Best way to communicate from laptop to PC (file sharing)

[Pauly]

So the last year i've been using my Laptop (13" Dell XPS) so do all my work related activities on. I.e Emails, Editing images and what not on my laptop and once done i'll send them do my RIP PC. Also it allows me to do things at home.

I only use my RIP PC for using the RIP, or doing any colour management or a quick edit in photoshop.

I use a shared folder to transfer images across and it's done via WiFi. Every now and then my WiFi signal drops out (not sure why) and it starts to annoy me because now my transfer speeds are low.

Im thinking either a wired connection, or upgrade the WiFi router again. (this is the 2nd one ive had as they keep having issues)

Is there a specialise routers for work places, not gaming ones?

 

[ikarasu]

What router are you using? You don't need a special busines
s router... but you'll likelly need a decent one. Is your rip computer connected to wifi also? Or just laptop?

I'd connect the rip PC to wired if it's not - If you're transferring wifi to wifi, you're speed gets cut in half since it's both sending and receiving.

Are you're laptops/router Wireless N? AC? How much area are you trying to cover? And is the signal strength strong?

You may be able to just buy a repeater and boost the signal, if you're getting low signals in certain areas.

How I'd set it up -

Wifi right next to the rip PC, connected to the rip PC Via a wire.

Depending on your budget... I typically prefer

Linksys WRT1900ACS. Not the newest, or cheapest... But it's open source, so it'll always get updates. And it's pretty stable.


If you have low bars, or notice you're only getting slow downs in certain areas of your work, You can likelly pick up a wifi extender, they're cheap and help a lot.

https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=wifi+extender

 

[Pauly]

What router are you using? You don't need a special busines
s router... but you'll likelly need a decent one. Is your rip computer connected to wifi also? Or just laptop?

I'd connect the rip PC to wired if it's not - If you're transferring wifi to wifi, you're speed gets cut in half since it's both sending and receiving.

Are you're laptops/router Wireless N? AC? How much area are you trying to cover? And is the signal strength strong?

You may be able to just buy a repeater and boost the signal, if you're getting low signals in certain areas.

How I'd set it up -

Wifi right next to the rip PC, connected to the rip PC Via a wire.

Depending on your budget... I typically prefer

Linksys WRT1900ACS. Not the newest, or cheapest... But it's open source, so it'll always get updates. And it's pretty stable.


If you have low bars, or notice you're only getting slow downs in certain areas of your work, You can likelly pick up a wifi extender, they're cheap and help a lot.

https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=wifi+extender

My router is central, Its in the printing room, about 20m away from my laptop. The RIP is wired connection to the router.
I cannot remember what router it is, i'll check tomorrow, but it's nothing to flash. Signal is fine,

Funny enough, that's the router i wanted to get.

Can't remember if it's a linksys, Dlink or a cisco. but it has nothing compared to the WRT1900ACS

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Wifi transfer is about the slowest and most unreliable method. Old school flash drive may be the fastest. Wiring both PC and Laptop to a decent ($150-$250 router) would be the next fastest. If you loosing connection the router may be loosing reliability. A lot of routers today only last a few years.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Wifi transfer is about the slowest and most unreliable method.

I have to agree.

All my connections are hard wired.

Now for production room floor, I have one wire going router, router into switch and from the switch to 2 other computers that I want to have access to the NAS.

I use a NAS compared to a shared folder as that doesn't need any specific computer to be on in order to send/receive files. Plus a desktop OS really doesn't put the same emphasis on system priorities on file sharing like a server platform does. They (desktop OS) have gotten better, but I still don't think they have parity.

 

[Pauly]

Well going with a wired connection from laptop to router isn't viable. Because A, I'll need to run a new wire, And B, i'll need an adaptor on my laptop and then that doesn't allow me to roam around my shop with my laptop.

WiFi transfer method may be old, but still works fine for being wireless.

I thought about NAS, but my laptop will still be WIFI to and from the storage. In the future, i'll do a small server PC.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Well going with a wired connection from laptop to router isn't viable. Because A, I'll need to run a new wire, And B, i'll need an adaptor on my laptop and then that doesn't allow me to roam around my shop with my laptop.

Thought you said you were thinking about going wired.

WiFi transfer method may be old, but still works fine for being wireless.

Thought you said you were having problems. Lol

Your only as good as your weakest link so sticking with Wifi will present the problems that come with it. You said you roam around the shop and loose signal. Yes that's what Wifi does. Wifi isn't "Old" it's just unreliable. Wired connection is even older but is better. Even if you get an expensive router, the signal only goes so far and the further you are from the router, the slower and more frequent the packet loss. Some routers have "beaming" technology, but it only works if you have a network card in your laptop that supports it and even then it's only a marginal improvement. Wireless is great for portability but your going to sacrifice the reliability. If you don't think the router is the problem and signal isn't an issue you may try installing a new network card in your laptop.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Well going with a wired connection from laptop to router isn't viable. Because A, I'll need to run a new wire, And B, i'll need an adaptor on my laptop and then that doesn't allow me to roam around my shop with my laptop.

Ok, I'm confused, why were you even thinking about a wired connection:

Im thinking either a wired connection, or upgrade the WiFi router again. (this is the 2nd one ive had as they keep having issues)

With those above considerations?

If this is your second router, then either your getting bad routers or it's a huge bottle neck.

WiFi transfer method may be old, but still works fine for being wireless.

Wired connection, I think is actually older then wireless. I for sure remember being more wired then wireless over the years.

Although, I'm not too sold about wifi transfer being fine given the situation here.

I thought about NAS, but my laptop will still be WIFI to and from the storage. In the future, i'll do a small server PC.

As long as the router (or you have a separate wireless access point) has wireless, your laptop can still be wireless, it's just a bottleneck though depending on the equipment that you have. Both in the laptop and the equipment that you have broadcasting the signal, which may be compounded by the size of the files that you are transferring.

Of course, equipment has the potential of being a bottleneck no matter what.

I wouldn't do a PC has a server, again, PCs (which would be using your desktop OSs) do not have the same priorities on services compared to a dedicated server. It works, but it doesn't work as well as having a dedicated server platform. Which services have priority can bottle neck the transfer, especially if both are being done at the same time. Now, if this PC is just nothing but transferring files, that may workout better still not on parity, but better, but if is doing other work, especially local work, that can potentially be another bad bottleneck if you are trying to access files elsewhere.

 

[Pauly]

Thought you said you were thinking about going wired.



Thought you said you were having problems. Lol

Your only as good as your weakest link so sticking with Wifi will present the problems that come with it. You said you roam around the shop and loose signal. Yes that's what Wifi does. Wifi isn't "Old" it's just unreliable. Wired connection is even older but is better. Even if you get an expensive router, the signal only goes so far and the further you are from the router, the slower and more frequent the packet loss. Some routers have "beaming" technology, but it only works if you have a network card in your laptop that supports it and even then it's only a marginal improvement. Wireless is great for portability but your going to sacrifice the reliability. If you don't think the router is the problem and signal isn't an issue you may try installing a new network card in your laptop.

Considering wired. But rather be wireless.

Ok, I'm confused, why were you even thinking about a wired connection:



With those above considerations?

If this is your second router, then either your getting bad routers or it's a huge bottle neck.




Wired connection, I think is actually older then wireless. I for sure remember being more wired then wireless over the years.

Although, I'm not too sold about wifi transfer being fine given the situation here.



As long as the router (or you have a separate wireless access point) has wireless, your laptop can still be wireless, it's just a bottleneck though depending on the equipment that you have. Both in the laptop and the equipment that you have broadcasting the signal, which may be compounded by the size of the files that you are transferring.

Of course, equipment has the potential of being a bottleneck no matter what.

I wouldn't do a PC has a server, again, PCs (which would be using your desktop OSs) do not have the same priorities on services compared to a dedicated server. It works, but it doesn't work as well as having a dedicated server platform. Which services have priority can bottle neck the transfer, especially if both are being done at the same time. Now, if this PC is just nothing but transferring files, that may workout better still not on parity, but better, but if is doing other work, especially local work, that can potentially be another bad bottleneck if you are trying to access files elsewhere.

Well the router was fine until the last month or so. So i think the routers i get cannot hold up to the task? Hence my question if there's more specific routers used in work spaces. Router will need to be replaced anyway so ill get a Linksys wrt1900acs as it seems like a popular choice.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Well the router was fine until the last month or so. So i think the routers i get cannot hold up to the task? Hence my question if there's more specific routers used in work spaces. Router will need to be replaced anyway so ill get a Linksys wrt1900acs as it seems like a popular choice.

Are you getting commercial or consumer routers?

I use the standalone router (as in wired only) from Comcast Business (I can't remember the maker of it, not easily reached where I have it, I do know that they don't offer the separate one anymore) and I have a Ubiquiti wireless AP.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Considering wired. But rather be wireless.



Well the router was fine until the last month or so. So i think the routers i get cannot hold up to the task? Hence my question if there's more specific routers used in work spaces. Router will need to be replaced anyway so ill get a Linksys wrt1900acs as it seems like a popular choice.

My Misunderstanding, you're right. Roll with it.!

 

[dypinc]

I put in a Netgear WNDR4500 in 4-5 years ago. I can't believe it is still functioning ok. I have never had a router last this long. Might be because a backup/replacement model is sitting on the shelf since I always had to replace routers every couple of years. Of course now that I said this, watch out.

 

[dypinc]

If you haven't already done so I would go into your router and assign/reserve the IP address for the MAC address of your laptop. That could help avoid any conflicts with the router attempting to assign the IP address to another device.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

You said you replaced two already but never said how long your routers were lasting.

 

[Pauly]

You said you replaced two already but never said how long your routers were lasting.

About a year each.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

About a year each.

Sadly that's about average. Low-end of average but still average. The router your looking at is decent but what kind of network adapter does your laptop have? N, AC? Does it have beam-forming technology? If it doesn't then those features don't help you. Like I said, your only as good as your weakest link. REAL business grade routers start at $1000 from Cisco but are used mainly by larger businesses.

 

[czar2178]

I don’t know if this is an option for you we use to transfer that way but now I use dropbox and all my designers put the files to be printed in a designated folder and when I go to my rip computer to print or even edit the file is there and waiting for me. The transfer is faster that WiFi but it needs to upload then download to all the computers connected. I love using Dropbox and honestly I pay 100 a year and get 1 ter of space and now I have all my customer files that my girls work on there until I save them on an external backup once the job is complete

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I don’t know if this is an option for you we use to transfer that way but now I use dropbox and all my designers put the files to be printed in a designated folder and when I go to my rip computer to print or even edit the file is there and waiting for me. The transfer is faster that WiFi but it needs to upload then download to all the computers connected. I love using Dropbox and honestly I pay 100 a year and get 1 ter of space and now I have all my customer files that my girls work on there until I save them on an external backup once the job is complete

I do this but I use Google drive and is $13 a year. Duplicates all files actress every computer it's installed on

 

[Pauly]

Sadly that's about average. Low-end of average but still average. The router your looking at is decent but what kind of network adapter does your laptop have? N, AC? Does it have beam-forming technology? If it doesn't then those features don't help you. Like I said, your only as good as your weakest link. REAL business grade routers start at $1000 from Cisco but are used mainly by larger businesses.

In my XPS it has the Qualcomm killer wireless-ac n/a/ac 1535

 

[Pauly]

I don’t know if this is an option for you we use to transfer that way but now I use dropbox and all my designers put the files to be printed in a designated folder and when I go to my rip computer to print or even edit the file is there and waiting for me. The transfer is faster that WiFi but it needs to upload then download to all the computers connected. I love using Dropbox and honestly I pay 100 a year and get 1 ter of space and now I have all my customer files that my girls work on there until I save them on an external backup once the job is complete

Not sure how it's different except using Cloud storage?
Still need WiFi to upload to the net, where my WiFi drops out. So still same issues.
I just use the storage on the RIP PC as it has 2tb of storage.