I guess you already answered the question yourself. The other thing could be that your NAS has a slow harddrive (5.400 rpm) or that your connection is slow.
Edit: Speed up with removing unwanted dashboard items…
<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Dashboard-Widgets Removal Plugin
Plugin URI: http://example.com
Description: Disables admin UI dashboard widgets that you do not want
Author: Franz Josef Kaiser
Author URI: http://say-hello-code.com
Version: 0.1
License: GPL v2 - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html
*/
/**
* Disable unwanted Dashboard Admin UI Widgets
*/
function oxo_dashboard_widgets() {
if ( !is_admin() )
return;
global $wp_meta_boxes;
// Right Now - Comments, Posts, Pages at a glance
# unset( $wp_meta_boxes['dashboard']['normal']['core']['dashboard_right_now'] );
// Recent Comments
# unset( $wp_meta_boxes['dashboard']['normal']['core']['dashboard_recent_comments'] );
// Incoming Links
# unset( $wp_meta_boxes['dashboard']['normal']['core']['dashboard_incoming_links'] );
// Plugins - Popular, New and Recently updated WordPress Plugins
unset( $wp_meta_boxes['dashboard']['normal']['core']['dashboard_plugins'] );
// WordPress Development Blog Feed
unset( $wp_meta_boxes['dashboard']['side']['core']['dashboard_primary'] );
// Other WordPress News Feed
unset( $wp_meta_boxes['dashboard']['side']['core']['dashboard_secondary'] );
// Quick Press Form
# unset( $wp_meta_boxes['dashboard']['side']['core']['dashboard_quick_press'] );
// Recent Drafts List
unset( $wp_meta_boxes['dashboard']['side']['core']['dashboard_recent_drafts'] );
}
add_action( 'wp_dashboard_setup', 'oxo_dashboard_widgets' );
?>
Edit #2:
Link to a debug plugin that offers time meassuring: Blackbox Bar