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MacBook Pro -> Google WiFi -> QNAP running slow

Leonanderson88
Community Member

Hi all,

 
I have been using a QNAP NAS as my file backup and TimeMachine for many years now. 
 
Over the last year, I notice that the connection speed from the MacBook Pro to my QNAP NAS has dramatically decreased.
 
My setup:
 
NBN (HFC) <--ethernet--> Google WiFi <--ethernet--> QNAP NAS
                                                     Google WiFi <--WiFi--> MacBook Pro
 
With this setup, my write speed is around 40mbps and my read speed is around 160mbps
Occasionally I need to write finished video projects anywhere from 100GB - 1TB
 
To overcome this impossibly slow speed I use a wired connection for the MacBook Pro:
 
NBN (HFC) <--ethernet--> Google WiFi <--ethernet--> netgear gigabit switch <--ethernet--> QNAP NAS
                                                                                                             netgear gigabit switch <--ethernet--> MacBook Pro
 
 
However, this has only been necessary for the last year. 
A mild inconvenience is now a real issue as I'm moving house and won't be able to run a cable from my NAS to my work desk.
Prior to something changing in the Google WiFi around a year ago I could get at least 400mbps over WiFi, read and write. Or if not that fast it was considerably faster than 40mpbs write.
 

My Google WiFi and QNAP NAS both indicate they are connected to each other at 1gbps.

I have tested the WiFi Speed from the MacBook Pro to the internet and it's around 400mbps. I realise this is the maximum download speed of my internet connection and I could theoretically get 1300mbps from the Google WiFi to the MacBook Pro, but it does demonstrate the WiFi -> WAN is faster than 100mbps.
 
The only thing I can think of is the switching from Google WiFi to its LAN port is much slower than 1gbps. 
 
Has anyone else seen this issue?
 
Is there a solution?
 
Thanks in advance
3 REPLIES 3

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

Hello @Leonanderson88 

This kind of performance issue can be extremely difficult to diagnose. The fact that you can read at >100Mbps over WiFi indicates the Google WiFi LAN port is running higher than 100Mbps, though it could just be marginal, falling back to 100Mbps occasionally or even just under load. If it's "flapping" between 100Mbps and 1Gbps, it could easily show performance like this. I would try to verify the performance of that path using something other than disk IO to your NAS.

All of that said, Google WiFi is an AC1200 2x2 system, so the maximum signaling rate over 5GHz is 867Mbps – and that's before the substantial overhead WiFi has compared to Ethernet. It's also only going to be possible in the same room as the access point without obstructions. WiFi is a convenience technology – if you really care about performance, Ethernet is the answer.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, Leonanderson88.

I just wanted to check in real quickly to see if there's anything else you needed here. If there's any more I can do for you, please let me know.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, all.

Since we've not had any responses for a while, I'm going to go ahead and close up the thread. If there's any more to add or if you still have any questions, please feel free to open up a new discussion.

Thanks.