Planned Network Upgrade

[SpaceOperator]

im looking to upgrade to 10 gigabit Ethernet and i have some questions about doing so in the future 

1. Wiring upgrade I only have cat 5e wire in my house so i need to upgrade my wire to cat 6a or 7 or this new fangled infiniband connection

2 10 gigabit card i found a red asus 10gib card or the infiniband cards that are really cheap

3 current networking speed bottleneck my current PC has gigabit Ethernet support but im only seeing 100mbs speed is this something to do with my ISP or the fact that im using cat 5e wire

 

[Snipergod87]

Infinitiband would require a seperate device to translate it to ethernet when leaving your network, best to stick with ethernet (or fiber optics)

3) depends on where the issue lies, are any (if you have more than 1) devices on the other end of the computer only capable of 100Mbits?

Could also be a bad punch down of the wire, or bad cabling.

[mariushm]

For 10gbps, you need Cat6 rated cables (if the distances between your network card and switch or other network card are less than around 30-40 meters) or Cat6A if you want up to maximum length allowed by the standards, 100 m

 

One of the latest ethernet standards called  802.3bz  made standard speeds of 2.5 gbps, 5 gbps and 10 gbps - network cards that know this standard should be able to go 2.5 gbps with the old cat5e cables (and uses the same way of transferring data like regular gigabit cards just in kinda like a "turbo" mode) but for the 5gbps and 10 gbps modes at least Cat6 cable is required. So the point is that if you buy a network card that knows this standard AND a switch that knows this standard (or you connect the other end of the cable into another computer that has a network card that knows this new standard) then you may be able to continue to use the existing cable at 2.5 gbps speeds (~300MB/s)

 

With both 1gbps cards and the higher speed ones, to reach these speeds both devices at the end of the cable must support the speeds. In your case, your router or switch is probably only capable of 100 mbps, or maybe there's a problem with the cable (maybe the ethernet jacks are badly installed - for 100 mbps only 4 wires must be in the proper places in the ethernet jack but for 1 gbps all 8 wires must be installed and in proper places)

 

[SpaceOperator]

Quote

maybe the Ethernet jacks are badly installed - for 100 mbps only 4 wires must be in the proper places in the ethernet jack but for 1 gbps all 8 wires must be installed and in proper places

 

1. whats the difference in the difference between the t568 a and b termination because i used A instead of B 

2. Will a network switch boost the speed or do you have to buy a new router or is it the modem limiting the speed 

3. i think ive decided to use a 500 ft roll of cat 7 

 

[mariushm]

It doesn't matter which one as long as it's the same type used on both ends.

 

When 100 mbps network cards were invented, the chips weren't super smart so in order to connect two computers directly using a network cable, you had to use a cable called "crossover cable" where at one end of the cable the two pairs of wires used (one pair to transmit data and one pair to receive data, remember for 100 mbps only two pairs or 4 wires are used) are flipped ... this way the pair connected to the transmitter of one card goes into the receiver of the other card.

So t568a is the normal order of the wires and t568b is the order where the two pairs are flipped... or it may be the other way around, anyway it doesn't matter - as long as at both ends of the cable you have the same type, you're fine. 

 

Later network cards got smart enough to detect automatically if data is coming or going through a pair of wires, so no matter if you use a crossover cable between two network cards or a regular ethernet cable, things just works.

With gigabit cards, it's pretty much in the standard, you no longer have to create crossover cables to create a connection directly between two computers - all cards are smart enough to connect a pair that transmits data to receiver and so on...

 

A network switch will not affect the speed as long as the ports on the switch are of the rated speed.  If your switch has gigabit ports, then you'll get gigabit speeds. Speeds vary only with wireless routes and access points (because they're affected by transmitter power, antenna position and number of antennas, your walls and how much signal reflects through the house, how many other signals are in the air and how many devices make "noise" in the air etc)

You'll get gigabit speeds between computers connected to the switch or router (if it has gigabit ports) but to the outside (internet) your speed will be limited by the internet provider - if the internet plan is for example 60 mbps download and 20 mbps upload, then that's what you're gonna get to anything that goes further from your modem/router.

 

Don't rush to buy a cat7 cable since it's kinda not a thing. Cat6a is good for more than 10 gbps... better to buy a quality cat6a cable instead of a cheap cat7 cable.

 

[SpaceOperator]

so as long as i get a 10 gigabit network card, a new router with 10 gbps speeds and new cat 6 cabling.

[desertcomputer]

Do you have server you work off? If it just for basic internet is basically overkill. You will also need a router/switch that can switch at 10Gbps which currently cost a lot...