Router upgrade

[#1]

Knowdice - Someone already made that suggestion, but taking the router out is not an option. I need it for the rest of the network. Even if it worked better without the router, I need a router. The router is Netgear WNR1000 and the switch is TP Link TL-SG10005D.

[#2]

I understand that you will need a router, but, until you test and prove that the PC to Extender works at the rate you need either back-to-back (preferred) or via the switch with the router disconnected
IMO you are not going  to get very far in finding out where the bottleneck/problem is.

[#3]

In short... if the problem still occurs with the router not connected then it's not the router at fault - and I highly doubt it is the router as it would play no part in the data transfer between PC and extender..
With any investigation such as this you start with the minimum amount of kit and add each piece as you go until the problem re-occurs.
Start with PC & extender only and prove both can work at gigabit speeds. If all OK add the switch and see if it can... if all OK add the next bit of kit and contionue until the problem occurs. Then work out what needs to be done to solve it knowing what is causing it.

[#4]

I'll second that.  if you can connect two PCs with a single cable (some NICs auto-sense so you don't need a cross-over cable) then that's a good start.  Then try a second cable.  The add the switch.
My money is on the TP-link thing not being up to the job 🙂
If you're only getting 22Mb/s  (mega-bits) then you have faulty kit.  If you're getting 22MB/s (mega-bytes) then that's par for the course on cheap-ish kit.  I only get 30MB/s between two cheap-o NICs at work simply because there isn't the I/O bandwidth in the PCs.

[#5]

Quote from: oakwoods

Novatech are stating the data will still pass through the router. He did make a point by stating that if it were possible to connect a gigabit switch and still achieve gigabit speed, then why would they make gigabit routers? A 10/100 router + gigabit switch is cheaper than a gigabit router.

Next they'll tell you your network is limited to the speed of your Internet as it's all connected  It's FUD. If you use a HUB, not a switch, then they are correct. In fact with a switch, assuming it has sufficient processing power, you should be able to have a 2 pairs of devices talking and get a total used bandwidth in excess of what one port can do.
As others have asked what is the media extender you're using? If I read it correctly the software you are using is not really testing the LAN, IMHO, as it's ultimately writing/reading a file on the extender. Are your write and read speeds identical?

[#6]

And...what do Novatech think a Gigabit router is - It's a router with a Gigabit switch strapped to it all in one box   < Novatech...
They were just trying to up-sell you...

[#7]

oakwoods, the purpose of removing the router is to determine if the issue lies with the network, the extender, the pc or the router.
In theory, connecting between two devices by IP address or netbios name will *not* need DNS.  Nor will DHCP be required once both devices are up and running.  The only time the router would be required is if the two devices lie on different subnets, and given the router in question I find this highly doubtful.
Please perform the following test:
1. Connect pc to switch, extender to switch, switch to router.
2. Restart pc and extender
3. Confirm connectivity between the two devices
4. Unplug router from the switch
5. Confirm connectivity between the two devices
6. Perform the transfer test
If you find that it is still transferring at low speed then you need to investigate possible causes such as checking both devices are actually working at 100BaseT full duplex or 1000BaseT (the lights on the switch should help here).
Novatech are talking rubbish basically.  The reason routers come with gigabit ports is so that SoHo users don't need a separate switch.

[#8]

I followed everyones advice today and trimmed the LAN right back to basics and started rebuilding. At one point I even wondered if the main PC NIC was faulty. It turns out the extender is faulty. I moved computers around and the extender is the only device with a slow speed. It is an Xstreamer so I shall now probably hit their forum, although to be honest, I can't imagine what can be done with it. I imagine it is a replacement needed. Somehow I just knew this was going to cost me.
Thanks for everyones help. It really is appreciated.

[#9]

if its one of these: http://www.xtreamer.net/xtreamer/specs.aspx then the spec is only 10/100

[#10]

That's the one but I don't understand what you are getting at. I originally thought I needed Gigabit for HD, but things have moved on and I now know I only need 50Mbps for HD but the Xstreamer is only getting 25Mbps, yet other devices are getting 80+. Looks like a replacement extender may be needed.

[#11]

As most of this thread has been about getting a gigabit connection working I was merely pointing out that the Xstreamer only had a 100mb port.
But as you say what you have should work.
Edit:
It could be that the Xstreamer is working ok but the PC/Hard drive you are streaming from is the bottleneck?
Have you tried disabling any anti-virus you have on the PC that you are streaming form (temporarily)?

[#12]

I'm sure it's the Xstreamer. All other devices I put on the same cable are getting 80Mbps. The HDDs are no problem as I edit 1080p video as a hobby and that is all fine. I've posted on the Xstreamer forum to see if anyone there has any ideas.

[#13]

That network monitoring tool you're using writes a file to the Xstreamer's HD and reads it back. The Xstreamer is probably not optimised to write stuff to a local HD and if it's on the USB it'll be even slower. It's like doing a speed test, your only seeing the slowest bit and it may not be the cable.

[#14]

Even though the speed tester is writing a 100Mb file to the HD, actual streaming of HiDef is still unplayable, which confirms the speed problem. The write speed to the HD would not be a problem, the whole issue here is the ability to stream video. The USB is not in use at all.

[#15]

I can't see anywhere in the Xtreamer spec that they say that it can actually playout at 1080p across a network...only had a quick scan so maybe missed something 
Will it play a 1080p file from it's internal hard disk Ok?