OK, so I have noticed that my internet connection occasionally drops when transferring files from my PC to my unRAID server. I don’t know where to get started, so hopefully the community can give me some ideas – also why I am posting this in the lounge and not the main unRAID boards.

 

This is what I know and/or believe is occurring: It’s not an ISP/modem issue because it doesn’t happen any other time. It typically occurs when two PC’s are on the internet and the transfer is occurring (both PC’s are on Win 7 64-bit and I use Teracopy to transfer and test the files. Both PC’s are connected to the network wirelessly. I am using a D-Link DIR-655 router and I have a TRENDnet TEG-S80G switch (which the server is plugged into). I still have local access on the network, but the internet drops out.

 

In a separate but somewhat related issue, when I connect to the router (or switch) by ethernet cable, I don’t have internet access at all and at times I have difficulty connecting to the unRAID server.

 

I have reset my router once to factory settings and it fixed the issues for a short time, but they are coming back (and I haven’t changed anything since then). I have also updated the firmware on the router to the latest version.

 

Has anyone had any similar issues or does anyone know where I could look for more help. Any suggestions would be helpful as I troubleshoot this. It’s a pain that the internet goes out every time I try to add files to the server (my wife is absolutely thrilled when the internet goes out).

 

Thanks!

 

I have both the DIR-655 and the TEG-S80G in my network (in addition to another TRENDnet 5 port switch).  I don't have any of these same troubles, so I doubt your problem lies in either of those pieces of hardware.  It is still possible that one or both is defective in some way, but let's explore the more likely options first.

 

The first thing you want to do is simplify your network as much as possible.  Is it possible to plug the modem, one PC, and the unRAID server directly into the router and not use the switch at all?  If so, try it and see if you can replicate the problem using this simplified network.

 

Another key component to check is your network cables themselves.  Do you have any spare cables you can use to test?  You'll need to use Cat5e or Cat6 cables in order to support gigabit transfer speeds.  However, for testing purposes Cat5 is OK as well.  The cable between your modem and router can be Cat5 as the internet connection doesn't come anywhere close to gigabit speeds.  Try swapping around the cables that you have and see if you can identify any bad ones.  Or, if you don't mind throwing a bit of money at this, just buy new cables from monoprice or some other cheap source and replace the ones you have.

 

The final thing to test would be the ethernet ports on the computers and server.

How do you fix things when this happens? Reboot the router? That sounds like one of the DIR-655's bugs. I don't have one but it's crossed my path. What firmware are you using? Don't believe its "check for newer version" feature. Several versions into v1.x it always said whatever it has is the latest.

I have both the DIR-655 and the TEG-S80G in my network (in addition to another TRENDnet 5 port switch).  I don't have any of these same troubles, so I doubt your problem lies in either of those pieces of hardware.  It is still possible that one or both is defective in some way, but let's explore the more likely options first.

 

The first thing you want to do is simplify your network as much as possible.  Is it possible to plug the modem, one PC, and the unRAID server directly into the router and not use the switch at all?  If so, try it and see if you can replicate the problem using this simplified network.

 

Another key component to check is your network cables themselves.  Do you have any spare cables you can use to test?  You'll need to use Cat5e or Cat6 cables in order to support gigabit transfer speeds.  However, for testing purposes Cat5 is OK as well.  The cable between your modem and router can be Cat5 as the internet connection doesn't come anywhere close to gigabit speeds.  Try swapping around the cables that you have and see if you can identify any bad ones.  Or, if you don't mind throwing a bit of money at this, just buy new cables from monoprice or some other cheap source and replace the ones you have.

 

The final thing to test would be the ethernet ports on the computers and server.

 

I'll try the simplified network setup this weekend and try to replicate the problems. Maybe this can help me isolate any problems in the network. I'm starting to wonder if the issue isn't caused by the switch, I didn't seem to have any of these issues until I bought the switch about a month ago. Hypothetical: could there be a conflict between the router and switch that is causing the traffic to bottleneck and cut the internet?

 

For the record, I am using Cat6 cables from modem to router, Cat6 from router to switch and I think it's a Cat5e from switch to server. I actually ordered the cables from monoprice all of 3 months ago and they work great. I'll switch them out during my tests to find out if they may be the problem.

 

The speed seems to be fine when I transfer files, it's just that whenever I do transfer files from the PC to the server, the internet cuts out on both my PC's. Strange.

 

I'll let you guys know what I find out this weekend.

How do you fix things when this happens? Reboot the router? That sounds like one of the DIR-655's bugs. I don't have one but it's crossed my path. What firmware are you using? Don't believe its "check for newer version" feature. Several versions into v1.x it always said whatever it has is the latest.

 

I've had to reboot the router once before to get the internet running again, but another time I just waited a few minutes after the transfer was complete and the internet came back up.

 

About 3 weeks ago I reset the router to factory defaults and upgraded the firmware (I checked the manufacturer's website, downloaded and flashed the new firmware). After that I set the router up as if it were brand new and everything seemed to work fine. Then about a week ago when I went to transfer some files to the server, the issue cropped back up.

 

I've had to reboot the router once before to get the internet running again, but another time I just waited a few minutes after the transfer was complete and the internet came back up.

 

About 3 weeks ago I reset the router to factory defaults and upgraded the firmware (I checked the manufacturer's website, downloaded and flashed the new firmware). After that I set the router up as if it were brand new and everything seemed to work fine. Then about a week ago when I went to transfer some files to the server, the issue cropped back up.

 

Does it provide DHCP & DNS for your computers? It really does sound like you're saturating the AP. Next time the problem happens, be ready with the ip addresses of a few of your sites. When you can't get somewhere by name, try using the address instead. I'm guessing the Dlink's memory is exhausted and its services are failing until things calm down and it has time to recover. If using raw addresses helps, disable its DNS relay feature. Failing that, you might also try fiddling with any QoS features you find. Their WISH QoS might help.