What is Gigabit Ethernet?

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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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I see where many routers talk about Gigabit Ethernet. My Internet speed i pay for is 150Mbps and i think 1 Gigabit is equal to a thousand something Mbps right? If so wouldnt a Gigabit router be worthless unless you have insane fast internet speed? i may be sooooooooo but if so please explain i am lost.
 
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Gigabit is the speed that your NIC (Network Interface Card) can handle. If you only ever transfer files to and from the internet, then anything above what your ISP (Internet Service Provider) offers is going to waste (I use that term loosely, because at this point the costs for gigabit are the same, basically, as any slower standard).

However, if you want to transfer files locally, say, from your PC to a PC connected to your TV (Insert any other scenario here) then, all computers in the system will transfer at the slowest of the group (If PC A and B have gigabit, and PC C has 100Mb, then A and B talk at gigabit, but A and C talk at 100Mb).

Edit: You are correct, 1Gigabit = 1000Megabits (Usually computers work in powers of 2, so 1024...
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Robert Pankiw

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Gigabit is the speed that your NIC (Network Interface Card) can handle. If you only ever transfer files to and from the internet, then anything above what your ISP (Internet Service Provider) offers is going to waste (I use that term loosely, because at this point the costs for gigabit are the same, basically, as any slower standard).

However, if you want to transfer files locally, say, from your PC to a PC connected to your TV (Insert any other scenario here) then, all computers in the system will transfer at the slowest of the group (If PC A and B have gigabit, and PC C has 100Mb, then A and B talk at gigabit, but A and C talk at 100Mb).

Edit: You are correct, 1Gigabit = 1000Megabits (Usually computers work in powers of 2, so 1024 instead of 1000, but in this case, the 1Gb = 1000Mb is correct, because marketing)
 
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Ferrariassassin

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Thanks for replying! And thanks man i understand now. If you dont mind would you tell me if you think i need a Dual band router or single band? I ONLY use two desktop Gaming PC's connected ethernet me and my wife built and we use one tablet wirlessly. So we usually never have more than 3 devices ever. I need a new router as the one i have sucks and locks off at 50Mbps even if i am plugged up by ethernet iot still locks at 50Mbps somehow. So i need a new one and i don tknow if i need dual or single as i heard dual is good for many devices but i only have 3.
 
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Solandri

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The next step down from Gigabit is 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet. So if you're paying from 150 Mbps, you either need to get Gigabit Ethernet, or use only 67% of the Internet speed you're paying for.
 
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Robert Pankiw

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The 'band' in question is in reference to 2.4GHz or 5GHz (There are other bands, but you don't care about them). If your device is connected by ethernet, then it doesn't give a hoot how many bands there are, if any. The wireless devices you do have, the one tablet, will however, care. First, though, you need to know what band your tablet runs off of, which would be either 2.4GHz or 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Notice that if it runs on 5GHz, you know it also runs on 2.4GHz. Now, this is important, 5GHz is faster than 2.4GHz, but, it doesn't penetrate through walls as well. If you know your device will be far away, pick 2.4GHz, otherwise, if it is an option, pick 5GHz.

Note: Some devices can run on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz at the same time, instead of picking one or the other they can pick both. This isn't going to really matter to you, but a little tid-bit of knowledge.

Now, in my opinion, you might as well get a router capable of both, because A) it is typically (but let's not say always) going to mean that the router is higher quality, and B) it should not be much of a price difference, assuming you are paying for decent quality anyways.
 
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s-h-a-w-n

s-h-a-w-n

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It's always going to go as slow as the slowest link in the line.
I have a 15Mbps internet link, I watch youtube/netflix at maximum 15mbps.
I also have a NAS hard drive connected on another gigabit port in my network inside my house, when I transfer a file from my computer to the network hard drive, it goes at 1000Mbps (1Gbps).
 
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Ferrariassassin

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Thanks so much for explaining it to me! I have a Samsung Galaxy TAB S 10.5 and i do not know how to check if it is 2.4 or 5.0 :/
 
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Robert Pankiw

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A quick Google search of "Samsung Galaxy TAB S 10.5" gives me this page: http://www.samsung.com/uk/tablets/galaxy-tab-s-10-5-t800/SM-T800NZWABTU/

Under specifications, it lists: "802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4G+5GHz, VHT80 MIMO" So you can safely pick a dual band router.

Note: MIMO is multiple input, multiple output. Wikipedia has an article if you are interested. It is the thing I mentioned about using both 2.4GHz and 5GHz at the same time. I doubt you will need to performance that comes with using MIMO, but give it a go if you really want.
 
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Ferrariassassin

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Thank you so much for taking your time to help me! I bought NETGEAR N750 Dual Band 4 Port Wi-Fi Gigabit Router (WNDR4300) brand new from my friend for $20 that never even was opened and i hope to god its good enough! :) It is a Dual Band and it has a 2.4 channel that is 300Mbps and a 5.0 Channel that is 450Mbps and my internet speed is only 150Mbps so i should be good right? Which should i connect my wireless devices to? I heard 2.4 reaches farther but 5.0 is more reliable. When you connect Ethernet cables up they auto use 2.4 i think. Oh and i see you have an i7-4790 and i own a i5-4690 mached with an MSI GeForce GTX 1080 SEA HAWK and was wondering if i should buy an i7-4790K or just get a new Motherboard, Ram, and i7-7700K? Or would the price of the upgrade not be worth it? I heard just getting an i7-4970/4790K would be much more worth it for the price instead of paying over 1k for a new Motherboard, CPU, and ram?
 
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Robert Pankiw

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The router you mention appears to be a very good deal for $20 new in box.

I recommend going to the further place from the router, and trying to connect with the 5GHz band. If you can't, then use 2.4GHz, but try to use 5GHz if possible. About the desktops, they don't use 2.4GHz, if connected by wire. They use an entirely different standard, called 802.3, whereas WiFi is 802.11.

In regards to a CPU upgrade, you need to determine if the software you use will benefit. Games, at this time, will not see any meaningful difference. If the platform differences, such as M.2 x4 PCIe3 matters to you, then that will be the deciding factor. If you don't know what that is, don't worry.

You seem to be using a Samsung 850 PRO SSD, so really, your performance seems to be perfectly fine. Are you finding issues with your computer?
 
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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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The only issues i have is i can not update my Windows 10 anymore because every time i do it says Error code: (0x80073712) and i can not update anymore so i fear i may need to delete every single thing on my SSD just so i can update my windows regularly :( I hate Windows 10
 
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Robert Pankiw

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At this point, this is an entirely different issue, and you need to make a new post. I am glad I could help with your original question.
 
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