I have my unRAID box connected to a gigabit switch, with most local PC functions (desktop PC, Printer, DSL, etc).  It also has  WAP attached to it, and another in bridge mode on the other side of the house.  This allows laptops to connect wireless and extends range.  Whenever I add a drive or do a parity check with my unRAID box, it kills my WAP.  The WAP does not show disconnected, or any connection problem at all, but any wireless device slows to a crawl... minutes to load something as basic as Google.com.  With unRAID in normal operation, a ping from my desktop PC to the WAP is <1 ms.  From the PC to the other side of the bridge is 1-2ms and 0 dropped packets.  However, with unRAID in a rebuild or drive add, ping on my side stays at 1ms, but the ping to the other side jumps to 200-300ms, with about 50% dropped packets.

 

I have no idea why unRAID would be putting anything atypical on the network during a rebuild or drive add, but I know that with my WAP degraded, the problem is solved by pulling my unRAID ethernet cable from the switch.  Problems instantly go away.  Plug it back in, and my WAP instantly becomes degraded.

 

Anyone have any idea why unRAID kills my WAP (only in rebuild or when I add a drive)?  Does anyone know how to prevent it?  Is their some configuration change I can make to solve the problem?

I have my unRAID box connected to a gigabit switch, with most local PC functions (desktop PC, Printer, DSL, etc).  It also has  WAP attached to it, and another in bridge mode on the other side of the house.  This allows laptops to connect wireless and extends range.  Whenever I add a drive or do a parity check with my unRAID box, it kills my WAP.  The WAP does not show disconnected, or any connection problem at all, but any wireless device slows to a crawl... minutes to load something as basic as Google.com.  With unRAID in normal operation, a ping from my desktop PC to the WAP is <1 ms.  From the PC to the other side of the bridge is 1-2ms and 0 dropped packets.  However, with unRAID in a rebuild or drive add, ping on my side stays at 1ms, but the ping to the other side jumps to 200-300ms, with about 50% dropped packets.

 

I have no idea why unRAID would be putting anything atypical on the network during a rebuild or drive add, but I know that with my WAP degraded, the problem is solved by pulling my unRAID ethernet cable from the switch.  Problems instantly go away.  Plug it back in, and my WAP instantly becomes degraded.

 

Anyone have any idea why unRAID kills my WAP (only in rebuild or when I add a drive)?  Does anyone know how to prevent it?  Is their some configuration change I can make to solve the problem?

Only possibility I can think of it multiple devices on the lan with the same fixed IP address, or MAC address, or faulty hardware.  Other than that, time to get a copy of wireshark (or equivalent) online to see what is happening.

I have my unRAID box connected to a gigabit switch, with most local PC functions (desktop PC, Printer, DSL, etc).  It also has  WAP attached to it, and another in bridge mode on the other side of the house.  This allows laptops to connect wireless and extends range.  Whenever I add a drive or do a parity check with my unRAID box, it kills my WAP.  The WAP does not show disconnected, or any connection problem at all, but any wireless device slows to a crawl... minutes to load something as basic as Google.com.  With unRAID in normal operation, a ping from my desktop PC to the WAP is <1 ms.  From the PC to the other side of the bridge is 1-2ms and 0 dropped packets.  However, with unRAID in a rebuild or drive add, ping on my side stays at 1ms, but the ping to the other side jumps to 200-300ms, with about 50% dropped packets.

 

I have no idea why unRAID would be putting anything atypical on the network during a rebuild or drive add, but I know that with my WAP degraded, the problem is solved by pulling my unRAID ethernet cable from the switch.  Problems instantly go away.  Plug it back in, and my WAP instantly becomes degraded.

 

Anyone have any idea why unRAID kills my WAP (only in rebuild or when I add a drive)?  Does anyone know how to prevent it?  Is their some configuration change I can make to solve the problem?

Only possibility I can think of it multiple devices on the lan with the same fixed IP address, or MAC address, or faulty hardware.   Other than that, time to get a copy of wireshark (or equivalent) online to see what is happening.

 

No duplicate MAC's and my only assigned static IP is to the unRAID.

 

However, last night a changed to a larger parity drive and did a rebuild, and added another drive and there were no problems with my WAP.  The only thing different is that I had a longer ethernet cable and had moved my WAP box to a new location.  It had previously been sitting on top of my unRAID server.

 

This makes me wonder if a bunch of drives spinning constantly building parity produce enough EMI/RFI to actually interfere with the signal out of the WAP, but maybe with one or two drives just writing briefly, it's okay.  It would explain why on my side of the bridge (a wired connection) I got <1 ms pings, and the other side of the wireless bridge it was 50% dropped and 200-300 ms.  Signal interference.

 

I may move the WAP back the next time I do a parity check or other drive intensive operation.

It's simpler than that and it isn't likely a case of EFI/RFI. Odds are your WAP was overheating. Try placing it near but not close enough to be heated by the server.

 

For something gonzo, see if it acts the same way when heated with a hairdryer.

It's simpler than that and it isn't likely a case of EFI/RFI. Odds are your WAP was overheating. Try placing it near but not close enough to be heated by the server.

 

For something gonzo, see if it acts the same way when heated with a hairdryer.

 

No, it definitely was not overheating.  My room is regulated to 75F and the surface of my unRAID (or any other PC I build) is never hotter than room temp, even at full steam ahead.  So temp wise, sitting it there is no different than sitting it anywhere else in the room.  My unRAID has 10 fans total in it.  Plus the WAP has a plastic stand that keeps it about 3 inches above the surface of anything, so it wasn't sitting dead on top blocking the bottom vents in the WAP.