The best way to fix the slowness of data transfer network issues. speed up network file transfer windows 10.
Everyone who has a network router at home also has a local area network (LAN), which makes it easy to share resources and data between devices. Today’s networks are also rapidly evolving, making it possible to transfer large files over a local area network.
Perhaps you have a large NAS (network-attached storage) full of media files and documents. You may be working with other collaborators and need to shuffle information locally between devices. Unfortunately, even modern networks face performance issues and file transfers can be difficult.
You often ask yourself, “Why is my network so slow”? Here are some helpful fixes to resume the data transfer.
The Weakest Link in the Chain
From the moment a network packet is sent from one device to its arrival at another, there are many twists and turns along the way. The total network data transfer rate depends on the speed of the slowest component in the chain.
Keep this in mind when trying to track down the source of slow network traffic. If possible, systematically eliminate possible culprits.
There are networking tools that can help you find network bottlenecks, but they are designed for complex business networks. In a small local area network, the following chain of components is usually used:
- Sending device (eg PC)
- The Network connection (Ethernet or WiFi)
- Network router
- This network connection (Ethernet or WiFi)
- Target device (for example, another computer or network storage device).
There are times when it can be a little more complicated than this. For example, you can use a Powerline adapter or WiFi repeater, adding another step in the chain. Mesh WiFi routers are also becoming more common in the home. This means that you may need to check individual components of the mesh system as well.
Benchmarking Your Network Speed
Before you start looking for problems everywhere, the first step is to test the performance of your network using a special utility. These programs are designed to test the speed of your network transferring data from one point to another, while excluding nonessential factors such as hard disk speed or operating system cache.
If the network test shows normal performance levels, you may want to look for another source of problems that is not related to your network equipment.
LAN Speed ​​Test Lite is a good example of such a network testing utility. All you have to do is specify a shared folder on the network as the target and the application will measure the transfer rate. Since this is still associated with the hard drives of both devices, you can also combine it with the LST Server.
Run the server application on the target computer and test the speed on the other. This will measure the net performance of your network, giving you a great idea of ​​what bit rates are actually available and why your network is so slow.
Weak WiFi Signal
One of the most common reasons for low network data rates is a weak WiFi signal or signal interference. Unlike an Ethernet cable connection, wireless connections can fluctuate a lot. Slight change in position or distance, radio interference at certain times of the day, moon phase; at least two of these factors can slow down your Wi-Fi speed.
Improving Wi-Fi performance deserves its own article, so head over to the Best Ways to Boost Wi-Fi Signals and Improve Performance for all the helpful tips you need to improve your wireless signal.
Storage Speeds
One of the often-overlooked factors when troubleshooting a slow network is the speed of the media at both ends. On fast gigabit home networks or even slow networks, some mechanical drives simply cannot transfer data fast enough to keep up.
Even if it is not the drive itself, any bottleneck in the storage system of the device will affect the network speed. If the slow data transfer occurs with one specific device, this may be one of the reasons.
If a slow drive is causing slow file transfers, there are several things you can do:
- Upgrade the drive to faster models such as SSD or high-speed mechanical technology.
- Configure a shared storage area on the network, such as a dedicated home NAS (network-attached storage).
- Use multiple drives in a RAID configuration to improve performance.
Storage devices are almost always holding something back, so it makes sense to store the largest and most frequently used files on a local network drive rated for speed. If you have a very fast broadband connection, it might actually be faster to store your files on a cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Rethinking Your Router
A network router plays a key role in the performance of your network. A router is actually a specialized computer with its own processor, memory, storage, and operating system. A router with lots of CPU cores, lots of RAM, and the latest in networking technology is far superior to anything else.
If you are asking too much of your current router, the answer may be to replace it with a newer and better model. This is especially true if your network performance issues are affecting the entire network, not just between specific devices.
Router Firmware Updates & Custom Firmware
The performance of your router is also affected by the operating system it runs on. This is the router’s firmware. Routers can hang, have errors, and poorly handle network traffic. Router manufacturers typically release updates to their firmware that fix performance issues and improve reliability.
Even if your router’s updated firmware does not handle the network well, you may have the option to install custom firmware. It is a firmware written by third-party developers that can fix bugs and unlock additional router features and performance. We do not recommend this for novice users, but if you want to know if your router has custom firmware, try DD-WRT or OpenWRT.
Router Quality of Service Settings
Many routers have QoS or Quality of Service settings that let you specify which types of traffic on the network should take priority.
If you want the transfer of files to your NAS device to always get the most of your local bandwidth, you can specify this by logging into your router and changing your QoS settings. Unfortunately, each router has its own unique QoS interface, so you will have to refer to your model manual for details.
Network Adapter Speeds and Settings
Each of your devices on the network has a network interface adapter. It is an Ethernet adapter or a Wi-Fi adapter. The adapters themselves support a specific set of standards. For example, your newest toy might support WiFi 6, but the rest of your network is made up of WiFi 4 and 5. Similarly, Ethernet adapters that support 10 Gbps, 1 Gbps, 100 Mbps, and even less on the old equipment can be mixed together.
In these cases, the lowest common denominator will limit the data transfer rate, causing the overall slow network. But there are times when the adapter itself might not be configured correctly. Your Ethernet card may be configured to operate at 100 Mbps, when in fact it is capable of faster transfer rates.
Updating Network Drivers
Your router is not the only one that can benefit from software updates. Your computer’s network card, be it Ethernet or WiFi, will also receive driver updates from time to time.
There may also be updates to the manufacturer’s management software that can help by adding new features and settings. Drivers tell your operating system how to “talk” to the hardware. In this case, it is the network interface device.
If there are bugs in the driver, or if the developers have come up with better ways to manage network traffic, the new driver will bring these improvements to your device.
Updating Network Card Firmware
The network interface hardware also benefits from firmware updates and patches. It is usually best to look for these types of updates on the website of your motherboard or computer manufacturer. If it’s an integrated device. If it’s a USB device or expansion card, go to the support page for that device.
Firmware is hard-coded internal code that controls networking hardware at its most basic level. New firmware updates are used to fix bugs, improve stability, and even add new features to older hardware. All of these can improve network performance.
Update Network Appliances
Our networks now have more than just traditional computers. You can have IP cameras, NAS network drives, streaming servers, and even a smart refrigerator or two. Some of these devices can cause congestion or other network performance issues.
It is therefore worth checking that their individual configurations are correct and for the latest software updates. This is one of the reasons why you should avoid buying network devices from other manufacturers. They usually don’t get the same fixes and gadget updates from premium brands.
Ethernet Cable Types
Your computer and your router support a certain network speed. However, when you copy a file over the network, you are not getting the best performance. It is important to remember that the rated speeds are theoretical and tested under ideal laboratory conditions. However, the problem may be with your Ethernet cable.
Although Ethernet cables may look roughly the same, cables from different categories are manufactured differently. This greatly affects their performance. They have different levels of shielding, a different number of cable turns, etc.
For example, Category 5 Ethernet is rated for 100 Mbps. So using it on 1Gbps hardware won’t give you the performance you expect. On the other hand, you will often see much higher speeds when using better quality cables. Category 5e Ethernet is only rated for 125 Mbps, but we have successfully tested over 500 Mbps with these cables if they are short enough.
The bottom line is that you need to make sure your Ethernet cable categories match the rated speed of the equipment you are using.
Network Bandwidth Saturation
It used to be that your router only needed to connect multiple computers together. Now everything in your home needs a piece of the web. Smartphones, game consoles, and even modern devices like smart microwaves need a connection so they can communicate with each other and download information from the Internet.
Modern routers can easily connect to and control dozens of devices, but that doesn’t mean there is infinite bandwidth for all of these devices. If too many devices are transmitting data to the network at the same time, you will have a slow network.
The solution is to either reduce the number of devices competing for bandwidth, split them between wired and wireless connections, or change their settings. The parameters that need to be changed will differ from one device to the next. Typically, you want to either schedule certain types of network operations at night or disable unnecessary transfers.
Damaged Equipment
This is usually not the first thing on the mind, but if you’ve tried everything and your network baud rate is still not up to par, think that your network hardware might actually be damaged. Network cables are the most common cause. Worn, kinked, or otherwise frayed Ethernet cables may still work, but may not move as many bits as they normally would.
There may also be problems with the Ethernet port on the network card. For Wi-Fi, check the external antenna. Especially in desktop systems where the antenna is connected with external wires.
Replacing Ethernet cables is one way to check for damage, but using alternative network interfaces, such as switching between Ethernet and WiFi, can reveal defective hardware.
Fast Enough for You?
So, did any of these tips help solve your slow network problems? Let us know if your network performance issues have been resolved. If not, please post a comment describing the situation and, if you’re lucky, a member of our reading community may have found a solution to your specific problem.
Network problems are always a little frustrating, but if you search for problems systematically, it will probably turn out to be an easier solution than you might expect.
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