VPN feels fast but file share access is slow.
SMB over VPN is sensitive to latency, not bandwidth. A 200 Mbit tunnel can crawl at 5 MB/s if RTT is 60 ms. Rarely the VPN itself, almost always the protocol.
support/vpn-thuiswerken/vpn-traag-bij-filesharesteps: 4
Try this first
- Measure latency to the file server over the tunnel and compare to on-site (1 ms versus 30+ ms).
- Check SMB version, SMB 3 with multichannel does better, legacy shares sometimes force SMB 1.
- Move work files to OneDrive, SharePoint or a caching NAS to take SMB out of the path.
- For users with many large files: local copy plus sync, do not live-edit on the share.
When to bring us in
The share must stay on-prem for compliance and people must edit remotely: put a file cache (Azure File Sync, Egnyte, Nasuni) in front, otherwise complaints continue.
See also
- VPN will not connect or keeps droppingTwo main causes: your home internet or the VPN server. One quick test separates them.
- VPN connects but corporate folders are unreachableConnection says "green" but your network drives will not open. Almost always a DNS or routing issue.
- Home PC slow on VPN, fast at the officeThree suspects: home internet, VPN server limits, or routing that takes a long detour.
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