It's quite standard for 1Gb networking, offering speeds up to 1 gigabit per second.
It's quite standard for 1Gb networking, offering speeds up to 1 gigabit per second.
Right at the start of the video: "You probably haven't had to think to much about what gadget to plug into what port on your home router or network switch... 'Cos they're usually all the same speed. Gigabit on just about everything has been the standard for quite a while now." Has it? Is it? In November 2021 I made the mistake of assuming that 1Gb is basically standard and bought the ASUS AC51 as it was on a huge special. However, I did not get to setting it up until after the holidays as I was waiting on a new switch as well. When I finally got it setup I saw the WAN and LAN ports are only 100Mbps. By now I cannot return the router. Now this is my mistake for not scrolling all the way down and expanding the product description on our version of Amazon here in South Africa, Takealot. Seeing this video got me wondering how many general consumer products is still using 100Mbps... and it seems like quite a bit. I looked on Takealot and then looked up the specs on the manufacture sites and kinda gave up after about 20min... see list at the end of the post. I'm struggling to understand why 100Mbps is still pretty much everywhere. The manufactures can't mention the incredible wifi speeds enough, but what's the point if it's just going to get choked down to 100Mbps anyway?? Internet speeds are also going up all the time which means 100Mbps is often limiting your internet speeds. I have 200Mbps and so the 100Mbps on this ASUS router makes it kinda useless. Sure, 100Mbps is still useful as it uses less power and produces less heat and for IoT or mobile devices it should be perfectly fine. Considering modern internet speeds, modern Wifi Speeds, and how cheap gigabit is, I think most of these 100Mbps consumer wifi routers are basically e-waste. Gigabit routers will be perfectly fine for most consumers for quite some time still, but 100Mbps stopped being fine for general networking many years ago. According to wikipedia... 100Mbps was introduced in 1995 which makes it more than 25 years old. Gigabit was introduced in 1998. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Ethernet Obviously, the tech savvy people would not be buying 100Mbps devices unless it's a requirement for some reason, but most of the public actually doesn't know any better and will continue to buy these products. I think manufacturers know this and is taking advantage of most people not knowing any better and selling them great wifi that is choked down to 100Mbps. So, no... you do actually have to think about the network speeds of your devices. Don't make the same mistake I did and make sure what the specs are. If you can't find the specs to confirm the speeds, don't buy it. TP-Link: Note how the colors of the ports are the same as the Gigabit versions... https://www.tp-link.com/za/home-networki...ifications https://www.tp-link.com/za/home-networki...ifications https://www.tp-link.com/za/home-networki...ifications https://www.tp-link.com/za/home-networki...ifications https://www.tp-link.com/za/home-networki...ifications https://www.tp-link.com/za/home-networki...ifications https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networki...ifications https://www.tp-link.com/au/home-networki...ifications Zyxel: (The second link is 1Gb and the price difference between these 2 is less than $10 here in South Africa...) https://www.zyxel.com/products_services/...ifications https://www.zyxel.com/products_services/...ifications Tenda: https://www.tendacn.com/product/specification/f3.html https://www.tendacn.com/product/specification/F9.html https://www.tendacn.com/product/specific...ac5v3.html https://www.tendacn.com/product/specification/ac6.html D-Link: https://dlinkmea.com/index.php/product/d...h5bWJKUT09 https://www.d-link.co.za/product/dap-1360/ ASUS: https://www.asus.com/Networking-IoT-Serv.../techspec/ https://www.asus.com/Networking-IoT-Serv.../techspec/ linksys: This only lists "Fast Ethernet" which means 100Mbps... https://www.linksys.com/us/wireless-rout...p/p-e5350/ xiaomi: This first one is weird... some places list it has Gb LAN and 100Mbps WAN... so who knows... https://www.mi.com/global/mi-router-4a/specs https://www.mi.com/global/mi-router-4c/specs
It's actually straightforward. Routers with 100Mbit Ethernet are meant for broadband that moves much slower than 100Mbit. The SoC might not even include a Gigabit NIC and is likely too slow for such high speeds, so manufacturers reduce costs by adding only a 100Mbit switch if it exists at all. Some of these devices are used by ISPs just as modems, especially when they have cable or DSL modems inside—they serve the same basic purpose. In developing regions, some models exist where broadband is even slower and wages are low, making it a choice between using nothing or nothing at all. Most "Gigabit" routers can't support Gigabit speeds either; they either have 100Mbit ports or 1000Mbit ports, with no technology in between forcing them to use Gigabit ports for higher capacities. Regarding WiFi, marketing claims are misleading—devices might connect at those speeds technically, but not within the local network. This isn't reliable because the router's CPU power limits how fast it can transmit WiFi, not just the broadband connection. In short, the consumer router market has always been inconsistent, and things only got worse when WiFi entered the scene. Another tactic to make the product appear more powerful than it actually is.
Well, a 1 gbit network has become the norm for quite some time. Where you're located matters a lot—like here in Germany, basic ADSL or VDSL usually covers 100 Mbit more easily. *cough* Germany isn't exactly leading in LTE coverage or internet speeds... (But a new provider just installed a fiber connection in my living room, and I’ll have to switch providers and pay a bit more for higher speeds, but that’s not typical here...) In a city of around two million people, 100 Mbit would have been sufficient for home use until you start running small data centers or frequently move large files between machines. I haven’t seen any 2.5 gbit switches in everyday use... though on Amazon or eBay you often find listings that sell 1gbit devices as 2gbit ones because the ports support full duplex, allowing both data to go in and out simultaneously. That’s a bit misleading, isn’t it? As for needing 100 Mbit switches, the only scenario I can think of is if you still have devices that only handle 10 Mbit at half-duplex—then a 10G/1G switch might behave strangely, and you might need something like Morse code or pigeon to keep things running smoothly...
There remains a significant amount of 100Mbps available, though it's mostly found in the very basic offerings. Many users have connections under 100Mbps and their typical internet use is limited to just browsing, without accessing servers or transferring files between devices, so they won't even realize it. This offers simple savings by repurposing outdated chipsets that are inexpensive.
The plastic shell likely exceeds the value of what you get from those items. Sometimes it's better to buy it from eBay for the power supply and Ethernet cable.