Nearly 2.5 TB of backup traffic can put a strain on a home network, but the total alone cannot explain a slowdown. It says how much data moved—not how quickly it moved, whether it was uploaded or downloaded, or whether it overlapped with the lag. If your internet feels slow while a backup runs, first identify which connection or device is struggling, then limit backup traffic at the point best suited to your setup.
What nearly 2.5 TB tells you—and what it doesn’t
The nearly 2.5 TB figure is the author’s reported transfer volume; no measurement record is available to independently verify it. More importantly, a cumulative volume is not a transfer rate. Without knowing the period, direction, and timing of the transfer, it cannot establish that the backup saturated a connection or caused a particular slowdown.
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Offsite backups often send data over the internet, so upload capacity may be the constrained part of the connection. A backup that only moves files between devices on a local network can have a different impact. The relevant question is not just how much data the backup contains, but which part of the network is busy while other tasks are slow.
Find out what is actually slow
When your internet slows while your computer is backing up, use these checks to narrow down the bottleneck before changing settings or buying equipment:
#1 Best Overall
- Value NAS with RAID for centralized storage and backup for all your devices. Check out the LS 700 for enhanced features, cloud capabilities, macOS 26, and up to 7x faster performance than the LS 200.
- Connect the LinkStation to your router and enjoy shared network storage for your devices. The NAS is compatible with Windows and macOS*, and Buffalo's US-based support is on-hand 24/7 for installation walkthroughs. *Only for macOS 15 (Sequoia) and earlier. For macOS 26, check out our LS 700 series.
- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
- Compare devices. If several devices have trouble accessing online services at the same time, shared internet capacity or the router may be involved. If only the backup computer feels sluggish, the issue may be limited to that device or its storage.
- Compare online and local activity. Check whether local device-to-device transfers are slow too. A problem limited to internet access points to a different part of the path than a problem affecting local transfers as well.
- Check the backup destination. Determine whether the job is sending data offsite or moving it within your home network. Those use different paths and may affect different activities.
- Compare with the backup paused. If the slowdown repeatedly eases when the job is paused and returns when it resumes, the backup is a useful place to start investigating. That pattern still does not, by itself, identify the exact bottleneck.
These checks help separate a shared internet problem from a Wi-Fi, local-network, computer, or storage problem. Router QoS is relevant only if shared internet traffic is the issue; it will not fix every kind of slowdown.
Ways to limit backup bandwidth
Choose the control point that matches the traffic you need to manage. A backup client or appliance can regulate its own jobs; router controls can allocate internet capacity among devices. The available settings and their scope depend on the product, model, and version.
Rank #2
- Entry-level NAS Personal Storage：UGREEN NAS DH2300 is your first and best NAS made easy. It is designed for beginners who want a simple, private way to store videos, photos and personal files, which is intuitive for users moving from cloud storage or external drives and move away from scattered date across devices. This entry-level NAS 2-bay perfect for personal entertainment, photo storage, and easy data backup (doesn't support Docker or virtual machines).
- Set Your Devices Free, Expand Your Digital World: This unified storage hub supports massive capacity up to 64TB.*Storage drives not included. Stop Deleting, Start Storing. You can store 22 million 3MB images, or 2 million 30MB songs, or 43K 1.5GB movies or 67 million 1MB documents! UGREEN NAS is a better way to free up storage across all your devices such as phones, computers, tablets and also does automatic backups across devices regardless of the operating system—Window, iOS, Android or macOS.
- The Smarter Long-term Way to Store: Unlike cloud storage with recurring monthly fees, a UGREEN NAS enclosure requires only a one-time purchase for long-term use. For example, you only need to pay $459.98 for a NAS, while for cloud storage, you need to pay $719.88 per year, $2,159.64 for 3 years, $3,599.40 for 5 years. You will save $6,738.82 over 10 years with UGREEN NAS! *NAS cost based on DH2300 + 12TB HDD; cloud cost based on 12TB plan (e.g. $59.99/month).
- Blazing Speed, Minimal Power: Equipped with a high-performance processor, 1GbE port, and 4GB RAM on Board, this NAS handles multiple tasks with ease. File transfers reach up to 125MB/s—a 1GB file takes only 8 seconds. Don't let slow clouds hold you back; they often need over 100 seconds for the same task. The difference is clear.
- Let AI Better Organize Your Memories: UGREEN NAS uses AI to tag faces, locations, texts, and objects—so you can effortlessly find any photo by searching for who or what's in it in seconds. It also automatically finds and deletes similar or duplicate photo, backs up live photos and allows you to share them with your friends or family with just one tap. Everything stays effortlessly organized, powered by intelligent tagging and recognition.
| Control point | What it can manage | Example of documented controls | Important scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backup gateway | Upload rate for gateway backup traffic | AWS Backup Gateway supports upload rate-limit schedules and describes its rate limiting as balancing throughput averaged over each second. AWS Backup gateway documentation | Applies to the gateway’s uploads; it is not a general limit for all devices on the network. |
| Backup appliance | Inbound and outbound appliance bandwidth | Synology ActiveProtect Manager 1.0 documents limits that can target network segments. It says configured bandwidth is shared evenly among concurrently processing jobs. Synology bandwidth-control documentation | Check whether the rule covers the intended segment and how it affects concurrent jobs. |
| Backup traffic rules | Backup-task network traffic | Veeam Backup & Replication documents traffic-throttling rules intended to reduce backup tasks’ impact on network performance. Veeam traffic-throttling guide | Implementation depends on infrastructure components’ servers and IP addresses. |
| Router QoS or device limits | How available internet capacity is prioritized or divided among devices | TP-Link documents device prioritization; ASUS documents application prioritization and device bandwidth limiting. TP-Link QoS setup · ASUS QoS guide | Availability, labels, and setup vary by router. QoS manages available capacity; it does not increase the connection’s total capacity. |
How to choose a practical limit or schedule
If the backup software offers a bandwidth limit, start there when the backup itself is the traffic you need to control. A cap can reserve more capacity for everyday use at the cost of a longer backup. If busy-hour responsiveness matters more than finishing immediately, a schedule can restrict heavy transfers to quieter hours; if protection depends on frequent backups, a large delay may be the wrong trade-off.
When configuring router QoS, use the current instructions for the exact router model and feature set. ASUS advises setting limits below the internet plan’s maximum for its bandwidth-limiting feature to have its intended effect. That setting allocates capacity differently; it does not make the plan faster. TP-Link likewise describes QoS as prioritizing specified devices when the network is overloaded. Neither vendor’s feature should be assumed to exist or work identically on every router.
Rank #3
- Value NAS with RAID for centralized storage and backup for all your devices. Check out the LS 700 for enhanced features, cloud capabilities, macOS 26, and up to 7x faster performance than the LS 200.
- Connect the LinkStation to your router and enjoy shared network storage for your devices. The NAS is compatible with Windows and macOS*, and Buffalo's US-based support is on-hand 24/7 for installation walkthroughs. *Only for macOS 15 (Sequoia) and earlier. For macOS 26, check out our LS 700 series.
- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
Before applying a control, check whether it affects uploads, downloads, one job, all jobs, a network segment, or a device’s internet traffic. Also consider whether it will slow restores or other work that uses the same path. In Synology’s Hyper Backup troubleshooting guidance, traffic-control rules affecting Hyper Backup Vault or port 6281 are listed as a possible reason a backup job takes longer than expected—not as proof of why another network is slow. Synology Hyper Backup troubleshooting
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When buying a router is—and isn’t—the answer
A router with device-level QoS is worth considering only after you have evidence that shared internet capacity is the problem and your current router cannot provide the control you need. Even then, prioritization helps decide how available capacity is shared; it does not add bandwidth to the internet plan. If the slowdown is isolated to the backup computer, local Wi-Fi, storage, or an appliance, a new router may not address it.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- 【Advanced Home Data & Media Hub】For advanced home users who need phone backup, file storage, and centralized data management. Centralize family photos, 4K videos, movies, computer backups, and personal files in one place while running multiple apps for home entertainment and everyday data management. Suitable for households with growing digital libraries and multiple NAS use cases.
- 【Built for Creators, Media Servers & Advanced Apps】Powered by the Intel N100 Quad-Core CPU, 8GB DDR5 RAM, 2.5GbE networking, and dual M.2 NVMe slots, DXP2800 handles large files and heavier workloads with ease. Run Docker, virtual machines, and media server applications compatible with Plex—ideal for content creators, tech enthusiasts, and advanced home users managing 4K videos, RAW photos, personal media libraries, and multiple NAS apps.
- 【Up to 80TB for Growing Digital Libraries】 Supports up to 80TB of storage using two HDD bays and two M.2 NVMe SSD slots for family photos, movies, RAW photos, 4K videos, work files, and device backups. AI photo management supports recognition of people, objects, scenes, and locations, album organization, and duplicate photo detection. HDDs and SSDs are not included.
- 【AI-powered Home Surveillance】Turn DXP2800 into a centralized home surveillance hub by connecting compatible network cameras and storing recordings locally on your NAS. AI-powered features include Face Recognition, People Detection, and Pet Detection, helping advanced home users review important events more efficiently while managing home surveillance and personal data in one place.
- 【One data Center Across Your Devices】Keep files from desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, and other devices together instead of scattered across cloud accounts and external drives. Access, back up, organize, and share data across Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, web browsers, and compatible smart TVs—ideal for creators and advanced home users working across multiple devices.
Rank #4
- Value NAS with RAID for centralized storage and backup for all your devices. Check out the LS 700 for enhanced features, cloud capabilities, macOS 26, and up to 7x faster performance than the LS 200.
- Connect the LinkStation to your router and enjoy shared network storage for your devices. The NAS is compatible with Windows and macOS*, and Buffalo's US-based support is on-hand 24/7 for installation walkthroughs. *Only for macOS 15 (Sequoia) and earlier. For macOS 26, check out our LS 700 series.
- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
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