Speed of a NAS?

B0bbyEwing

For accessing files over the network from a NAS, how quick can you access those files on a PC?

I have a Western Digital MyCloud Home which is connected to the router as is my PC - both via cat6 cable.

Accessing the WD is frustratingly slow. Just skipping between folders on there & opening folders that have 100s of images, it's just painful.

I know that doesn't describe it too well because what's slow for me could be quick for you.

This is my first experience of any sort of storage attached to the router (BT Smart Hub 2 btw).

Now a few years ago when I was thinking about a NAS, it was Synology. Since then Ugreen seems to have come on a long way.

Whatever I go for wouldn't be overly technical so should I expect better performance from these NAS devices than my WD? I sure hope so!

kaMelo

Most ISP supplied routers are pretty cheaply made. I would take the router out of the equation, use a switch connected to the router and connect all devices to the switch instead and see what speeds are like then.

I have no experience of WD Mycloud devices or UGreen. other than knowing Ugreen is a chinese company.

I'm a long time Synology user and find speeds pretty decent. Windows 11 connections to the Synology gives speeds usually over 200 MB's, Windows 10 are around 160 MB's. Devuan Linux around 160 MB's also. I'm sure I could optimise my network a bit more but to be honest, It works well enough for me and I can't be bothered.

Newer Synology devices are a lot more technical than they used to be with many apps available, but they do have an intuitive interface with help pages on every window describing the settings on show. Connection is available by telnet/SSH if your comfortable with the command line also.

Neil_Jones

Depends on the speed of the network, the network type (wired/wireless), whether you've daisy chained anything else onto the network and whether anything else is using said network.

If you've got 4 devices streaming 4k Netflix all at the same time, it shouldn't be a surprise the NAS is slow.

But on the other hand, most NASes will be using conventional mechanical hard drives, but these should still be fast enough for a network connection.

That being said, how slow is slow? The Smart Hub 2 is a 2018 device, and while it support Gigabit networking, that's irrelevant if you've connected it to a 10/100Mb network switch somewhere between router and NAS/computer.

B0bbyEwing

To shed a bit more light, I have the mentioned router.

This has a cat6 running from it & terminates in to a connection at the wall near it.

This terminated plate then has cabling running under the floorboards as we had to renew them when we got the house, & terminates to a plate in the wall in the living room which is only say 10 metres at the most.

From this plate in the living room is another cat6 cable which goes in to a switch. In to that switch goes the WD MyCloud Home.

Now for the PC go back to the router & I have a cat6 cable running straight upstairs, through the ceiling in to the floor area.

Now I re-did the room from the original plan. I can't remember if that cable just goes direct in to a switch in here & my PC connects in to that switch too or whether there's another termination point in the wall here. One of the two.

Also rather annoying but I don't know which switches I have in each location other than I know one of them is a TP-Link one. The only invoice I can find is for a Zyxel 8 port one which I can't remember why I replaced it as it's not in use. I think it was because of the port/power connection points. I know the TP-Link one LOOKS LIKE this one but that's not to say it is. It's minimum 4 years since I bought a switch.

forgotmyname

On a standard 1gigabit home network that most routers come with you will be looking at a max speed of 125MB/s
I have a DS1821+ and get 113MB/s which is the same whether it's an old fashioned spinning drive or a newer
SSD. The network is the restriction.

You can bond several 1Gb ports to get faster speeds but it comes with it's own overheads. Are your network devices
2.5Gb or higher? There are options to use a 2.5Gb USB network cable with some devices but that maybe limited
to the firmware version. 10Gb is an option but prices increase.

Vitor

If you’re also running very old kit at the PC end, that may be part of the issue too. A modern NAS will likely be better than a WD MyCloud Home, but old 10/100 network adapters, slow disks, antivirus scanning network folders, or underpowered hardware can all make browsing image-heavy folders feel painfully slow.

So yes, Synology/Ugreen should be an upgrade, but I’d check the rest of the chain before blaming the NAS alone.

Newcad

I didn't go the NAS route, instead I have a standard external HDD connected to the USB port of my BT Smart Hub 2 and then mapped as a network drive to each of my laptops.
The laptops connect to the hub by wifi not cable

I find the speed of accessing the mapped drive over wifi for normal use ie. just accessing/opening a file is no different from accessing an external drive plugged into a USB port on the laptop.
It can seem slow to transfer a lot of data though, eg. a full backup of all the data on a laptop can take 10 minutes.

(However I'm due to switch to Full Fibre with a different supplier next week, and the router that they provide, an eero 6, does not have a USB port, so I'll need a rethink on my networked storage or buy a different router).

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82062166#Comment_82062166

I wonder if this is it.

My PC is 16yrs old. So are you saying the ethernet port on the PC side of things may only be able to handle slower speeds?

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82062242#Comment_82062242

Will you need to return the SH2? You could use it as a switch (having turned off the modem/wi-fi bits) wired to your new router - lets you keep the USB port on the network.

Plenty of pre-loved SH2's on eBay/CeX for not much.

alanwsg

I have a new Acer W11 laptop and connect to a Synology DS218 NAS over 5G WiFi

You say your system can be very slow 'skipping between folders'

I've seen a very strange effect when I open a folder with large executable files in it. Windows explorer hangs while something on the laptop seems to scan the entire file until I can open/copy it etc. I'm guessing it's Windows defender scanning for threats.

E.g. I use a note-taking program 'Joplin', Joplin-setup.exe is around 240Mb. When I open the folder on the NAS containing it and single-click on the file, Explorer hangs and the network goes into full download-traffic for maybe 30 seconds before I can do anything else. BUT, if I remove the .exe extension and rename it to just 'Joplin-setup' I can open the folder and copy it straight away.

BUT, having said all that, a 16-year old PC is more likely to be the problem!

debitcardmayhem

With any old kit , indeed even new, do not use icon view on explorer, dont let antivirus check the disk ,yes check files before letting them onto your network.