How to get gigabit speeds?
- Thread starter Vandoe
- Start date
Flintstone61
Known around here
Lots of non-answers in this thread.
If you want to be able to utilize the router's 2.5 Gbps port, it is as simple as getting a switch with at least one 2.5 Gbps interface to connect to the router. There are a lot of 2.5 Gbps switches in the $100-$200 ballpark. Amazon.com : 2.5g switch
Plug your router into a 2.5 Gbps port. Plug your other stuff into the other ports. This will allow the switch to distribute the internet capacity across multiple devices so you can fully utilize the available internet speed even if you don't have any PCs with network adapters faster than 1 Gbps.
Also worth mentioning, most cable internet services are a bit unpredictable in their top speeds. it might deliver 1200 Mbps one minute, and less the next. For example with my Spectrum "gigabit" connection, I can sometimes see speeds of 1.1 Gbps, but more often it will max out somewhere between 600 and 900 Mbps even if I run multiple speed tests concurrently from different providers and monitor the speed through my router's interface.
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thank you for this!
I know that when I’m in their app and it test the speed to the router, many times it is even 1300 or 1400. Would just like to take advantage as much as I can
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Been watching this guys videos all day. Have learned a lot and he breaks down every detail so you can understand. Thanks for the info!
Flintstone61
Known around here
It would be interesting to know what ports are on your router - how many and what speeds.
It is common to have a network switch plugged into your router. Currently the most common switches are limited to 1gb (1000Mbps) speeds. This means that not only is each individual device connected to the switch limited to 1gb, the total throughout of the switch is going to be limited to 1gb as well because it only has a 1gb speed port connecting it to the router. This is why bp2008 gave you this suggestion.....
Now if your router has Wifi6 built into it, it is theoretically possible that other Wifi6 compatible devices connected to the router's wifi could pass data at speeds exceeding 1gb. But I cannot think of a scenario where a wifi device would be called on to pass that much data.
Perhaps if you routinely move large files between cloud devices you could utilize a fast internet service, but only data passing through the WAN matters here. Anything passing internally on your LAN network won't be effected by your internet speeds and in normal situations, anything internet related (browsing, streaming, even gaming) is going to be far below your max capacity. As Fenderman already mention, streaming services (which everyone assumes is a great user of data) actually use a tiny amount of data. Netflix for example maxes out at 25Mbps for their ultra-HD streaming. Apple TV + 4k streaming is also a max 25Mbps. These two services have the highest data rates as well. Most of the other streaming services use even less data. That's 25Mbps per stream (worse case scenario) out of the max 1200Mbps that you are paying for.
I have to agree that paying for 1200Mbps service seems like a waste of money. It's like you are paying for a super car that can reach speeds of 300mph and test this periodically on a dyno in your garage (the router speed tests), but rarely drive it faster than 90mph on the open roads. You drove it 130mph that one time just to do it, but it's certainly not something you do normally. The reality is that you can buy a much cheaper car and achieve the exact same speeds/results that you normally see on the open road. Sure your max theoretical speed will be much lower, but you were never going to hit those speeds in real life anyway.
It's not worth it to upgrade your network equipment to be able to utilize the max rates you are paying for because there is literally a near zero chance you could ever use the max rates anyway. If you can reduce the service and save some money, I think that is the "win-win" solution here.
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It is actually quite easy to max out an internet connection. But the spirit of what you're saying is right. I think if you blocked all the speed testing tools, most people would not be able to tell the difference between 100 Mbps internet and 1 Gbps or higher. Certainly if they can't tell the difference, they shouldn't be paying for the difference.
My household has 3 heavy internet users and frankly our needs would be met by 100 Mbps (with a lot of grumbling). We'd all be able to watch 4K video, play games, work remotely, etc. But we pay for "gigabit" cable because all 3 of us spend the majority of our waking hours using the internet and there are times, however infrequent, where the higher speed limit means we don't lag when we would have on a slower connection, or we don't need to wait as long for something. Most of the time I actually have the download speed limited to 600 Mbps in the router because this is sufficiently low that the cable can almost always deliver it without bufferbloat causing noticeable lag in realtime communications.
The modem/router has 1 2.5 GB port and 3 1 GB ports. Yes it does have the wifi6 channel although I don’t see any device using that channel. Maybe in the future more devices will become compatible.
so with the amount of PlayStation gaming and constant video streaming, we were getting poor performance when I think I was on the 200 or 300 Mbps plan and used my own router. So yes when I decided to upgrade the plan and use Comcast’s own router, we got a huge upgrade in performance. Maybe it was the new modem/router and not necessarily the speed increase. Also prior to my current camera set up, I had 10 cameras which were all Wi-Fi and cloud based, so I was told I would need decent internet in order to view the live cameras.
At the end of the day, I’d rather pay a few extra bucks to ensure that all of my devices work smoothly. With all of the cameras, Apple TVs, ps4’s, smart thermostats, Wi-Fi refrigerators, washer and dryers, laptops, cell phones, I pads, etc etc , to me it seemed having a good internet speed was important. Almost every dang item in the house is on Wi-Fi or something lol. I’d pay a few bucks more for the house to run smoothly, especially when many things are being done at the same time. Maybe I don’t “need” the gigabit plan but oh well, it’s been almost 2 years and haven’t heard one complaint out of my boys in regards to not being able to download a game. Maybe once my contract is up, I may see how much cheaper the next level down is. But to be honest, if we are talking 5 bucks a month I’ll just stay where we are. Lol
Wish there was a way to figure out what speeds a household really “needs”.
But thanks for the information! One thing that IS a rip off though is the data cap! I was getting very high bills going over our data cap. Upgrading to their modem/router to get unlimited data was another scheme for sure.
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Now understanding whats going on helps a lot.
to clean up this mess, you will need several routers configured as access points
1 for multimedia + gaming (playstation, smart tv, apple tv... etc) on the 2.5G port
1 for appliances (washers, dryers, light bulbs, etc.) on a 1G port
1 (at least) for wireless cams.. If this access point gets overloaded, insert an unmanaged gigabit switch (if you are out of ports) and add another access point till you get the correct performance out of your wifi cams.
And only use the built in wifi for your computing/portable devices.
If you need to expand wired ports, use an unmanaged switch.
Its not really the internet or networking bandwidth, Its just the fact WIFI performance is more determined on how much the wireless devices wants to utilize the WIFI. All of this on one wifi would be taxing even for the most advanced wireless cpu. So that is why you need to split your wifi into several small ones.
ron351
Getting the hang of it
- Jul 24, 2017
- 112
- 50
Talking gigabit here routers and switches are gigabit but what about the network cameras? I have not looked at specs on cameras but if the lights are yellow that is 100mbps and green is 1000mbps right?
How is one to know if the camera is capable of gigabit speeds?
Just curious
How is one to know if the camera is capable of gigabit speeds?
Just curious
sebastiantombs
Known around here
Why would a camera even need 100 megabit speeds when, at most, an 8K camera with a high bit rate only sends a few megabits per second. When we talk "network speed" it is actually a little misleading. It's more like network capacity rather than speed.
Generally, on a PoE switch yellow indicates PoE power being supplied and green means a network link.
Generally, on a PoE switch yellow indicates PoE power being supplied and green means a network link.