Low transfer (1MB/s)

[kdragon75]

What are you calling a PLC?

You would connect your "modem" to he switch and everything would connect to the switch. Only the switch would connect to the modem.

You modem is actually a modem and a router and if it has wifi its also an access point. If you want to buy a separate router you need to do a lot of reading on NAT (Network Address Translation) and how to disable it on your modem so the new router does it. That's outside to scope of this forum though. Just out of my own curiosity what kind of modem/service do you have for internet?

 

[joeschmuck]

First of all, a big thanks to @kdragon75 for offering so much good advice.

I think you need to purchase a network switch and setup your LAN properly. This is an easy thing to do. Hook up a switch to the Modem/Router and plug it into one of the switch ports. Net plug all the other ethernet cables into the switch. You should only have one Ethernet cable connected to your modem when you are done. Now all the network traffic between your internal network will flow at the fastest possible speed.

So you have a RealTek NIC, this is a problem and FreeBSD does not support these very well and FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD. You have the option to find an Intel NIC that has the proper card edge connector as your motherboard and to plug it in and disable the onboard NIC. This will make a night and day difference.

So you should get the switch at a minimum. If you have any plans to improve your hardware then I would recommend you not spend money on an add-on NIC card and rather just buy a new motherboard that has a good Intel NIC built in. It will save you money in the long run.

So lets look at network switches... I like Netgear ProSafe and for an 8 port switch you could go with the GS108. You could even go with a lower quality switch like the D-Link DGS-108. Pay attention to the part number I provided, you do not want the DES-108, it's the 100MBit version and a little cheaper buit not Gigabit. Basically any Gigabit switch will work but some will work better when you start doing multiple file transfers on different computers. And I keep saying 8 port because a 5 port is too easy to use up all the ports and then you are left having to buy another switch.

Good luck and take care. Let us know what you end up doing.

 

[c32767a]

One data point. I'm not sure what the OP's ISP device is, but I've seen this issues at sites using Netgear cable modems (eg CG3000DCR). If the cable modem reboots without being power-cycled, sometimes when it comes online, the internal 4 port switch will only link at 10Mb/s half duplex. The box has to be power cycled to get the switch to properly auto-negotiate to 1Gb/s. This behavior drove us bananas for a couple months till we figured out what was happening.

 

[kdragon75]

One warning on switchs. Stay away from tplink. They're all junk.

As for the realtek, it's not ideal but for a small NAS it's not worth replacing. It a bigger deal with pfSense than FreeNAS where most of it's traffic is large packets.

 

[Pequadt]

First things, thanks for all your comments, I hope you all have a great day.

What are you calling a PLC?

You would connect your "modem" to he switch and everything would connect to the switch. Only the switch would connect to the modem.

You modem is actually a modem and a router and if it has wifi its also an access point. If you want to buy a separate router you need to do a lot of reading on NAT (Network Address Translation) and how to disable it on your modem so the new router does it. That's outside to scope of this forum though. Just out of my own curiosity what kind of modem/service do you have for internet?

I'm not sure if PLC is the proper name, I'm pasting the first result (I have no idea if the brand is good or if the model is good, is only an informative link):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Powerline-..._1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522764867&sr=8-1&keywords=plc

One data point. I'm not sure what the OP's ISP device is, but I've seen this issues at sites using Netgear cable modems (eg CG3000DCR). If the cable modem reboots without being power-cycled, sometimes when it comes online, the internal 4 port switch will only link at 10Mb/s half duplex. The box has to be power cycled to get the switch to properly auto-negotiate to 1Gb/s. This behavior drove us bananas for a couple months till we figured out what was happening.

My ISP is SKY UK, the modem is a bad one (the company model), I can only change the password, SSID, WPS options and a few more options. I think the maximum speed is 54 Mbps, so a Switch looks like a great idea right now haha.

Good luck and take care. Let us know what you end up doing.

Thanks :)



Well, after reading all your comments, is clear that I need to upgrade/change some components. I'll investigate and see if a new mobo s going to be better than a PCI-e + switch.

Thanks again for your comments!

 

[wblock]

I would avoid powerline modems if at all possible. They have their own set of limitations and will not be as reliable as a direct Ethernet cable.

 

[joeschmuck]

I would avoid powerline modems if at all possible. They have their own set of limitations and will not be as reliable as a direct Ethernet cable.

+1