Need advice on network file sharing and media playback

Hello,

I have a laptop (with arch linux) that currently is running samba file sharing. It is connected via WIFI and has all necessary drivers installed to improve performance (I understand that WIFI makes things not ideal but in this case I do not have the option of connecting directly through eithernet). Samba caps out around 6MB/s on a good day and this makes it hard to stream content to my other computers without video buffer times and transferring large files are a pain in the neck at these speeds. Is there a better tool to use to get better speeds?

Do you know what spec WiFi card it is using?

6MBps is normal for 802.11g 54Mbps so this may be the bottleneck.

If you want faster you may need wired ethernet.

Edit: or build a NAS

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Is wifi or samba guilty? Check ftp … Explain your situation more thoroughly.
Do you have the option of adding a device that will be wired? Are the other computers on the cable?
Is the central small NAS an option?

You can try to improve the quality of the wifi signal by adding a repeater if needed, if you are using 2.4Ghz then try switching to 5Ghz and the latest standards.
If you can’t improve the wifi and the solution with the cable for some reason is absolutely excluded, maybe Ethernet over Powerline, but it’s a lottery how it will work on a particular electrical installation.

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I appreciate the hint. After some investigation and some help from the Arch Linux wiki I have found out the Wifi speed was limiting it and so there isn’t anything I can do about it.