Gigabit Ethernet?

[c313]

So i am looking at some computers and some say the Ethernet is Gigabit Ethernet, Exactly what is "Gigabit Ethernet"? Does this mean i can not use a regular 5$ ethernet cord? is this better / worse then the 10/100/1000 lan things most computers advertise having?

[Deleted]

"Gigabit Ethernet" means your lan card is cappable to run at 1000Mbps... its other name for 10/100/1000 as you say... you dont need new cable etc... also your connection speed will be same as your modem or switch or what are you connected to, so if you have 100Mbps modem you lan will run at 100Mbps

[vesseblah]

You'll need CAT-6 ethernet cable to run at gigabit or 1000mbps speeds, the old regular CAT-5 cables won't work past few meters length. But the argument for home use is kinda pointless anyway since very few have internet connections that go past 100mbps, or switches/routers that can push gigabit rates even inside the home lan.

[Tullkas]

google.com > type "gigabit ethernet" press enter > click the first wikipedia link > win.... or in case you just really hate to investigate things :

that PCs you are mentioning has a NIC with Gigabit ethernet port which means that it supports 1000 Mbit/s LAN speed over ethernet cable. Ofc the cable and the switch which interconnects other computers in that LAN must support gigabit. it ofc supports any previous ethernet speeds so you can plug any ethernet cable, just dont expect the gigabit speed on your LAN.

in case you dont have a network (one or more PCs connected together directly or via switch device) it doesnt matter what NIC you have in PC as for internet connectivity you dont need gigabit, but anyway its pretty much standard these days anyway...

as for cable cat-5e is enough for Gbit, no need for cat-6 in home environment.

[ispano]

CAT-5e can run gigabit. But it's not rated to do so, so you might have problems with longer cables and such. CAT-6 and above is rated to run it normally.

[Deleted]

CAT-5e can run gigabit. But it's not rated to do so, so you might have problems with longer cables and such. CAT-6 and above is rated to run it normally.

CAT-5e is certified for gigabit ehternet under the IEEE 802.3ab(1000BASE-T) standard. CAT-5 however isn't. CAT-6 is rated up to 10GBASE-T for up to 55 metres and 1000BASE-T(X) for up to 100 metres.
Use CAT-5e at home, it works fine.

[Cyanotical]

CAT-5e is certified for gigabit ehternet under the IEEE 802.3ab(1000BASE-T) standard. CAT-5 however isn't. CAT-6 is rated up to 10GBASE-T for up to 55 metres and 1000BASE-T(X) for up to 100 metres.
Use CAT-5e at home, it works fine.

most gig-e is 1000base-tx though, and it doesn't matter, you will never get full gigabit speed, that is just the bandwidth, not the throughput,

also on short distances, you can still see throughput around 500Mbps on a 1000base-tx using regular cat-5, which is well beyond it's 100Mbps rating

[Deleted]

most gig-e is 1000base-tx though, and it doesn't matter, you will never get full gigabit speed, that is just the bandwidth, not the throughput,

also on short distances, you can still see throughput around 500Mbps on a 1000base-tx using regular cat-5, which is well beyond it's 100Mbps rating

No, 1000BASE-T is the standard for gigabit over copper. 1000BASE-TX was brought into life to save money on the wiring, since 1000BASE-TX only needs 1 pair for sending and 1 pair for receiving, but it never took off. I think you are confused with 100BASE-TX, which was and still is the standard for 100Mbps networks. 1000BASE-T works with 2 pairs for sending and 2 pairs for receiving.

I have at home a full CAT-5E network and I reach full gigabit speed over about 40-50 metres of wire.

[Asera]

I have all CAT5e cables at home.

[Deleted]

Mixture of CAT5e & CAT6. All the long distance (through the walls) is cat5e though, and irritably all but one of them only run in 100mbit speeds.(Might have to do with the wall sockets or something...)

[Deleted]

Mixture of CAT5e & CAT6. All the long distance (through the walls) is cat5e though, and irritably all but one of them only run in 100mbit speeds.(Might have to do with the wall sockets or something...)

Might be a badly terminated wire. Also many people have the misconception that they can use the wiring in any order as long as they are in the same order on both sides. This isn't true. There are 2 standards for terminating network cables, of which the TIA/EIA-568-B is the most commonly used. More information can be found here

[ispano]

CAT-5e is certified for gigabit ehternet under the IEEE 802.3ab(1000BASE-T) standard. CAT-5 however isn't. CAT-6 is rated up to 10GBASE-T for up to 55 metres and 1000BASE-T(X) for up to 100 metres.
Use CAT-5e at home, it works fine.

http://www.networkcablingdirectory.c...ng-id_1151.htm
http://www.techsupportforum.com/foru...t6-128626.html
http://www.trapsolutions.com/blog/in...e-differences/

No, Cat-5e is NOT rated for Gigabit, it was however designed to support it. Cat-6 IS rated for Gigabit. Not being rated for gigabit doesn't mean you cannot run at gigabit speeds over it. Good Cat-5e cabling can most certainly run or get close to gigabit speeds, but it's still not rated for it.

[vesseblah]

People arguing about the specs of CAT-5e and CAT-6 are missing the point OP was asking.

With $5 cable you'll not see gigabit speeds, but it doesn't really matter either with regular home routers that cap to around 150-200mbps anyway unless you buy really good and expensive model.

Buying a motherboard that can not do gigabit or 10/100/1000mbps speeds is a gamble though, since fastest home internet (DOCSIS3.0) can already top 200mbps speeds and it would be shame to be capped by the motherboard's NIC, or a shitty cheap router/switch in home LAN.

[ispano]

I just have a nasty dislike of mis-information, even if said information isn't exactly relevant to the thread.

But yes, for most people gigabit doesn't matter, if you're just using the net, you'll never even know it's there. I have a file server running a Dual Port Gigabit NIC(So it can still use the net when i'm pulling off of it at damn near theoretical gigabit speeds). But most people won't ever use it like that.

[Deleted]

Might be a badly terminated wire. Also many people have the misconception that they can use the wiring in any order as long as they are in the same order on both sides. This isn't true. There are 2 standards for terminating network cables, of which the TIA/EIA-568-B is the most commonly used. More information can be found here

Probably, but for the time its one of those "I'll investigate this later" problems... which I might never get around to doing.

Mostly a nuisance when copying to/from the NAS, hah.

[Deleted]

http://www.networkcablingdirectory.c...ng-id_1151.htm
http://www.techsupportforum.com/foru...t6-128626.html
http://www.trapsolutions.com/blog/in...e-differences/

No, Cat-5e is NOT rated for Gigabit, it was however designed to support it. Cat-6 IS rated for Gigabit. Not being rated for gigabit doesn't mean you cannot run at gigabit speeds over it. Good Cat-5e cabling can most certainly run or get close to gigabit speeds, but it's still not rated for it.

http://www.gigabit-ethernet.org/news...es/062999.html
http://www.ieee802.org/3/ab/public/index.html

[ispano]

Show me where it actually says they Rate Cat-5e at gigabit speeds, because it's not.

EDIT: Maybe this is easier.

Cat-5e Supports Gigabit speeds, like saying it "should" do gigabit, and most of the time it does, but it's not guaranteed to run at full Gigabit speeds, ie not rated.

Cat-6 is RATED at Gigabit speeds, meaning it has to be able to run at gigabit speeds.

Maybe the word "Certified" is a better word to apply instead of rated.

And i'll stop there, likely to get yelled at for the OT.

[Deleted]

Show me where it actually says they Rate Cat-5e at gigabit speeds, because it's not.

EDIT: Maybe this is easier.

Cat-5e Supports Gigabit speeds, like saying it "should" do gigabit, and most of the time it does, but it's not guaranteed to run at full Gigabit speeds, ie not rated.

Cat-6 is RATED at Gigabit speeds, meaning it has to be able to run at gigabit speeds.

And i'll stop there, likely to get yelled at for the OT.

After reading the papers again it says verified instead of certified. I guess sometimes people(me) read what they want to read. So my apologies. However I've been working with CAT-5E for a long time now and I've never seen subpar to full gigabit speeds. I guess good cabling/connectors/termination has something to do with that.

[ispano]

That's correct. I personally have had ONE Cat-5e cable that couldn't do it, was some junky one I got with some device. Just couldn't get up there. And, hey, admitting fault is something not many people can do. I personally dislike having to admit i'm wrong, mainly because I just dislike being wrong so much, that I try(ie doesn't always happen) to get all my information correct, and if someone questions me, I research the hell out of the subject. Like I did with this topic. Must have gone through 50 sites.

[Enola]

1Gb it's not important when connecting a pc to a router or modem, but for connecting a pc directly to another when moving big amounts of data it's very useful making the transference faster.