[SOLVED] Read/write to share very slow from Windows 10 PC, fast as expected from Mac (same network)

[guzba]

Hello, hoping for some insight here. I've spent several hours reading about various possible fixes for my read/write performance but haven't had any luck. Here is the situation:

 

I have Unraid 6.8.3 running on my LAN network with 1 public share on it. When I try to copy a file from Unraid to my Windows 10 PC (or write a file to the Unraid share from Windows 10), I the speed is ~710KB. Yes, KB and goes even lower while fluctuating. This is incredibly slow. I can't even load pictures without delays.

 

If I access the same share on the same network from my Mac laptop, I get the expected snappy performance.

 

I ran iperf3 between my Windows 10 PC and Unraid and saw it saturated my WiFi connection (>10MB / >100Megabit).

 

Since the network appears to be working fine and access from Mac is performing as expected, something is up with Windows 10 and Unraid talking to each other. I investigated SMB and am seeing SMB 3_11 on both sides. Windows 10 is full updated running Version 1909.

 

(I also enabled Direct IO and disabled Hard Links based on other threads. Made no difference. Also have rebooted many many times, both server and PC.)

 

What am I missing? What should I check? Any ideas would be welcome, I'm out of ideas. I've verified Unraid itself works great with Mac and the Network isn't the issue. SMB appears to be on the latest version. I'm stuck, thanks for reading and for any suggestions you have.

 

Also attached diagnostics to avoid the standard request for them right away

tower-diagnostics-20200502-1926.zip

[John_M]

41 minutes ago, guzba said:

What am I missing? What should I check? Any ideas would be welcome

Try it with a cabled network instead of wireless. See if that makes a difference. (If it doesn't then I'll look at the diagnostics you very sensibly attached.)

[guzba]

Results to report! I moved my PC downstairs by the router temporarily so I could wire it up for this test. When connected by Ethernet, go figure, everything works at gigabit speeds (>100MB).

 

Took the PC back upstairs. Back on the WiFi things being slow like before.

 

This did narrow things down a bit. It appears to be Windows 10 + Unraid + WiFi (since Mac + Unraid + WiFi works as expected). I know WiFi will be much slower than Ethernet, but I would expect to still get the 10MB which is more than usable. Any ideas of what could create this behavior?

 

I did verify the WiFi network is marked as a private network with network discovery enabled. Also re-verified iperf3 works as expected between Unraid and Windows 10 over WiFi.

Edited May 3, 2020 by guzba

[John_M]

3 minutes ago, guzba said:

Any ideas of what could create this behavior?

The nature of radio waves. Cabled Ethernet is entirely predictable. Wireless is almost entirely unpredictable. It's fine for tablets and phones but for serious file transfers there's no substitute for physical wires. Since your server works fine with your Mac, the problem lies between your Windows PC and its connection to the network.. You mention the fact that you went downstairs to make a cabled connection to your router, which implies that your wireless signal has to pass through at least a ceiling and a floor. For the best signal you need it to be passing through only air.

[guzba]

Totally on board with you there on everything you've said and I'd love to have this wired but it is not currently feasible just yet (no Ethernet in the walls).

 

Here is what's odd though:

 

In the same room, at the same desk, on the same WiFi, my Mac laptop can copy files from Unraid at 10+MB per second. My PC, less than 3 feet from it, can't even get 1MB. Additionally, I can download files from the internet at 10+ MB per second on that same Windows PC over the same WiFi. It is unexpected that LAN would be much slower than internet all else equal right?

 

The key thing is that LAN Unraid (via WiFi from a Windows 10 PC) is the only slow thing in the entire mix. Everything else performs as expected.

 

I'm not sure what would cause the file transfers to be so slow but still to work little by little. Usually network stuff either works or doesn't at all in my experience. I'll do more research and testing but unfortunately 'its just WiFi' doesn't explain the symptoms here. Thanks for your suggestion about trying wired tho!

Edited May 3, 2020 by guzba

[guzba]

I am going to try one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N1WW638/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 (little WiFi -> Ethernet bridge) and both laugh and cry when it makes things work. Will report back with results.

 

(I am going to connect my PC via Ethernet to that bridge, which will connect to the WiFi. This means PC will think its Ethernet even though its really WiFi. It will be funny if this helps.)

Edited May 3, 2020 by guzba

[John_M]

My newest Mac is a 10 year old MacBook Pro, which has a built-in Ethernet port. If yours is of similar vintage or if you have access to an Ethernet dongle you could use your Mac as a temporary WiFi to Ethernet bridge by enabling Internet sharing (from Airport to Ethernet) in System Preferences. That would let you test the theory before you order the part from Amazon. As for the differences, maybe the Mac has a better wireless chip or antenna array than the PC. Maybe the Mac is able to use the 5 GHz signal from your router but the PC can only use the 2.4 GHz signal. Maybe the 3 feet makes all the difference. At the kind of frequencies WiFi uses it probably does make a big difference. Even people who understand radio waves have difficulty predicting how they will behave in a space with solid obstacles.

[guzba]

The WiFi bridge idea from the Macbook is a great idea for sure, but sadly my Macbook does not have an Ethernet port. I'm ok being a little patient though, not a big deal.

 

As for the Windows 10 WiFi, I would agree there can be any number of explanations if not for the fact that iperf3 works perfectly every time I test it between my Windows 10 PC and the Unraid server. To me, this means the WiFi is working great and the issue lies in software somewhere between Unraid and Windows 10. Maybe Samba, maybe a driver thing, maybe some name resolution thing, maybe ACKs are not getting sent or dropped, I dunno.

 

I am thinking of also trying a Disk Share instead of a User Share to eliminate that area of possible trouble. I also saw a post about TCP timestamps that helped someone with a similar issue. If I can find that post again maybe I'll try that too.

Edited May 3, 2020 by guzba

[guzba]

I opened up PowerShell as Administrator and ran: Set-NetTCPSetting -SettingName Internet -Timestamps Enabled

 

After running this I confirmed the setting stuck by running: Get-NetTCPSetting and seeing Timestamps as Enabled in the list. Then I rebooted my PC.

 

This has fixed the issue. I now get ~10MB per second between Unraid and Windows 10 when copying files over my WiFI.

 

I have no idea why this actually did anything though.

Edited May 3, 2020 by guzba