Wired internet being throttled by switch

[BH1983]

Hi all, I'm a networking novice to be gentle!

I'm getting slow wired speeds and I've narrowed the problem down to my switch. I currently have a Sky router connected to an Eero (mesh) gateway (in bridge mode), and then the Eero connected to a switch. I've narrowed down the problem to my TP Link switch by connecting my laptop directly to the Sky router and am getting 1gig speeds, I then connected directly to the Eero Gateway and got 1gig speeds, but when I plugged back into the switch they drop to around 350MB/s. I thought there might be a problem with the cable connecting the Eero to the switch so swapped it out but it made no difference, and finally I tried connecting the switch directly to the Sky router and am still getting around 350MB/s so it would be appear to the the switch throttling somehow. It's a gigabit switch.

Does anyone have any idea how I can solve this?

[icecream-guy]

there is a BIG Difference between Gigabit connectivity, and Gigabit throughput,  check your switch documentation details

[BH1983]

Documentation says:
"The auto features of this gigabit switch make installation plug and play and hassle-free. No configuring is required. Auto MDI/MDIX eliminate the need for crossover cables. Auto-negotiation on each port senses the link speed of a network device (either 10, 100, or 1000 Mbps) and intelligently adjusts for compatibility and optimal performance. Moreover, fanless design ensures quiet operation." It's a TP Link TL-SG116

[deanwebb]

Good news is that it's still 35 times faster than the LAN speeds we had in 1995...  except for token-ring, but I don't want to divide by 16 this early in the day.

It's absolutely the switch. Now, the next test will be to see what the concurrent speeds are of devices on that switch. If every device gets used and treated roughly equally, then add up their speeds and see if it goes over the 350Mbps you get with the one device. If the total goes over 350, then there may be something in the switch that shapes traffic to limit what one port does. If they add up to 350, then there could be a technical issue in the switch.

Out of curiosity, what is the listed up/down speed of your Internet connection? Is it 1Gbps both ways or is the upload speed slower?

[icecream-guy]

Packet Size                    Port Capacity                     Throughput Calculation                    Throughput
64 byte                         1 GE (or) 1000Mbps           [64 / (64+24)] * 1000 Mbps             727 Mbps
128 byte                       1 GE (or) 1000Mbps           [128 / (128+24)] * 1000 Mbps          842 Mbps
256 byte                       1 GE (or) 1000Mbps           [256 / (256+24)] * 1000 Mbps          914 Mbps
512 byte                       1 GE (or) 1000Mbps           [512 / (512+24)] * 1000 Mbps          955 Mbps
1024 byte                     1 GE (or) 1000Mbps           [1024 / (1024+24)] * 1000 Mbps      977 Mbps
1280 byte                     1 GE (or) 1000Mbps           [1280 / (1280+24)] * 1000 Mbps      981 Mbps
1518 byte                     1 GE (or) 1000Mbps           [1518 / (1518+24)] * 1000 Mbps      984 Mbps

Note: Larger the Frame size, higher is the throughput.
REF: https://community.arubanetworks.com/discussion/throughput-calculation-in-bits-per-second-and-packets-per-second

TL-SG116
Packet Forwarding Rate   23.8Mpps
Packet Buffer Memory     4.1Mb
Jumbo Frame                   10KB

REF:https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/unmanaged-switch/tl-sg116/#specifications

depending on the size of your packets the throughput will vary

at 10KB
10KB *8 = 80Kb or 80000bps
80000 +24 = 80024
Using calculations above 999.7 Mb

considering the switch Packet buffer memory.
probably doesn't like packets above 4.1Mb

so at 4.1Mb memory buffer
4099999.9999999995b
so ease for math
4010000 + 24 = 4010024
Using calculations above 99.999Mb

I hope my math is good there. I think so.

[BH1983]

Thanks for the detailed response. If if reading it correctly then I need a switch that can handle a higher throughput, correct??

[deanwebb]

Thanks for the detailed response. If if reading it correctly then I need a switch that can handle a higher throughput, correct??

If you want full end-to-end gig throughput, yes.

[BH1983]

Thanks for the detailed response. If if reading it correctly then I need a switch that can handle a higher throughput, correct??

If you want full end-to-end gig throughput, yes.

Something like this, or is this overkill? I'm having trouble finding a 1gig switch with a high enough packet forward rate:

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/business-networking/managed-switch/tl-sx3008f/#overview

[icecream-guy]

you would need to do the math calculations shown above with the switch specifications

PERFORMANCE
Switching Capacity   160 Gbps
Packet Forwarding Rate   119.04 Mpps
MAC Address Table   32 K
Packet Buffer Memory   16 Mbit
Jumbo Frame   9 KB

[BH1983]

you would need to do the math calculations shown above with the switch specifications

PERFORMANCE
Switching Capacity   160 Gbps
Packet Forwarding Rate   119.04 Mpps
MAC Address Table   32 K
Packet Buffer Memory   16 Mbit
Jumbo Frame   9 KB

I understand that, my question was more around price, that's £220 which seems expensive, and I didn't know if you can get 1gig switches with higher packet forwarding rates. Not all manufacturers have the packet forwarding info available or easily visible so it's proving difficult to find one. Packet forwarding rate of 119Mbps will suit my needs, I guess I'm asking do I need to pay £220 to get it or are there cheaper alternatives?

[deanwebb]

That looks about what my Cisco SG-350-10 cost - that is what I use for my home office, it's been quite reliable and is fanless quiet. Not overkill at all for that kind of throughput.