Internet Upload/Download Speeds

[jshhndsd]

Hi Guys,

 

I am interested to know more about how Ethernet works. More specifically, the categories (Cat) of cables, their speeds and is the actual speed over these cables dependent on the speed of the ISP themselves? Can an explanation of how all these tie together as well as the different wireless protocols and specifications like 802.11 for example. 

 

Thanks in advance.

[Godlygamer23]

The speed of the cables is not dependent on the speed of the ISP. For example, if I transfer files over to my server while remaining within my network, I get 100+MB/s. But my ISP provides me with about 512KB/s of upload speed, but that's outside of the network. 

[gtx1060=value]

2 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

The speed of the cables is not dependent on the speed of the ISP. For example, if I transfer files over to my server while remaining within my network, I get 100+MB/s. But my ISP provides me with about 512KB/s of upload speed, but that's outside of the network. 

But if were to get Cat 6a cables but my isp only provided 15 mbps of internet, would the cat cables make the transfer speed to my router and back faster? (not necessarily to the internet but that would be great if it did) 

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, gtx1060=value said:

But if were to get Cat 6a cables but my isp only provided 15 mbps of internet, would the cat cables make the transfer speed to my router and back faster? (not necessarily to the internet but that would be great if it did) 

It depends on the router ultimately. If you were already hitting the bandwidth limit of the router before, no. For example, my previous router was only able to provide 10MB/s of bandwidth. Using cables that can handle more throughput would not benefit me.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Godlygamer23

[gtx1060=value]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

It depends on the router ultimately. If you were already hitting the bandwidth limit of the router before, no. For example, my previous router was only able to provide 10MB/s of bandwidth. Using cables that can handle more throughput would not benefit me.

But if the router has 10 gigabit ports, and i plug my cat 6a into one of them, would that increase internet speed or would the bandwith still limit me to 15 mbps

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, gtx1060=value said:

But if the router has 10 gigabit ports, and i plug my cat 6a into one of them, would that increase internet speed or would the bandwith still limit me to 15 mbps

If that's what the ISP provides you with, that's the maximum Internet-based bandwidth you will see. 

[gtx1060=value]

8 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

If that's what the ISP provides you with, that's the maximum Internet-based bandwidth you will see. 

Yay! I bought an extra cat 6a cable for no reason *pats myself on the back*

[suchamoneypit]

23 minutes ago, jshhndsd said:

Hi Guys,

 

I am interested to know more about how Ethernet works. More specifically, the categories (Cat) of cables, their speeds and is the actual speed over these cables dependent on the speed of the ISP themselves? Can an explanation of how all these tie together as well as the different wireless protocols and specifications like 802.11 for example. 

 

Thanks in advance.

There are three cats of cable you would want to worry about. Cat 3, 5/e, and 6. Cat 3 is telephone wire, but can also be used for [slow] internet. Cat 5 si 100mbps, but can have crosstalk (interference). Cat 5e pretty much replaces cat5 and is the main standard today. Its rated for 1000mbps and has measures implemented to prevent crosstalk. Cat 6 is is able to support 10-gigabit internet, and even more measures in place to further reduce crosstalk, most consumer devices won't have a 10-gig port though so that benefit won't usually help you.

 

Over a LAN you will reach these speeds. For example, a LAN wired in Cat5e will allow devices to talk with each other at 1000mbps. The bottleneck comes in from your ISP. If you buying a 100/10 plan for example, you can only ever download from the internet at 100mbps (like watching a youtube video) or upload at 10mbps (like uploading a video to youtube). However, if you move a 10GB file from PC to PC over your LAN, it will transfer at 1000mbps.

 

802.11 is like ethernet, but the standard for wireless.

[Linx105]

You can sum up Ethernet speeds  from your ISP into four categories E10,E100,E1000(GIGE) and 10GigE. Each of these are the port speed in which your ISP can hand off to you, E10 is up to 10Mbps, E100 up to 100Mbps and E1000 up to 1000Mpbs and 10GigE up to 10Gigs. The actual throughput you are getting is determined by the transport equipment being used to get service to you and the QOS settings you are paying for. Interfacing GIGE with your ISP wont get you higher speeds than what you are paying for since you are setting up  the port to be able to receive up to 1000Mbps and not paying for a higher speeds from your ISP. 

[jshhndsd]

20 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

The speed of the cables is not dependent on the speed of the ISP. For example, if I transfer files over to my server while remaining within my network, I get 100+MB/s. But my ISP provides me with about 512KB/s of upload speed, but that's outside of the network. 

Thank you for your reply. So, basically the Cat cables act like pipes (just for my reference and representational purposes)? The bigger they are in terms of data transfer allowance the more data passes through? However, regardless of the size of the pipe (data transfer allowance), if my ISP's peak speed is only 12mbps, the cable will only allow that much through even though 100mbps can come through?

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, jshhndsd said:

if my ISP's peak speed is only 12mbps, the cable will only allow that much through even though 100mbps can come through?

Correct. 

[jshhndsd]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

Correct. 

Thank you. It makes a lot more sense now. Much appreciated.

[jshhndsd]

10 minutes ago, Linx105 said:

You can sum up Ethernet speeds  from your ISP into four categories E10,E100,E1000(GIGE) and 10GigE. Each of these are the port speed in which your ISP can hand off to you, E10 is up to 10Mbps, E100 up to 100Mbps and E1000 up to 1000Mpbs and 10GigE up to 10Gigs. The actual throughput you are getting is determined by the transport equipment being used to get service to you and the QOS settings you are paying for. Interfacing GIGE with your ISP wont get you higher speeds than what you are paying for since you are setting up  the port to be able to receive up to 1000Mbps and not paying for a higher speeds from your ISP. 

Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated. So for as long as I am paying for 12mbps for example, regardless of the Cat cable I get, even if it allows throughput of 100mbps, only 12mbps will come through?

[jshhndsd]

5 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Correct. 

Thank you. Much appreciated.

[Linx105]

8 minutes ago, jshhndsd said:

Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated. So for as long as I am paying for 12mbps for example, regardless of the Cat cable I get, even if it allows throughput of 100mbps, only 12mbps will come through?

Exactly. Think of it like having a tap with a hose on it. Attaching a bigger hose will allow more water to flow through but if you don't open the valve on the tap you are still going to get the same amount of water coming out as before. The ISP controls the tap. Sorry for the crap analogy haha

Edited September 12, 2016 by Linx105
grammar

[jshhndsd]

1 minute ago, Linx105 said:

Exactly. Think of it like having a tap with a hose on it. Attaching a bigger hose will allow more water to flow through but if you don't open the valve on the tap you are still going to get the same amount of water coming out as before. The ISP controls the tap. Sorry for the crap metaphor  haha

Haha no worries. I hate when things get too technical. Appreciate the analogies and help.

[jshhndsd]

29 minutes ago, Linx105 said:

You can sum up Ethernet speeds  from your ISP into four categories E10,E100,E1000(GIGE) and 10GigE. Each of these are the port speed in which your ISP can hand off to you, E10 is up to 10Mbps, E100 up to 100Mbps and E1000 up to 1000Mpbs and 10GigE up to 10Gigs. The actual throughput you are getting is determined by the transport equipment being used to get service to you and the QOS settings you are paying for. Interfacing GIGE with your ISP wont get you higher speeds than what you are paying for since you are setting up  the port to be able to receive up to 1000Mbps and not paying for a higher speeds from your ISP. 

Just one final question regarding this, and that is, does the length of the cable also affect the speed at which data is passed from router to PC?

[Linx105]

Just now, jshhndsd said:

Just one final question regarding this, and that is, does the length of the cable also affect the speed at which data is passed from router to PC?

As long as its under 100M (300ish Feet) of cable on a single run you will be fine.

[jshhndsd]

7 minutes ago, Linx105 said:

As long as its under 100M (300ish Feet) of cable on a single run you will be fine.

Do you know how to calculate or know of a site i can go to to help calculate how fast data will travel along certain distances?

[Linx105]

4 minutes ago, jshhndsd said:

Do you know how to calculate or know of a site i can go to to help calculate how fast data will travel along certain distances?

If it is within the 100M length you should be seeing close to the full transfer speed of the port rate you set within your LAN. So E1000 you should see file transfer speeds around 125 MBps ( 1000mbps, file transfers within an OS are measured Bytes and internet speeds are measured in Bits) in with decent equipment, however this wont affect internet speeds. If you want to learn more you can read up on the Ethernet standard TIA/EIA-568-B. For Ethernet cables we generally just say 100M and don't worry about the math, but for other kinds of loops not found within LANs sometimes math is required. I can't really find a calculator or a decent equation to show you.

[jshhndsd]

2 minutes ago, Linx105 said:

If it is within the 100M length you should be seeing close to the full transfer speed of the port rate you set within your LAN. So E1000 you should see file transfer speeds around 125 MBps ( 1000mbps, file transfers within an OS are measured Bytes and internet speeds are measured in Bits) in with decent equipment, however this wont affect internet speeds. If you want to learn more you can read up on the Ethernet standard TIA/EIA-568-B. For Ethernet cables we generally just say 100M and don't worry about the math, but for other kinds of loops not found within LANs sometimes math is required. I can't really find a calculator or a decent equation to show you.

Thank you.

[Linx105]

1 minute ago, jshhndsd said:

Thank you.

Always happy to help. Good luck!

[skywake]

1 hour ago, Linx105 said:

Exactly. Think of it like having a tap with a hose on it. Attaching a bigger hose will allow more water to flow through but if you don't open the valve on the tap you are still going to get the same amount of water coming out as before. The ISP controls the tap. Sorry for the crap analogy haha

It's kinda like that but not quite. The rating of the cable is more analogous to a rating of how leaky the hose is. The leakier it is the less likely you are going to be able to get a full flow of water at the other end. And it's dependent on the distance also. For example you could have a very leaky hose but over 1m you're not going to loose that much water. But over 100m though the quality of your hose starts to matter a bit more. And if you start wanting to push more water down it? The quality of the hose also starts to matter.

 

Probably better to think of a network cable in the same way you think of WiFi. Where the different category of cables are like different materials the signal has to travel through. If you get a higher category cable it's kinda similar to having less dense air/walls between you and the AP. If you are close enough it probably won't matter because you'll connect at the highest speed regardless. But over long distances and with higher speeds? You might be dropped down a bit.

 

But it won't impact your internet speed either way. Well, unless you have a >1Gbps internet connection.... or a >100Mbps connection and a huge house

[jshhndsd]

Hi,

 

I'm interested to know how internet download and upload speeds are calculated by an ISP? For example a 10GB plan might yield a 15mbps download speed with upload at 1mbps.

 

Thanks in advance.

[KuJoe]

What do you mean? Are you asking how they determine what speeds to offer clients or how they control the speeds? Please elaborate.