New build pc - why is my NAS so slow?

WD Legacy Products My Book Live
1

http://imgur.com/Tbny1

this review says i should be looking forward to “average read speed of 61.2MB/s and a write speed of 45.5MB/s” which i’m not even coming close to
http://www.storagereview.com/western_digital_my_book_live_review

I’ve just built a new pc, which has seemingly gone swimmingly, and to go along with it, i thought i’d upgrade my home network
I do a lot of print resolution digital artwork, so regularly backing up large files is a must and my last network just wasnt up to it

To that end, i bought myself

a gigabit lan enabled motherboard - Gigabyte SKT-1155 Z77X-D3H
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-GA-Z77X-D3H-SKT-1155-Z77X-D3H-Motherboard/dp/B007KZQFEI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346426710&sr=8-1

a gigabit router modem - Netgear DGN3500 RangeMax Wireless-N Gigabit Modem Router
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-DGN3500-RangeMax-Wireless-N-Gigabit/dp/B003462RXU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346426371&sr=8-1

A pair of Solwise 500 Mbps homeplug adapters
http://www.amazon.co.uk/500AV-Homeplug-with-mains-passthrough/dp/B005IVLCJO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346426353&sr=8-1

And a NAS drive - WD My Book Live Personal Cloud Storage 2 TB
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Personal-Cloud-Storage-Network-Attached/dp/B00499DMRQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346426392&sr=8-1

When i put it all together however its no faster than my old lan - 10/100 modem router, 85Mbps homeplugs

So to clarify,

  • My pc/homeplug 1 is in a room upstairs
  • My modem/router + NAS + homeplug 2 is in a downstairs (And its a *Small* House)
  • i’ve updated drivers on pretty much everything
  • homeplugs plugged directly into wall
  • i’m only using the supplied cables that all assure me are capable of gigabit network speeds (cat 5e)

The attached image shows the sort of performance i’m getting - is that really all i can expect? Is there anything else i can do?

2

You point out that you’re using the included cable to the MBL, but you forget that you’re using home plugs. The more electrical current is being pumped through the electrical wires whilst you’re using them for transferring data, the slower the transfer rates will be.

My experience tells me that even with new wiring, no lamps, TV’s and such sucking power, and short distances, you won’t reach transfer speeds over about 120 Mbps using home plugs. They’re great for surfing, playing games, watching digital cable TV (even HD). But electrical wiring just isn’t an option to ethernet cables when it comes to fast transfer speeds.

3

I loathe reviews like that…  The claim very high numbers but give no info on their test methodology.

4

But incidentally, here’s my report from BST – All wired gigabit; no powerline.

Looks about 5x faster.

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