2 minutes to open file on 802.11, wired is fine

Hello,
I've been searching this forum and the internet at large for a long time, and I've never seen anyone else report this particular problem. It's really weird, and I'll try to describe it adequately, at the risk of trying your patience. Hopefully my hardware configuration will appear at the bottom of this post, so I won't repeat it here.

In the past, I've always used backup software to keep my previous notebook (Dell XPS running XP Pro) backed up wirelessly. I purchased this Dell Studio 15 notebook in August of 2009, and have never been able to back up over the WiFi link. It backs up fine on wired Ethernet, however. I've recently decided to keep my files on a Netgear ReadyNAS duo, so that I can access them from multiple computers and keep them off the notebook, reasoning that at least the files will be protected even if I don't have recent backups of the entire system.

If I open a file over the WiFi, either by double-clicking, or using an application's File-Open command, nothing happens for about 1.5 to 2 minutes, and then the file opens fine. I've used both Resource Monitor and Process Monitor to verify that nothing is happening on the network adapter during that long delay, (that I can find, at least), and a sudden burst of network activity occurs when the file actually opens. If I double-click on an Excel file, the splash screen gives me a notification that it's opening drive\path\filename 0% during that long delay. Browsing network machines and folder contents seems to run at a normal speed; the delay is only while opening (or saving) a file.

When I use the wired connection, there are no delays. My wireless connection is otherwise fine. In fact, as a test, I used FileZilla to ftp into my NAS over WiFi, and downloaded a 40 MB JPG file in several seconds. The problem seems limited to either the use of Windows Explorer to open files or an application's open command. As a test, I opened up a command shell, and 'typed' a text file which was on the NAS, and it was very fast. Additionally, if I double-click on a notepad file, like txt or ini, the file opens very quickly, so that makes me think that somehow there's something going on with the other applications. I've noticed that Google Picasa and iTunes are also very slow and unusable accessing the NAS.

I've kept the operating system updated, and have updated the drivers for the Intel modem. I've tested both with and without the firewall enabled, and have also (temporarily) removed any virus software. (I was running AVG.)

My network consists of a DSL modem and a D-Link Gaming router. I have a wireless Brother Laser printer and a wired Dell GX280 desktop on the router in addition to this notebook.

I'm sure there are plenty of details I've omitted, but if this sounds at all familiar to anyone, I'd really like to hear what worked for you. If I need to, I can always reinstall the OS, but of course I'd like to avoid that.

Thanks in advance,
Tom

pointpeninsula said:

Hello,
I've been searching this forum and the internet at large for a long time, and I've never seen anyone else report this particular problem. It's really weird, and I'll try to describe it adequately, at the risk of trying your patience. Hopefully my hardware configuration will appear at the bottom of this post, so I won't repeat it here.

In the past, I've always used backup software to keep my previous notebook (Dell XPS running XP Pro) backed up wirelessly. I purchased this Dell Studio 15 notebook in August of 2009, and have never been able to back up over the WiFi link. It backs up fine on wired Ethernet, however. I've recently decided to keep my files on a Netgear ReadyNAS duo, so that I can access them from multiple computers and keep them off the notebook, reasoning that at least the files will be protected even if I don't have recent backups of the entire system.

If I open a file over the WiFi, either by double-clicking, or using an application's File-Open command, nothing happens for about 1.5 to 2 minutes, and then the file opens fine. I've used both Resource Monitor and Process Monitor to verify that nothing is happening on the network adapter during that long delay, (that I can find, at least), and a sudden burst of network activity occurs when the file actually opens. If I double-click on an Excel file, the splash screen gives me a notification that it's opening drive\path\filename 0% during that long delay. Browsing network machines and folder contents seems to run at a normal speed; the delay is only while opening (or saving) a file.

When I use the wired connection, there are no delays. My wireless connection is otherwise fine. In fact, as a test, I used FileZilla to ftp into my NAS over WiFi, and downloaded a 40 MB JPG file in several seconds. The problem seems limited to either the use of Windows Explorer to open files or an application's open command. As a test, I opened up a command shell, and 'typed' a text file which was on the NAS, and it was very fast. Additionally, if I double-click on a notepad file, like txt or ini, the file opens very quickly, so that makes me think that somehow there's something going on with the other applications. I've noticed that Google Picasa and iTunes are also very slow and unusable accessing the NAS.

I've kept the operating system updated, and have updated the drivers for the Intel modem. I've tested both with and without the firewall enabled, and have also (temporarily) removed any virus software. (I was running AVG.)

My network consists of a DSL modem and a D-Link Gaming router. I have a wireless Brother Laser printer and a wired Dell GX280 desktop on the router in addition to this notebook.

I'm sure there are plenty of details I've omitted, but if this sounds at all familiar to anyone, I'd really like to hear what worked for you. If I need to, I can always reinstall the OS, but of course I'd like to avoid that.

Thanks in advance,
Tom

Tom hi and welcome

It could be many things. Your AV, using "homegroup" and IPv6 on a mixed OS network, router config, etc.

Can we get info on your network setup?


Ken J

Hi Ken, and thanks for responding.

I'm not using a homegroup, because this is the only Win 7 machine in the network. I don't know what an AV is. I've also disabled IPv6 and the QOS Packet Scheduler, at the suggestion of some other people with similar problems.
I have an older Dell Optiplex running Windows XP Pro on the network, and a Brother laser printer. Are there specific router configuration questions I could answer? There are naturally a slew of settings.
I can tell you that I'm using WPA2 AES, and MAC address filtering, and currently, I have SSID broadcast ON. I've tried removing the address filtering and encryption, and I've had SSID broadcast both on and off, and none of the combinations make any difference.

What other settings do you have in mind?

TOm