[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

I used to be able to set up small LANs ... 20+ years ago and somehow become lazy or forgetful.

My situation exactly. I do occasionally enjoy a techie challenge, but really can do without it, these days.

I'm still a bit of a control freak though, and do like to have fixed IPs --- or reserved addresses for the mobile stuff. There is probably a good reason for that for infrastructure devices like routers.

The only stuff here that gets random IP addresses is people on the Guest Network, which is not even used much. And remains non-active unless it is required.

[shipnil]

Experts, need guidance.

I am trying to create a home cloud that I can access from outside network too. I have a very old Asus router. Although it is 8 years old, I see it had those features available even then. So I have attached a USB HDD to its USB 2.0 port and enabled the DDNS feature on the router. I am able to access the files on it from outside network too.

The problem I am facing is uploading the files to the HDD. The speed is too slow, about 1.5 MBytes / second. This is while I am inside the network. From outside it is much lower about 600 Kbytes / second. I have tried with different devices as well as wired connection too with same result. What could be the issue? If I am able to get higher speeds while inside the network, that would be wonderful.

When I tested upload to the external cloud services like MS OneDrive or IDrive, the speeds are much better. They are about 3 to 4 MBytes / second which are okay for my 40 mbps internet connection.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by shipnil

The problem I am facing is uploading the files to the HDD. The speed is too slow, about 1.5 MBytes / second.

1. Is the speed any better if you attach HDD to a PC (via USB)?
2. What is the speed if you attach a pen drive ?

Most probably router's CPU is the bottleneck. In that case, you should get better speeds on PC.

OTOH : Opening a port and attaching DDNS is quite risky. Specially if this is an old router (If there are no security updates for this router).

[Samfromindia]

Came across this interesting video a day back:

https://youtu.be/_IzyJTcnPu8

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Experts, need guidance.

I am trying to create a home cloud that I can access from outside network too. I have a very old Asus router. Although it is 8 years old, I see it had those features available even then. So I have attached a USB HDD to its USB 2.0 port and enabled the DDNS feature on the router. I am able to access the files on it from outside network too.

The problem I am facing is uploading the files to the HDD. The speed is too slow, about 1.5 MBytes / second. This is while I am inside the network. From outside it is much lower about 600 Kbytes / second. I have tried with different devices as well as wired connection too with same result. What could be the issue? If I am able to get higher speeds while inside the network, that would be wonderful.

When I tested upload to the external cloud services like MS OneDrive or IDrive, the speeds are much better. They are about 3 to 4 MBytes / second which are okay for my 40 mbps internet connection.

It's quite likely that's your router is the bottle neck. However, a few things to try and see if things can be improved:
1. Are you transferring a big file or thousands of small files? HDD by nature of the mechanical disks are slow for smaller files scattered all around the disks and better for larger files that are sequentially stored. So, try to store larger files and see if things are better. Larger files are not guaranteed to always be sequential but drives usually optimise the data to be written sequentially for faster retrieval.
2. Normally, routers run some form of Linux - not sure about Asus. And Linux and NTFS partitions have some limitations. I have a raspberry Pi Nas at home where sometimes I see the NTFS service maxes out on the cpu. I wonder if you have your HDD partitioned as NTFS partitions and if so, you may want to experiment with somehting like ext2 or exFat and see if things are faster. If course, I am assuming you can move your data some where else...
3. Well, I also setup a ddns for my home router and although I see the IP getting updated, I find that I am unable to access that from outside. Perhaps I might have some questions for you on DM on this part of your setup.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by shipnil

...
So I have attached a USB HDD to its USB 2.0 port and...

This is the first bottleneck. While USB 2.0 is limited to a theoretical max 480 Mbps (60 MBps), adding overheads like a 5,400 RPM HDD, processing power of routers, and internet overheads, you'll barely get what you're getting.

Like many have said, switching to ext4 file system, and if you're adventurous, using openwrt to tweak it further will take you to 2 to 3 MBps.

What you need is a router with USB3 port, and ext4 file system.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

you may want to experiment with somehting like ext2 or exFat and see if things are faster. If course, I am assuming you can move your data some where else...

I have no comment/advice on external access: I have always succeeded in not doing it! Well, OK, not always: we had remote access from remote offices on the office system using VPN and stuff, but that was >20 years ago.

About using Linux-type file systems on external disks. I have two regular-backup external USB HDDs and decided to experiment with making one of them ext4 instead of its out-of-the-box NTFS. The internet warned me that yes, this would probably work better with a Linux computer, which I have, but one must be religious about dismounting drives. Of course, one should with NTFS too, but it seems ext4 is more sensitive. I had a few occasions when I had to clean up filesystems.

BUT 1... That has happened to me with NTFS too, and is particularly a pain with no WIN computer to run the Windows repair program on.

BUT 2... I eventually diagnosed a failing hub and now connect my backup disks direct (as well as getting a new hub) and haven't had a problem since; and I take care not to carelessly remove drives too.

If not running Linux computer(s) don't use Linux filesystems! You just won't have the compatibility or repair tools.

[atulsian]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

I have a raspberry Pi Nas at home where sometimes I see the NTFS service maxes out on the cpu. I wonder if you have your HDD partitioned as NTFS partitions and if so, you may want to experiment with somehting like ext2 or exFat and see if things are faster. If course, I am assuming you can move your data some where else...
3. Well, I also setup a ddns for my home router and although I see the IP getting updated, I find that I am unable to access that from outside. Perhaps I might have some questions for you on DM on this part of your setup.

Sir, given that you have pi Nas, you can try running tailscale on your pi for external access. It works great and speed will not be an issue as it is running on wireguard. No DDNS or port forwarding required.

[earthian]

Password Manager

I have a major problem remembering passwords and though i write down some of them, i guess it is not a good idea. What about password managers? are they reliable? and hackable? what is a good solution to my problem? i have a PC and mac and ipad, i phone

[atulsian]

Originally Posted by earthian

Password Manager

I have a major problem remembering passwords and though i write down some of them, i guess it is not a good idea. What about password managers? are they reliable? and hackable? what is a good solution to my problem? i have a PC and mac and ipad, i phone

Try bitwarden. You can either host it yourself or use their free version. I would suggest the premium (10$ P.A).

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by atulsian

Sir, given that you have pi Nas, you can try running tailscale on your pi for external access. It works great and speed will not be an issue as it is running on wireguard. No DDNS or port forwarding required.

Wow! Wow! Wow!
This is super cool. Setup the service on the PI and my phone and was able to access my pi from my phone connected to the mobile network. This is by far the easiest setup I have done ever to achieve something like this.

Thanks a ton for letting me know about this.

But, what's the catch? Is there anything I keep to worry about this whole setup security wise?

[atulsian]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

Wow! Wow! Wow!
This is super cool. Setup the service on the PI and my phone and was able to access my pi from my phone connected to the mobile network. This is by far the easiest setup I have done ever to achieve something like this.

Thanks a ton for letting me know about this.

But, what's the catch? Is there anything I keep to worry about this whole setup security wise?

None. Everything is encrypted. I'm using it from the last six months to access my home ( Jellyfin, router). You can also use it as a traditional vpn ( exit node) and also access other services like your router (subnet router).

https://tailscale.com/kb/1019/subnets/

[atulsian]

Originally Posted by atulsian

None. Everything is encrypted. I'm using it from the last six months to access my home ( Jellyfin, router). You can also use it as a traditional vpn ( exit node) and also access other services like your router (subnet router).

https://tailscale.com/kb/1019/subnets/

One of th usecase of ailscale is that you can connect two devices and control them; I tried using a spare Android phone as baby cam and use my daily phone to have live feed from anywhere.

[the_joker]

Originally Posted by earthian

Password Manager

...
i have a PC and mac and ipad, i phone

I don't have any apple products, so your mileage may vary (YMMV). I have a 2 PCs, laptop, tablet, phone. The PCs and laptop runs Windows and Linux. Tablet and phone are android. I use KeepassXC to store my passwords. Syncthing is used to sync while at home, and 1 PC is synced to dropbox, so I can update the password database even while I'm not at home. This has been flawless for me. You should check if it works for you. KeepassXC is open source, and the entire setup is fully free.

[carboy]

I currently have a TP-Link N300 WiFi Wireless Router TL-WR845N. It doesn't reach all corners of my flat (which is a small flat) - https://www.amazon.in/TP-Link-TL-WR8...dp/B001FWYGJS/


I want to buy a router which has slightly more reach. Googling around it seems that dBi is the parameter of a router which tells us how much reach it has.

So I found another TP-Link router on Amazon TP-link N300 WiFi Wireless Router TL-WR845N which the Amazon caption says has "three 5dBi high gain Antennas" - https://www.amazon.in/TP-Link-TL-WR8...dp/B01HGCLUH6/

How much more reach would this get as compared to my current router? Will it be like 10% more 50% or 100% or what? Is there a way to figure this out before buying it?