Gigabit motherboards offer various wired connection rates to the same modem
Gigabit motherboards offer various wired connection rates to the same modem
I've configured my older i3 PC as a secondary machine. Its motherboard is an ASUS P8H61-MLE, while my primary system uses an i5-9400F with a GIGABYTE H310M S2 2.0 (rev 1.0). I connected the newer PC to the modem/router via a Cat 5E cable spanning roughly 10-15 meters. The network speed displayed in the sharing center is 100Mbps, symmetric. Initially, I connected it to the router using only 100Mbps ports as per my ISP setup. However, when I linked the older PC to the same router, its network properties showed a 1Gbps connection. A speed test on speedtest.net consistently reported 140-145Mbps. This is unexpected given my 100Mbps connection and my main PC's performance around 94Mbps. Could it be that the older PC's network readings are incorrect? If so, how does it achieve such speeds? The older system runs Windows 7, whereas the newer one uses Windows 10. TL;DR: My ASUS board claims 1Gbps, but the older PC shows 100Mbps and still manages 140Mbps. The router ports are likely ISP-provided and unconfirmed.
For a 100 mbps connection, only four wires in the network cable need to be correctly placed. At 1 gbps, all eight wires must be properly positioned and every pin must maintain solid contact. If certain pins in the network jack stop making good contact—due to heat or other factors—it might cause the cable to drop from 1 gbps to 100 mbps. Try a different cable and verify the speed. Remove the cable from the network port and inspect the contacts closely: ensure they’re not touching, intact, and have slight flexibility when touched with a needle or tweezers. When inserting the plug into the jack, gently press down on the pins to create a secure connection. Repeat this process for the switch, router, or modem, as well as the network port on the other end. Occasionally, excessive errors or power interruptions can prompt the network card to revert to 100 mbps instead of maintaining 1 gbps. In Device Manager, locate your network card, open its properties, and adjust the link settings to force a full-duplex 1 gbps connection. Check the status on the network card—successful configuration will show a 1 gbps link. If you’re connecting two computers, sharing large files can help confirm speeds, as you’ll see higher throughput (over 12.5 MB/s) when data is transferred between them.
Yes, I've handled that. However, the wire was actually responsible.
The issue was with the wire. I have two RJ45 network I/O boxes, and one isn't connected correctly. Appreciate the details.