I recently acquired a second hand DS216j with 6TB (SHR1 so only 3TB is usable). I moved all my Google Photos images and videos onto it, but now when I access it through QuickConnect it loads them really slow, the videos are constantly buffering and when they load they have a messed up framerate (really jittery). I have a 500 fibre connection and the station is connected to the router through an ethernet cable. Any idea how I could possibly fix this? Thanks
Afaik the J series is known to have bad performance when it comes to processing media, like creating thumbnails or transcoding videos. That’s why they added the Play series at some point, as an affordable option with ok media support.
This one guy on reddit said:
It definitely cannot be the NAS. The NAS does not do any sort of transcoding when you play a video using the Synology Photos App. Try a lower res/bitrate video, if that plays fine, then your internet upload speed is the problem.
Is there anything to it? Is it possible that the Play series is for the Plex functionality?
There’s something to that claim. Sending uncompressed (i.e. not transcoded) video content over the internet can easily saturate your internet link.
Do you have CIFS/Samba, in other words Windows Network Explorer access to the files on the NAS via your local network? If so try directly opening a video and look at the network dashboard of the NAS and/or your computers task manager (performance -> ethernet tab) to see to what mbit bandwidth the not transcoded stream amounts too.
Consider that the exact same mbit bandwidth will be needed using Synology QuickConnect to view media from outside of your local network.
If you want to work around all that you would probably have to look into something that buffers/transcodes your media, something like Jellyfin/Plex or the likes. For that you’d have to look into running Docker on the NAS but that’ll plunge you into self-hosting very deep very fast and may be beyond your initial comfort zone.
500 fibre connection means it is a 500mbit internet uplink?
Have you checked whether the ethernet cable you’re connecing the DS216j to your router is a “Cat5e” cable. If it is a “Cat5” you would be limiting and thus bottlenecking your bandwidth to 100mbit max.
This is what i have:
https://www.virginmedia.com/broadband/fibre/m500
I will check my Ethernet cable when I’m back from work
M500 broadband package boasts average download speeds of 516Mbps and average upload speeds of 52Mbps
So, while viewing media from outside your local netwwork, i.e. via Synology QuickConnect, you’re limited to 52mbit speed.
If you’re self-hosting upload speed matters alot unfortunately. You will surely need something that buffers / transcodes your media for viewing from the internet.
So you reckon it’s my connection is bottlenecking the whole operation?
EDIT: I noticed when I’m on my home network, there is no issue with the videos being slow. So it is the connection most likely. Ergo, nothing I can improve unless I upgrade my contract?
Is it connected to a gigabit connection? I recently found out my WiFi router only had 10/100 ports, which didn’t matter until I needed to use them
You say you’re using QuickConnect, do you know if you’re getting a direct connection to your NAS or one through QuickConnect relay service? Maybe try opening the required ports and checking again.
https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/tutorial/Quick_Start_External_Access
Which option is it? Also, is it secure?
I’m using QuickConnect relay atm.
“Configure port forwarding” covers pretty much all of the steps. I don’t think that it would be any less secure than quickconnect through a relay, but if security is a priority, then look into setting up a VPN to your network instead.
I just checked and my router doesn’t allow for DDNS so this option won’t work for me unfortunately.
I think it might be because I’m running DSM 7 and it’s suggested to have 1gb of RAM when DS216j have 512mb. I think I will try to downgrade to DSM 6
What kind of drives are you using in your Synology Nas?
