Ethernet adapter

Just replaced my router with an N version. The remote boxes all report
varying speeds of 135-270mbps.

Got me wondering about the desktop wired to the router. Have a cable
modem, and the properties on the network connection reports 100mbps as
it is a run of the mill 10/100 Ethernet card.

Don't have a clue how fast the cable connection coming in is. Would I
most likely gain any speed if I'd change out the Ethernet to a
10/100/1000mbps? Or is 100 about as fast as the cable connection.

Thanks
Mark
--

"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are
evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
Albert Einstein

pheasant16 wrote:
Just replaced my router with an N version. The remote boxes all report
varying speeds of 135-270mbps.

Got me wondering about the desktop wired to the router. Have a cable
modem, and the properties on the network connection reports 100mbps as
it is a run of the mill 10/100 Ethernet card.

Don't have a clue how fast the cable connection coming in is. Would I
most likely gain any speed if I'd change out the Ethernet to a
10/100/1000mbps? Or is 100 about as fast as the cable connection.

Thanks
Mark

Your cable modem contract, may state what the download/upload is.
That could be your first hint as to what to expect.

We could start with a network diagram.

\ / 135-270
|\ /|
WAN | |
cable_modem --------- router ---O O--- wireless_laptop
??? |
| LAN
|
100BT
|
Wired_computer

Have you tested the cable_modem directly wired to the Wired_computer ?
What is your maximum download rate, if the wired router is directly
connected ? What does your provider claim for the maximum download
rate you can expect ? Does it go so fast, that 100BT (12.5 megabytes/sec)
is exceeded ? Or is the number lower than that ?

cable_modem --------- Wired_computer
???

If you use Task Manager and click the "Networking" tab, then start
a large download, late at night, is the transfer smooth ? If it was
bursty, the bursts could be taller than the average. If the
thing transfers perfectly smoothly, then the download rate
seen listed in your web browser, may be telling you what maximum
bandwidth to expect. (Doing the test late at night, helps remove
the effects of your neighbors from the picture.)

If the result is much less than 100Mbit/sec or 12.5MB/sec, then
chances are the cabling is not a limit.

DOCSIS 3 is coming soon, at least for some people. It may offer
higher rates. My guess is, 100BT to the cable modem and to the
Wired_computer, is going to be sufficient for downloading for
a while.

If you want faster transfer of local files (file sharing) between
your two computers on the LAN, then 1000BT on the Wired_computer
may offer some improvement. (Of course, the connector on the
router has to support 1000BT as well. Changing just one end
won't help.) But as far as the cable_modem is concerned, you
should figure out what its max is, by doing some tests to it
directly. By testing it directly, you eliminate the router as
being a bottleneck. (My old router had some transfer limits,
which were unrelated to the cabling. The internal processor
has some limits. My current router doesn't seem to be a problem.
My router terminates PPPOE, so there'd be a tiny overhead.
Maybe your router sees the cable modem as raw Ethernet packets.)

There are excellent private sites for discussions of this sort.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r210...iscussion-here

HTH,
Paul