WD Live Slow Data Transfer

WD Legacy Products My Book Live
1

I just purchased a WD Live and am not impressed with the file transfer speed (2.1Mbps).  I am connecting wirelessly using my Surface 2 Tablet.  Wireless speed shows 72Mbps.  WD Live is connected via LAN port on a Linksys E1200 v2 (100Mbps).  I am also experiencing slow streaming of MP4 videos via my Roku 3 wirelessly.  The same MP4 accessed via the Roku 3 USB port is blazingly fast.

So why is the WD Live so dang slow? 

I am somewhat considering switching to a Buffalo LinkStation if I cannot find a remedy to this issue.

2

It sounds as you have wireless G connection. I do have a similar setup, wireless G and 10/100 network. Those speeds sound right for wireless. Nevertheless, I do not have any issues with it. I see a performace issue, but only when having 2-3 devices write/read from MBL at the same time.

Now, if you have a PC wired, try to see if videos play fine.

If they do, it is not the MBL, since it does not have wireless capabilities.

Now, for wireless, there are lots of potencial issues, signal strenght, interference, etc. Google for a how to troubleshoot wireless connections and see ifany helps.

And final, for transfer speeds on MBL:

Wireless G: 2-3Mbps

100 = 10-11Mbps

1000 = 30-40. Sometimes 60-80 depending on hardware.

Read this as well:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gigabit-ethernet-bandwidth,2321-3.html

3

I know how to troubleshoot wireless issues but thanks anyways.

I have wireless-N not G. 

Its never been able to connect at 150-300Mbps. 

All components are located in the same room with the Roku 3 being the furthest away at an unobstructed eight feet from the router.

4

Ok, side question – the Roku 3 is streaming from the MBL – how, exactly?   The Roku doesn’t have DLNA capability, and can’t connect any other way to the MBL.

Also, when you say you only get 2.1 Mb per second, is that megaBITS or megaBYTES to your Surface2?

5

TonyPh12345 wrote:

Ok, side question – the Roku 3 is streaming from the MBL – how, exactly?   The Roku doesn’t have DLNA capability, and can’t connect any other way to the MBL.

 

Also, when you say you only get 2.1 Mb per second, is that megaBITS or megaBYTES to your Surface2?

 

Roku 3 last update added DLNA capability. 

Windows File Explorer displays 2.1 MB /s (Megabyte).

6

Ah. Indeed! I had to add the channel.

It seems to be working well through mine… Watching an HD rip of Skyfall from my MBL as I type.

I’m not sure what your issue might be.

7

Beats me as well. Did you test a wired PC as I mentioned?

You said “it has never been able to connect 150-300Mbps”. Remember, MBL has no wireless capabilities, so you are not connecting to MBL via wireless, you connect to your router via wireless.

Wireless N eh? Nevertheless, the wifi speeds are not even close to wireless N. There is something wrong with your wifi network/router.

8

I’m still at work now and haven’t been home to tinker yet.  It could be attributed to neighbors routers in the area but I have the same router at work and we have tons of other routers in the area and I’m connecting with my Surface 2 Tablet at 270-300Mbps right now.  I’ll keep you all posted.

9

I played around with the E1200 wireless and setting it to N-only and channel 6 (versus Auto) and now I’m getting 150 and occasionally 300Mbps.  But I am still getting craziness from the My Book Live.  The slow transfer has picked up to ~5MBps with the increase in wireless thoughput though. 

10

My transfer speed is slow as well. I’m using a Mac though. Seems to be fast enough to stream movies still though.

What can I say, it’s a WD drive wrapped in an under powered linux distro with 256mb of ram. You can’t expect much in my opinion.

Next time, I think I’ll spend a bit extra and go a higher end model. I’m currently eyeing off the thunderbolt duo drive setup.

11

If you have a Mac and using wireless, there are plenty of complains about 10.9 and wifi issues, check it out.

I have a Mac on 10.8.5 and it is fine. I usually tend not to upgrade unless there is an issue or a new functionality I want. Rather wait a while. Same goes for MBL, still running 02.32.05-046 firmware.

12

I just purchased a gigabit dual-band router and my wireless speed is a consistent 300mbps but that did not improve the transfer speed at all.  I just read a ton of reviews about how slow My Book Live is and the iffy web GUI.  I am taking it back to the store. I can clearly see why it keeps going on sale.

13

I kept sugesting to test a PC wired as well. I guess that is not an option. But that will actually tell you if it is the MBL or wireless. Also make sure MBL connects to 1gig, check the back LEDs and compare to the manual.

14

Shabuboy wrote:

I kept sugesting to test a PC wired as well. I guess that is not an option. But that will actually tell you if it is the MBL or wireless. Also make sure MBL connects to 1gig, check the back LEDs and compare to the manual.

Surface 2 Tablet doesn’t have a LAN port.

15

donb2 wrote:

Surface 2 Tablet doesn’t have a LAN port.

True, but you didn’t say whether that’s the only PC to which you have access.

The reason the MBL is frequently on sale is probably because it’s a fairly old model.  Three newer platforms have been released since.

16

donb2 wrote:

I just purchased a gigabit dual-band router and my wireless speed is a consistent 300mbps

Just want to point out that the indicated rate is NOT the “wireless speed.”   It’s what’s called the “Negotiated Data Rate.”  That is NOT an indication of how fast data will be transfered.