As technology gets faster and Internet Services Providers (ISP) are pushing faster and faster speeds, is your internal network keeping up?
How fast is fast enough for you? The ISP says I need Gigabit speed, but I don’t know what that means. Gigabit is 1000Mb and it’s how many bits travel in one second. You’re probably still not clear, but it really depends on what you’re doing. Unless you have multiple high-res video streams, multiple gamers, or a bunch of video callers, you probably don’t need Gigabit speed. I suggest starting lower and you can always upgrade. Most places don’t even offer anything less than 100Mb anymore, so start there.
To confuse you further, there are actually two speeds to look at, such as 100/20. This means you can get up to 100Mb download and 20Mb upload. Most people are pulling (downloading) from the internet and not pushing (uploading) to the internet, so the upload speed isn’t as important. However, if you do a lot of video conferencing, you are doing both equally. Newer fiber connections tend to provide the same speed up and down.
OK, now to the original question. You decided to purchase Gigabit, but when you run a speed test on your computer at www.speedtest.net, it says you are getting 87/5 and it should be something like 987/53 (published speeds are “up to”). What gives? This is when you should check your network equipment.
Maybe you’re a small business and you just moved into an office space that was already wired for internet. The bad news is that you may not know how old the wiring is – could be decades.
To start with, you should be familiar with terms like 10/100 or 10/100/1000. When you see a device with this label, it can transfer data at speeds of 10Mb per second, 100Mb, or 1000Mb. Remember 1000 is also Gigabit. If you have an old switch or computer that processes at 10/100, then 100Mb is the fastest it will go, even if you purchase Gigabit internet speed.
The same goes for cables and they should be labelled. CAT5 was most used until about 2000, then CAT5e. CAT5 can transfer at 10/100 speed and CAT5e goes up to Gigabit. If you have old CAT5 wiring, you will need to upgrade to at least CAT5e to enjoy your Gigabit speed. Now, CAT6 and CAT6a are replacing CAT5e installations and they run at even faster speeds.
So, even though you purchased a particular speed plan, make sure your network can accommodate it. Look at your cabling, switches, and devices.
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