NAS Behind Wireless Bridge?

[MacPro2008]

Hello,
So, the title is only part of the question. I am currently building a NAS that I will use with FreeNAS. I heard that FreeNAS is unreliable with WiFi, however, I cannot put any hardware in the room where the router is. I have several other small servers that are being used already, but they do not need the Network speed that the NAS will. That are all attached to a gigabit switch which is connected to a Linksys router running dd-wrt. The router is in wireless bridge mode connected to the main router. Although both routers are capable of 5GHz, the dd-wrt router only seems to be connected to the 2.4GHz frequency. (I understand that this is the WRONG place for that question but if anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great.) My Mac Pro is connected to the main router over 5GHz. Therefore, I would like to connect the Mac Pro to the dd-wrt router via Ethernet so that I have direct access to the servers while keeping my 5GHz WiFi connection. Will I be able to achieve gigabit speeds between the servers & the Mac Pro or will the data be transferred over WiFi & back through the dd-wrt router? (I’m not sure how that works). If it would work, do I just use the servers iP to connect as usual?

 

[techwarrior]

Depends on how you setup the MAC networking. Clearly, a Mac can connect to both WiFi and Ethernet, but it will tend to use whichever interface is given higher priority.

You can control this in System Prefs > Network. On the left pane, below the network connections, click the gear icon and select Set Service Order. Drag the Ethernet to the top of the list to ensure the Mac uses Ethernet before WiFi.

Effectively, in this setup, WiFi is enabled for handoff types of functions with your iOS and Watch devices. But, all of the traffic will use Ethernet and only revert to WiFi if there is a problem with Ethernet.

 

[MacPro2008]

Depends on how you setup the MAC networking. Clearly, a Mac can connect to both WiFi and Ethernet, but it will tend to use whichever interface is given higher priority.

You can control this in System Prefs > Network. On the left pane, below the network connections, click the gear icon and select Set Service Order. Drag the Ethernet to the top of the list to ensure the Mac uses Ethernet before WiFi.

Effectively, in this setup, WiFi is enabled for handoff types of functions with your iOS and Watch devices. But, all of the traffic will use Ethernet and only revert to WiFi if there is a problem with Ethernet.

I know about ordering the interfaces in System Preferences. I would like to use the wifi for internet, as it is much faster than using the ethernet to go over the wireless bridge. However, I would like to use the Ethernet interface for contacting the NAS & other servers. Sorry if its confusing. I can make a map of some sort if you need it.

 

[techwarrior]

I know about ordering the interfaces in System Preferences. I would like to use the wifi for internet, as it is much faster than using the ethernet to go over the wireless bridge. However, I would like to use the Ethernet interface for contacting the NAS & other servers. Sorry if its confusing. I can make a map of some sort if you need it.

If you setup two subnets, the Mac would use the Eth port for the NAS as it will be seen as local vs 1 routing hop. So, something like 192.168.0.0/24 for the WiFi (Main) network, and 192.168.1.0/24 for the Servers\NAS. However, both routers need to have static routes to each other for this to work (assuming the two networks need to be able to access each other), many consumer grade routers don't have static routing capabilities (dd-wrt probably does).

 

[MacPro2008]

If you setup two subnets, the Mac would use the Eth port for the NAS as it will be seen as local vs 1 routing hop. So, something like 192.168.0.0/24 for the WiFi (Main) network, and 192.168.1.0/24 for the Servers\NAS. However, both routers need to have static routes to each other for this to work (assuming the two networks need to be able to access each other), many consumer grade routers don't have static routing capabilities (dd-wrt probably does).

I am confused. I am relatively new to networking. Are subnets different networks? What do you mean by static routing between routers? Can IPs on a different subnets still be accessed by another subnets? For example a laptop over WiFi connecting to the NAS. If you are talking about static IPs I have static IPs for the servers. Sorry for all of the questions.

 

[hobowankenobi]

I would like to use the wifi for internet, as it is much faster than using the ethernet to go over the wireless bridge.

That strikes me as odd. Why would the wireless bridge be slower? Is there a problem there that should be resolved?

 

[MacPro2008]

That strikes me as odd. Why would the wireless bridge be slower? Is there a problem there that should be resolved?

The wireless bridge is only connected to the 2.4GHz network. Which only gives me about 12MBps, rather than the 60MBps from the WiFi directly. I also would like to upgrade the Mac Pro to 802.11ac WiFi, which the wireless bridge is incapable.

 

[techwarrior]

I am confused. I am relatively new to networking. Are subnets different networks? What do you mean by static routing between routers? Can IPs on a different subnets still be accessed by another subnets? For example a laptop over WiFi connecting to the NAS. If you are talking about static IPs I have static IPs for the servers. Sorry for all of the questions.

My work Mac is using WiFi and Ethernet, on different subnets. However, it seems the route taken on my Mac is always using the Wireless (top priority) to access hosts on the LAN my Ethernet is connected to. So, in reality, I think the only way to force Mac <> NAS to use Ethernet would be to disable WiFi when making the connection. It appears that the OS always tries using the primary interface.

In your setup, you state the Linksys WRT is bridging WiFi (router to WRT) to Ethernet (NAS\Servers connecting via 1Gbps Ethernet switch). The fact that the WRT is using 2.4Ghz for the connection may be due to limited 5Ghz signal strength between the router and WRT. If it is possible to use Ethernet to connect the WRT to the router, this might solve your bottleneck. Or, you might not even need to WRT if you can connect the switch directly to the router.

If Ethernet between the router and the server switch\WRT is impractical, then you might try Powerline adapters. Newer Powerline adapters like these can do close to 1Gbps (or more) using the power lines in the home\office to send the data. You plug one in near the router, the other near the server switch with ethernet cables connecting to LAN ports on either end. There is virtually no setup required for these. They work best when connected to the same circuit, but will work ok if that is not possible.

Keep in mind, network speeds will never be faster than the slowest link between hosts. In your case, servers connect to the LAN on the main router via 2.4Ghz Wireless bridge. Once you solve the problem of the link between the servers and the router, any host connected to the main router (ethernet or wireless) will get faster speeds.

 

[MacPro2008]

My work Mac is using WiFi and Ethernet, on different subnets. However, it seems the route taken on my Mac is always using the Wireless (top priority) to access hosts on the LAN my Ethernet is connected to. So, in reality, I think the only way to force Mac <> NAS to use Ethernet would be to disable WiFi when making the connection. It appears that the OS always tries using the primary interface.

In your setup, you state the Linksys WRT is bridging WiFi (router to WRT) to Ethernet (NAS\Servers connecting via 1Gbps Ethernet switch). The fact that the WRT is using 2.4Ghz for the connection may be due to limited 5Ghz signal strength between the router and WRT. If it is possible to use Ethernet to connect the WRT to the router, this might solve your bottleneck. Or, you might not even need to WRT if you can connect the switch directly to the router.

If Ethernet between the router and the server switch\WRT is impractical, then you might try Powerline adapters. Newer Powerline adapters like these can do close to 1Gbps (or more) using the power lines in the home\office to send the data. You plug one in near the router, the other near the server switch with ethernet cables connecting to LAN ports on either end. There is virtually no setup required for these. They work best when connected to the same circuit, but will work ok if that is not possible.

Keep in mind, network speeds will never be faster than the slowest link between hosts. In your case, servers connect to the LAN on the main router via 2.4Ghz Wireless bridge. Once you solve the problem of the link between the servers and the router, any host connected to the main router (ethernet or wireless) will get faster speeds.

Thanks for your input. I don't really have the money for powerline adapters right now but have looked into them in the past. I will attempt to get the dd-wrt on the 5GHz band & see if that speed works, although I will lose the speed from ac.

 

[hobowankenobi]

The wireless bridge is only connected to the 2.4GHz network. Which only gives me about 12MBps, rather than the 60MBps from the WiFi directly. I also would like to upgrade the Mac Pro to 802.11ac WiFi, which the wireless bridge is incapable.

I see. So the bridge is the bottleneck.

If that was corrected, you would only need one connection, no? Would simplify the network.

 

[MacPro2008]

I see. So the bridge is the bottleneck.

If that was corrected, you would only need one connection, no? Would simplify the network.

I got the bridge to connect to the 5GHz band strictly using n. I am going to wait until the network isnt being used so that I can compare speeds. My main problem is that if I wanted to upgrade the Mac Pro to 802.11ac then the bridge would be a bottleneck again. (I think it already is in terms of lan speed even using 5GHz.)

 

[techwarrior]

I got the bridge to connect to the 5GHz band strictly using n. I am going to wait until the network isnt being used so that I can compare speeds. My main problem is that if I wanted to upgrade the Mac Pro to 802.11ac then the bridge would be a bottleneck again. (I think it already is in terms of lan speed even using 5GHz.)

So, effectively with the bridge in 5Ghz "n" mode, your theoretical speeds between the WRT and router go from 54Mbps to up to 300Mbps, depending on signal strength. That is an improvement, but anything you do to speed the Mac WiFi will still be throttled by this link's speed. Sure, Internet speeds may improve with ac on the Mac, but until you do something to increase speeds between the WRT and router, NAS and servers will be slower connections.

So, for occasional speed boosts when you need faster NAS access but internet speeds are not important, disable WiFi. You can leave Ethernet connected but the Mac will tend to use WiFi whenever it is enabled provided it is top priority. If you leave WiFi icon on the menu bar, it is as simple as clicking the WiFi icon, and then "Turn WiFi Off".

 

[MacPro2008]

Ok that seems like the best solution at this point

So, effectively with the bridge in 5Ghz "n" mode, your theoretical speeds between the WRT and router go from 54Mbps to up to 300Mbps, depending on signal strength. That is an improvement, but anything you do to speed the Mac WiFi will still be throttled by this link's speed. Sure, Internet speeds may improve with ac on the Mac, but until you do something to increase speeds between the WRT and router, NAS and servers will be slower connections.

So, for occasional speed boosts when you need faster NAS access but internet speeds are not important, disable WiFi. You can leave Ethernet connected but the Mac will tend to use WiFi whenever it is enabled provided it is top priority. If you leave WiFi icon on the menu bar, it is as simple as clicking the WiFi icon, and then "Turn WiFi Off".

Ok that seems like the best solution at this point. Thanks. I'm still surprised that there isn't a way to specify what interface to use for an ip or something.

 

[belvdr]

You may be able to do that by adding a manual route for that IP in Terminal.

sudo route -n add -host <DEST IP> -iface <Interface you want traffic to traverse>