Configure the motherboard to cap network speed at 100 Mbps
Configure the motherboard to cap network speed at 100 Mbps
Hello. I'm facing a problem here that I need to solve. One of my PCs uses a Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H, which official documentation says comes with a Realtek 8111F-VL chip and supports Gigabit Ethernet. My internet plan offers 500 Mbps download and 50 Mbps upload (in practice it can go up to 700/100). However, only this specific PC reaches 80 Mbps download and 80 Mbps upload. The Ethernet switch is a TP-Link TL-SG1005D and the cable I used works perfectly on another machine with 700/100 speeds. I tried another cable on this computer too, but it still caps at 100 Mbps. I've tested various drivers—Generic, Windows 10 built-in, the motherboard utility, and an unofficial Realtek site. All settings in Device Manager are disabled except 1 Gbps and Auto Negotiation, but nothing changes. Oddly enough, download speed is stuck at 80 Mbps instead of the full 100 Mbps. I'm puzzled—why is it limited like this? Is this related to something else? The motherboard has two issues: all USB 2.0 ports don't work and it never powers off, just restarts. The second PCI-E x16 slot is already taken by a controller for multiple USB 3.0 ports, so using the first PCI-E x16 with a Gigabit card would be inefficient. Thanks in advance.
It seems this board is pretty worn out and almost finished. You’ve got gigabit Ethernet right there, but it’s clearly nearing the end of its life. Just have fun while it still works!
I purchased this motherboard back in 2014 for my sister's computer, and by then it was already been used. Around five years ago, the USB 2.0 connections failed—including the internal header—though the USB 3.0 ports remained functional. These problems, especially the USB 2.0 ports that wouldn’t power down, seemed typical for this model, which had three revisions. Some of Gigabyte’s unnecessary features on certain boards likely affected the hardware. My sister inherited it, but she was frustrated by having to turn off the power supply manually each time and ended up buying another one. I’m storing this board in a machine that runs continuously (as a file server and streaming PC). I added a USB 3.0 controller as a temporary fix, and the non-stop behavior isn’t an issue anymore, though the network speed limit remains a concern.
Have you tested it using another cable on the PC as well? Various chips respond differently to damaged cables. I have a severely crimped cable that my PC only supports at 10Mbit/s, while my switch handles 100mbit/s without issues. You might also consider cleaning the Ethernet connector contacts on your board.
Get the newest Realtek driver, then set up your system accordingly. Turn off the green Ethernet option, disable Lite Gigabit, and switch off EEE/Advanced EEE settings.
figuring this out may be more trouble than it's worth if the above suggestions don't work just going on the age of your board. with a board that old it could be the nic is bios limited by Gagabyte or could be going bad and has limited itself or something. outside of a full system upgrade, you could try adding a new nic card if you have an open PCIe slot for it to see if that makes any difference.
I also had to reinstall the identical driver version, which seemed odd since it was supposed to be the same one. It worked unexpectedly. Also note that the installation reset my internet settings—my DNS switched from CloudFlare to my default ISP DNS. I’m not sure if that resolves the issue, but I restored it after speed improved and still maintained full performance once back to CloudFlare.