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Internet speed to PC slower than what my router is getting.

xNigutWulf

I have a Samknows enabled router, which allows me to do an internet speed check from my ISP to my router, and then a speed check from my router to my PC.
I have 1144mbps connection to my router, I'm using a CAT8 (Is what it claims, if it is or not I have no idea) ethernet cable to my PC that isn't that long, my PC only has a 1Gbps port, so I'd be expecting to lose 144mbps because of that but my PC is only getting 945mbps (This doesn't change if I disconnect my phone/TV which are the only other things I have connected to my internet)

What is the most likely cause of the extra 55mbps drop, on top of the already 144mbps drop because of the port not being good enough and is there anything I can do to improve it?

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32 minutes ago, xNigutWulf said:

I have a Samknows enabled router, which allows me to do an internet speed check from my ISP to my router, and then a speed check from my router to my PC.
I have 1144mbps connection to my router, I'm using a CAT8 (Is what it claims, if it is or not I have no idea) ethernet cable to my PC that isn't that long, my PC only has a 1Gbps port, so I'd be expecting to lose 144mbps because of that but my PC is only getting 945mbps (This doesn't change if I disconnect my phone/TV which are the only other things I have connected to my internet)

What is the most likely cause of the extra 55mbps drop, on top of the already 144mbps drop because of the port not being good enough and is there anything I can do to improve it?

I’ve never heard of cat8. Couple of kinds of cat 5&6 and a 7 but no 8.  Might be a thing.

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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It's normal. 

 

Wow the things people worry about. 

 

Your maximum ethernet speed is 1 gigabit or 1000 megabits. It's the maximum the network card can do using ethernet cable. Doesn't matter if it's cat5e , cat6, cat6a, cat7 or cat8 .... the network card can only do 1 gigabit or 1000 mbps.

 

When you're downloading, the data is coming to you arranged in packets, which have a header and some optional information like error correction for the data that follows.

See for example https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPv4_Packet-en.svg or the picture below 

So for every 64 KB of actual download data, there will be around 20-64 bytes of header. 

 

Then, after one or several such packets of data arrive, the networking system uses the information in the headers to check that the data is not corrupted, that the checksum calculated matches the checksum in the header.  If one such packet is corrupt, your computer tells the remote computer to resend the packet. It also periodically tells the remote computer "everything arrived ok, keep going, give me more packets". These interruptions and talking back and forth can cause very minute slowdowns from time to time, which means you won't get the maximum amount of packets each second. 

Also, while you're downloading other programs still access the internet, and your network card has to "reserve" or give a bit of time on the cable to the other applications so that they won't feel sluggish.

 

So a small percentage of your overall maximum bandwidth will be used by data you don't see (the headers), and some amount of megabits will be lost due to other programs needing to communicate. 

 

I don't know where that 1144 mbps figure comes from. Maybe it's the overall wireless ability ? ex 833 mbps on 5ghz and 300 mbps on 2.4 ghz and they add it up and say 1144 mbps?  Or maybe 1 gbps  ethernet + 144 mbps on 2.4 ghz wireless?

 

 

image.png.b63c23fd6d950c6a1e7f22be60d4d9cc.png

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I pay for 1gbps, but my ISP is surprisingly nice and usually give more than what is offered, When I was on their 300mbps package, I actually got 360mbps and so on.

And I know it's not a lot but still a 5%+ difference.

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The ethernet card can not physically transfer more than 1000 mbps through the cable, no matter how nice the ISP is.  Your router may connect to the ISP at 2 gbps or 10 gbps or whatever, but your network card can only communicate with the router at maximum 1 gbps and the actual raw data you receive is less, due to how data is arranged in packets as I explained. 

It is possible to use other protocols like UDP or others instead of TCP/IP - such protocols have much smaller headers or practically no headers, to get actual data much closer to 1 gbps, but there are downsides to such protocols like bigger chance of not catching transmission errors. 

 

When you ordered 300 mbps package,  your ethernet card still connected to the router at 1 gbps or 1000 mbps, and your modem still talked to the ISP at 1gbps or 1000 mbps but the computers / networking equipment at the ISP "slowed down" the data coming to you down to your 300 mbps limit.. 

 

A lot of ISPs have some relaxed settings, allowing slightly more than the plan by some percentage, or enabling the rules only after some amount of data or some time passes. For example, they may slow down a new connection / transfer only after 5-10 seconds or only after more than 20 MB have been transferred. 

This way, small 1-5 MB pictures in your browser may download at nearly 1 gbps even if your plan was limited to 300 mbps, and you have a great experience. Or, you start a 100 MB/s download and for the first 3 seconds it downloads at 500 mbps until 20 MB are downloaded and then it's slowed down to 300 mbps - you may see the average as 360 mbps. 

 

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1 hour ago, mariushm said:

It's normal. 

 

Wow the things people worry about. 

 

Your maximum ethernet speed is 1 gigabit or 1000 megabits. It's the maximum the network card can do using ethernet cable. Doesn't matter if it's cat5e , cat6, cat6a, cat7 or cat8 .... the network card can only do 1 gigabit or 1000 mbps.

 

When you're downloading, the data is coming to you arranged in packets, which have a header and some optional information like error correction for the data that follows.

See for example https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPv4_Packet-en.svg or the picture below 

So for every 64 KB of actual download data, there will be around 20-64 bytes of header. 

 

Then, after one or several such packets of data arrive, the networking system uses the information in the headers to check that the data is not corrupted, that the checksum calculated matches the checksum in the header.  If one such packet is corrupt, your computer tells the remote computer to resend the packet. It also periodically tells the remote computer "everything arrived ok, keep going, give me more packets". These interruptions and talking back and forth can cause very minute slowdowns from time to time, which means you won't get the maximum amount of packets each second. 

Also, while you're downloading other programs still access the internet, and your network card has to "reserve" or give a bit of time on the cable to the other applications so that they won't feel sluggish.

 

So a small percentage of your overall maximum bandwidth will be used by data you don't see (the headers), and some amount of megabits will be lost due to other programs needing to communicate. 

 

I don't know where that 1144 mbps figure comes from. Maybe it's the overall wireless ability ? ex 833 mbps on 5ghz and 300 mbps on 2.4 ghz and they add it up and say 1144 mbps?  Or maybe 1 gbps  ethernet + 144 mbps on 2.4 ghz wireless?

 

 

image.png.b63c23fd6d950c6a1e7f22be60d4d9cc.png

Curious about this cat8 thing.  That normal too?

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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2 hours ago, xNigutWulf said:

I pay for 1gbps, but my ISP is surprisingly nice and usually give more than what is offered, When I was on their 300mbps package, I actually got 360mbps and so on.

And I know it's not a lot but still a 5%+ difference.

@mariushm knows his stuff.  He messes with stuff I wouldn’t Mess with and he’s like a quarter my age or something.  If he says “don’worry ‘boudet” the chances are real real high you’re worried about nothing.

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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A lot of cat7 and cat8 ethernet cable is just Cat6A cable with better materials (thicker wires, better insulator between the pairs of wires) - they're made up standards if the cable isn't a brand name one, from a reputable manufacturer. 

It shouldn't hurt, but it's also pointless to use anything better than cat6a which works for 10 gbps up to 100 meters. 

 

Cat7 cable is supposed to be backward compatible with Cat6a (but it was standardized BEFORE cat6a was standardized) and it's just stricter when it comes to crosstalk, noise and wires may do higher frequencies than 500 Mhz (the standard for cat6/cat6a) 

Basically each pair will have its own aluminum foil insulation, and then all pairs will be further shielded with tinner coper / aluminum braid ... these are not required in cat6/cat6a

Here's an example of such cable : https://digikey.com/en/products/detail/lapp/2170472/12089370

image.png.303bf743ea78d2947aebccc7d2fd9a1b.png

 

This particular cable is rated for 600 Mhz and has thicker AWG22 wires, which may be a good thing for power over ethernet. 

 

As the Wikipedia article says cat 7a was supposed to up the frequencies to 1000 Mhz allowing for 25 gbps and 40 gbps - in theory such cable can do 40 gbps up to 50m and 100 gbps up to 15m. In practice... I would use fiber. 


Cat8 is supposed to be for maximum 30 meters ,... see the same wikipedia article above.  

You can buy it in patch cables .. 30cm to 5m or so ... for example : https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/tripp-lite/N272-010-WH/12316380

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My understanding is cat7 is more or less cat 6a with better emf and/or EMI insulation. It gets used in places where there is a lot of heavy machinery that might produce enough noise to mess with cat 6a, or when you may want to make cat6a go farther, which seems to be more or less what you are saying but with a lot of detail left out and perhaps a bit mangled.  Thankyou.
 

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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