The Ethernet speed in one room is 20% lower than in another room.
The Ethernet speed in one room is 20% lower than in another room.
We had ethernet installed during our house construction. Our ISP provided fiber to our home. In one room, Ookla Speedtest reports download speeds between 650-725 Mbps, while in another room it’s 128-138 Mbps. I turned off the Intel wireless device. The router is positioned roughly the same distance from both computers. Should we also remove the add-in card? Might the network chip on the one PC (Gigabyte ga-ma770-ud3 mobo around 2008) be the cause? I need a stable connection for many online classes and video viewing.
128mbps is sufficient for most online activities. Streaming 4k on Netflix requires only 30mbps, so you should experience no problems with video playback. The issue seems unusual. Ideally, your connection should be around 94mbps, which would indicate a cable-related problem. The length of the cables doesn’t matter as long as they’re under 100 meters. In theory, you might encounter many errors and only receive 128mbps, but that’s unlikely. It’s possible the PC is involved, though it’s hard to determine. I’d start by testing with a different PC to see if the problem persists or if connecting directly to the router works. A typical cause could be certain network software, especially gaming programs. Such software often comes bundled with unnecessary applications on graphics cards or motherboards. It’s best to uninstall any of these. A common tool used for this is CFOSSPEED.
Inspect every cable and connection. This appears to be a cable-related problem.
A straightforward method to verify the problem lies in relocating the PC to a room with better connectivity. If possible, purchase a suitable Cat5e or Cat6 cable long enough to connect from the router throughout the rooms to the problematic PC. The issue might also stem from a faulty port on the computer, so even after using a new cable, if performance doesn’t improve, consider switching to a USB 3.x to Gigabit Ethernet adapter.
Software limitations shouldn’t dictate acceptable speeds. Just because your PC meets immediate needs doesn’t mean it’s sufficient for future tasks. What is the expected speed from your Internet service?
This situation often points to cabling problems since you likely have stable connections on two pairs and unstable ones on the other two. The connection frequently drops to 100Mbps but occasionally reaches Gigabit speeds, resulting in brief periods of higher performance. Monitoring Event Viewer may reveal many events indicating frequent changes in the network port’s state.
It’s extremely common for network jacks installed by electricians or even telephony technicians to have poor terminations at one or both ends. Such mistakes are often overlooked because technicians simply verify basic continuity rather than conducting full performance tests, and some may skip testing altogether under the assumption they know what they’re doing.