Upgrading from 10/100 Mbps to Gigabit

[Sfm]

Here are about 12 devices connected to a 10/100 Mbps LAN network. I didn't install the current network. Initially there were only 2-3 devices to the network, now there are around 12. Now the read/write speed on those network is very slow. Running POS softwares mainly.

Current network is 10/100 NICs with two 100 Mbps switches and Cat5e cables.

If I buy a Gigabit switch, upgrade NIC to Gigabit and upgrade the cable to Cat6, will there be significant difference in the speed and will the upgrade be worth?

If I upgrade Gigabit, will the network become faster?

Thank you!

 

[bill001g]

If you mean internet then you will see no difference unless you happen to be one of those people who can get internet faster than 100m.

For file transfer inside the house it might help a bit it depends on what exactly you are doing. Mostly large file copies and backups would run faster. Small files will be about the same.

Since almost all modern machines have gig interfaces in them it is likely a machine that only have a 10/100 nic has other bottlenecks in it also.

I would start with a gig switch and see how much improvement you get. Those are fairly inexpensive and easy to swap. When you start replacing nic cards you quickly get into lots of work related to drivers and other software related issues. I would avoid swapping the nic cards until last and then only on machine that would benifit the most.

Again this only makes a difference for data traffic INSIDE anything going to the internet will likely not be improved.

 

[Sfm]

Hi bill001g,

Thank you for the prompt response. This is all for LAN. If I change the switch, will it increase since the computers are still connected to 10/100. (Yes, I checked all computers and a few are still 10/100 including the server).

Installing drivers for the card is a one time thing so shouldn't be an issue.

Any inputs will be appreciated! Thank you.

If you mean internet then you will see no difference unless you happen to be one of those people who can get internet faster than 100m.

For file transfer inside the house it might help a bit it depends on what exactly you are doing. Mostly large file copies and backups would run faster. Small files will be about the same.

Since almost all modern machines have gig interfaces in them it is likely a machine that only have a 10/100 nic has other bottlenecks in it also.

I would start with a gig switch and see how much improvement you get. Those are fairly inexpensive and easy to swap. When you start replacing nic cards you quickly get into lots of work related to drivers and other software related issues. I would avoid swapping the nic cards until last and then only on machine that would benifit the most.

Again this only makes a difference for data traffic INSIDE anything going to the internet will likely not be improved.

 

[bill001g]

Changing just the switch if you have NO gig machine at all will likely have no effect. If some of the machine have gig cards those machine should see some increase in speed but it depends what the application does. If you were for example going to stream a blueray video at 40m/sec it will still only stream at 40m/sec even if you had a 1g cable since the rate is controlled by the application. You would likely see a increase in speed if you had a number of machines coping files to one central machine and that machine has a gig interface. It may have been limited by the 100m.

The only way to say for sure is to run something like the resource manager and look at the utilization rates of the network cards. If they are not going to 100% for periods of time then it likely will make no difference.

 

[Sfm]

Got it. Thank you.

Changing just the switch if you have NO gig machine at all will likely have no effect. If some of the machine have gig cards those machine should see some increase in speed but it depends what the application does. If you were for example going to stream a blueray video at 40m/sec it will still only stream at 40m/sec even if you had a 1g cable since the rate is controlled by the application. You would likely see a increase in speed if you had a number of machines coping files to one central machine and that machine has a gig interface. It may have been limited by the 100m.

The only way to say for sure is to run something like the resource manager and look at the utilization rates of the network cards. If they are not going to 100% for periods of time then it likely will make no difference.