10GbE network slow / lag / not working

New home network config

FIOS Quantum 1100 =>Netgear JGS524 switch => MikroTik CRS309-1G-8S+1N switch

The MikroTik is a 10GBe switch, the Netgear an unmanaged 1GBe switch. I use Cat 7 to connect them in the order shown here here. The MikroTik is using SWos version 2.11 (2.12 got weird pauses unless flow control was turned off, so went back one). All the ports on the MiktoTik are auto negotiation, full duplex and with flow control enabled.

At home, I’ve upgraded the spouse’s PC with a QNAP QXG-10G1T which handles RJ45 ethernet at speeds of 10, 5, 2.5 and 1GBe. Due to the distance, the Cat6A run between her and the MikroTik switch (connected via MikroTik S+RJ10 module) nets out at 5GBe speeds. I initialy upgraded my PC with an ASUS XG-C100F (uses SFP+ connector) connected to the MikroTik switch using a 10GBe DAC cable (they sit less than 3 meters apart). Over the weekend, I replaced the ASUS with another QXG-10G1T to see if issues (below) are addressed. This connection is using an OSFPTEK QT-SFP-10G-t module. It reports as a 10GBe connection. I’ve upgraded my two QNAP NAS with 5GBe upgrades (QNA-UC5G1T), and these connect via Cat 7 ethernet using 2 more MikroTik S+RJ10 modules to the MikroTik switch. These report as 5GBe connections.

The Nic cards are using latest drivers and out of box settings, except I have put the gateway onto the 2 Nics in the PCs, the MTU on everything is 1500, jumbo frames not explicitly being used and QNAP NAS are set up with static IPs, as is teh MikroTik switch.

The FIOS fiber ONT is connected via Cat5e from the garage, through the attic and into my office into the Quantum 1100.
All my other ethernet connected devices (such as chromecast, Roku, TV, garage door receiver, Samsung Smartthings, Printer etc) connect to the Netgear switch. Only devices capable of higher speeds are on the MikroTik.

My intent was to speed up backups of the 2 PCs onto the NAS and make mapped connections faster. I backup both PCs to one of the NAS, and have a Plex server running on the other. Spouse does a lot of media (video, photo) work and we bothe use mapped drives a lot, so speed of saving and retrieval is important.

So on the whole, everything works. File speeds are great and the devices on the MikroTik are seemingly working fine with everything else on the network. I’m seeing solid speed increases but there are some issues that may be plain dumb on my end.

I let the spouse and myself use DHCP to assign the IP for our new LAN cards.

I’ve uninstalled Malwarebytes and Bitdefender to take out variables related to issues. Chrome and Edge are latest, as is Firefox.

And yes, I know my connection to teh net is 1GBE (at best) but here is the weird thing.

Many web sites are fast and “instant” but there are some that get a spinning wheel for a while then come “alive”. Like it cannot figure out how to find them. My DNS at my FIOS Quantum 1100 is Google, I had been using Cloudflare. (I want to keep the Q1100 and my 2 NAS in sync so they also use Gooogle.) But I’ve left spinning sites and come back and they work fine, just took a long time to lock in.

The weirdest thing is Plex. My Plex Server on teh NAS is working fine. It is visible to the net as it is set up to be, it works remotely, my Roku see Plex as does my daughter in her home via her TV app. But if I try to use the web version or the Windows app on my PC, or go to https: //app.plex.tv/desktop from my PC, it takes forever and sometimes says it is not connected to the internet. Or instead of giving me my 3 login icons, it gives me just one, me (without the PLexpass icon) and selecting that gets a spinning wheel, or connects. It depends.

Here’s where it gets weird. If I reconnect my PC using the MB’s 1GBe LAN connection, (still connected to teh MikroTik switch) I get connected at 1GBE but Plex (all of the above) works perfectly. Zero issues. THose slow web pages that don’t resolve? THey work just fine (my bank is one that hates being connected via the 10GBe nic). But when I reset it back to use the 10GBe connection, it’s “broken”. I’ve gotten into far enough where it tells me the web based stuff Plex offers are unavailable as it is not connected to the internet. Yet the NAS is connected. And I’m at a loss as to why the behavior changes based on which NIC I’m using.

So, while I’m happy with faster backups and mapped drives, this is a weird problem and so I’m looking for any feedback.

Sorry for the rambling but trying to anticipate questions 🙂
Thanks

There could be many different things going on and causing this.
I would recommend to create segments like PC to PC or NAS via one switch one cable and if it works ok, keep on adding other bits step by step until you identify when problem starts.
I am sorry I can not dig deeper since I have so many other people to help as well with their questions.

In looking through some Amazon reviews of similar Aquantia cards, I came across this –

2020-03-26: I’ve been having issues getting to some websites or connecting to some services. Couldn’t access the config pages of my router or cable modem. Couldn’t connect to Teamspeak. Couldn’t connect to my VoIP softphone. Couldn’t stream to Twitch with OBS. Couldn’t download work units for Folding@Home. If you’re having the same or similar issues, go to adapter properties > configure > advanced, change TCP/UDP Checksum Offload (IPv4) to “Disabled”. Everything is working without any issues now.

Damn if it didn’t fix my issues!

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