transferring data between two devices that are far away from each other. However, if you are transferring data between two devices that are far away from each other, your transfer speed will be much slower than if you were transferring data between two devices that are close to each other. Third, the type of network connection on your device. If you have a Wi-Fi connection or a 3G connection, your transfer speed will be much faster than if you have a traditional Ethernet connection. This is because Wi-Fi and 3G connections use different types of networks and can therefore transfers data faster than traditional Ethernet connections.
Hard Drive Speed
The speed of a hard drive is determined by how fast it can read and write data. If you have a 5400 RPM hard drive, your computer will be able to read and write data at a rate of around 150 MB/s. However, if you have two SSD drives in a RAID 0 configuration, your computer will be able to read and write data at a rate of up to 350 MB/s! This means that if you want to transfer the same file between the two SSD drives in your RAID 0 configuration, it will take much longer than if you had just one hard drive in the system.
I’m using a traditional hard drive to store my files, and I’m only getting around 40 to 50 MB/s when using my network’s Gigabit ethernet.
If you’re looking to read online, you’ll want to find a configuration that can handle your read speed. Most hard drives (SATA 3.0 GB/s) will only be able to handle a read speed of 75 MB/s. This means you won’t be able to read anything on your computer without going more expensive and buying an actual hardware RAID controller.
To get the results I showed you at the top (close to 110 MB/s), you most likely need a super-fast NVMe SSD drive. These drives can read and write up to 3000 MB/s, which is well beyond Gigabit Ethernet.
Bus Speed
The data transfer speed between your hard drive and your motherboard and the network card is important.
PCI bus data transfer rates are only 133 MB/s. This may seem higher than the maximum for gigabit ethernet, but the bus is shared across the whole system, so you never really get that speed.
PCI Express Version 9.0 will give you a maximum of 985 MB/s, so if you’re transferring files from an old computer and using a gigabit ethernet card, don’t expect to be getting anywhere near the max transfer rate.
Network Cables
One of the main factors to consider when choosing a new cable is the quality of the cabling. If your cables are old or if they are close to power sources, it could affect performance. Additionally, the length will make a difference if the cables are very long.
CAT 5e or CAT 6a/7 cables are the best for replacing your cables. ..
The most important takeaway from this article is that the hard drive is a major limiting factor and is the most likely reason you will only see results range from 30 to 80 MB/s. To get really high numbers, you’ll need RAID 0 for traditional hard drives, NVMe for SSDs or 10GBe devices. ..
Network Devices
If you have two machines, try to keep them connected to the same switch or router. I connect my computer and NAS to the same switch and then connect my router.
Wireless routers can be used as switches, but they usually don’t provide the same performance as dedicated switches. I’ve found that dedicated switches from Netgear and Cisco always perform better than wireless routers with built-in ports. ..
If you’re looking to get the best speeds possible when connecting wirelessly from your computer or laptop, make sure you’re using the Ethernet port. This will give you the fastest connection possible. ..
File Size
I have noticed that transferring a ton of small files is slower than transferring fewer larger files. For example, when transferring thousands of photos in a bunch of directories, I would get around 20 to 60 MB/s transfer rate whereas transferring large movie files several GBs in size would yield a faster 100 MB/s+. ..
Conclusion
The main reason why your LAN’s transfer speed is so slow is because of the amount of data that is being transferred. A NAS can help to reduce the amount of data that is transferred, which will in turn speed up the network transfer.
I analyzed my network and learned a lot about it, even if I don’t care much about my transfer speeds right now. If you’re not interested in your connection speed right now, there may be a time in the future where it will suddenly make a big difference.
Do you have a fast LAN? Let us know in the comments.
