Link speed

.Griff. · Mar 26, 2011, 12:40:33

Am I misunderstanding something here?

I've got a Linksys WRT320N Gigabit router connected via CAT6 to my PC. The Realtek network adapter is reporting it's speed set a 1Gbps full duplex yet in the networking section of WTM it shows the "link speed" as 100Mbps.

Is that correct? I assumed (maybe wrongly) that the link speed should show 1Gbps?!?

Rik · Mar 26, 2011, 12:49:05

I would have thought it should, Griff. I wonder if there's a setting needed somewhere in Windows?

.Griff. · Mar 26, 2011, 13:34:22

Problem solved. Sort of.

I swapped the Cat 6 cable for an old Cat5e cable I've had for years and sure enough the link speed now shows as 1Gbps. If swap back the "new" Cat 6 cable it goes back down to 100Mbps.

Rik · Mar 26, 2011, 15:50:27

The exact opposite of what you'd expect.

Lance · Mar 26, 2011, 16:12:54

Obviously not a very good cat 6 cable!

Rik · Mar 26, 2011, 16:19:30

Ah, the art of British understatement.

.Griff. · Mar 26, 2011, 16:19:37

Quote from: Lance on Mar 26, 2011, 16:12:54
Obviously not a very good cat 6 cable!

Looks that way

pctech · Mar 26, 2011, 16:36:06

Sounds like the wiring is defective.

esh · Apr 22, 2011, 21:52:04

Cat 5e can indeed negotiate gigabit speeds, it is just not rated to sustain gigabit transfer rates. It's good enough for home and small business though in my experience! We've managed to push nearly 80MB/s over short cat5e with a non-encrypted protocol.