Comments on: Make your Home Network go Gigabit

By: Steven A. Ealy

Steven A. Ealy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:14:33 +0000

Also: Comparing today’s prices with gigabit switches and routers it makes logical sense to just pay the extra $30-40 and get the added security features and wireless networking. Plus when you buy a gigabit Ethernet switch you want to be sure that it supports full duplex. Doing so will allow it to send or receive packets at the same time.

By: Steven A. Ealy

Steven A. Ealy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:09:45 +0000

While plugging your networked devices (PCs, what not) into the gigabit Ethernet switch will no doubt boost your connection it does not make your network Gigabit. You still have other bottlenecks to worry about such as making such your cable is cat6 to fully support gigabit networking and that your network interface cards inside the computers are gigabit. If the cards inside the computer aren’t gigabit it won’t matter if the Ethernet switch is 10GB. Plus the WAN port in the back of wireless G routers are rated at 10/100 anyways so you ultimately cannot switch to a true gigabit network until you have a gigabit router.

By: Pete

Pete — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:56:53 +0000

Hey Tyler, thanks very much for the tip. I didn’t turn off the router the first time I did this, and it still picked up the network connections as 100Mb/s. Turned power off and on and presto, 1Gb.

Matt, just a friendly note to you. It’s not polite to so rudely comment on an article someone has taken time and effort to write. If you have something to say, try being more constructive, like “Hey Tyler, I don’t think you need to turn off the router, it should still pick things up even if it’s on.” You wouldn’t talk to someone this way on the street, so leave it out. Also, I’d have a look at the grammar in your last post before pointing out others mistakes in a public forum like this.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:37:40 +0000

A friendly grammar note: there is a difference between “sense” and “since”. I hated my english classes too, but thought I’d point it out.

Also, for those who are going this route, make sure your NIC cards are gigabit capable. (PC, XBOX 360, Laptop, etc). Not all new ones are, and most old one’s most certainty are not. However, I have been wanting to do this for some time now and might finally bite the bullet.

By: Tyler Thompson

Tyler Thompson — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:30:06 +0000

Cat-5 cable is not certified for gigabit, however, yes, starting at Cat-5e and above are all capable of carrying the signal. Most cables made sense I’ve been in the business have been the enhanced version – I will edit the article to reflect your suggestion. Thank you!

By: captainfish

captainfish — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:42:38 +0000

Also, isn’t there a limit on how much data can travel through a Cat-5 cable? Should they not upgrade to Cat-6 or Cat-5e at least?

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:47:38 +0000

I may be asking something stupid, but, is there such a thing as a wireless gigabit switch and would it allow the wireless connections from laptops or other desktops work at this faster speed, too?

I admit I am not too knowledgeable about this, but I have a D-Link Wireless Router Access Point connected now.

Thank you.

By: Tyler Thompson

Tyler Thompson — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 04:55:31 +0000

Matt,

The reason I suggested shutting off the router and modem was because I ran into an issue with one router I used that didn’t like the addition of the switch without being restarted (quality of router was sub-par). I thought it would be easier just to say that from the get-go in case there were similar problems with other models. Shutting the modem off, however, wouldn’t help much.

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 01:49:59 +0000

It is completely unecessary and useless to shut off the modem and router.