Gigabit Connections And Internet Speed

I have fiber internet, CDE Lightband. Recently I was upgraded to 250 mbps (44.95/month) but I top out at 94 mbps on Ethernet when I connect straight to the wall on my Thinkpad W500 which has Intel 82567 Gigabit Ethernet adapter but I can only get 100 mbps connection instead of 1.0 Gbps. Also, I have a gigabit wifi router, (Belkin AC900) but can't get higher download/upload speeds. Any suggestions short of calling my ISP? Is my current real speed typical for a connection with this kind of plan?

 

Yes, there is "overhead" which will affect download speeds. Your 250 mbs speed is the maximum you could get but, actual speeds will be lower.

 

Run speed tests at http://www.speedtest.net/
if it constantly shows download speeds significantly below what you are actually paying for, then yes talk to your ISP.
I have fibre optic and pay for 50mb download and I consistently get 48.

 

Read your contract too. Make sure it does not say "up to" 250Mbps. Also, make sure your Ethernet cables are at least Cat5e. Some older or budget cables are just Cat5 which tops out at 100Mbps.

I am a little surprised your speeds are that low. I have copper cable and I pay for "up to 50Mbps download and 5Mbps upload" but I regularly get more than that, currently almost 60 down and 6.66 up as seen here.

I realize it all depends on the plan you have, but I would have thought fibre would still be faster. Anyway - I don't want to hijack the thread.

 

Yes my package is 'up to' 50mb download and 'up to' 10mb upload and it's very cheap (I pay £9/US$11.50) per month for that with Virgin UK. It's enough for me. But it's wifi from the Virgin router which I assume has decent cabling to the box.

Edit! Actually ignore all that above. At this moment I'm at my other residence using Plusnet (Part of BT) fibre optic with a package of 'up to' 38mb down and 'up to' 10mb up - so I'm getting at this moment speeds of 10mb higher for downloads. That is also totally WiFi with a modem and router cabled. When I'm next back on the east side of London I'll check mine there which is Virgin.

 

My house has cat5e, they were using that when they installed fiber in the city. It could be my hardware but I cant justify spending money on a new wifi router when its already fast enough for what I need. . There could be a software driver issue as well. I'm getting the same speeds on the macbook pro Mid 2010. Cant get a ethernet connection over 100 mbs

 

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/sto...s-five-times-faster-internet-speeds/98246832/

 

It's best to talk directly to CDE Technical Support and make sure they tell you whether your current hardware (router) is of a model and type that will support the speeds they are charging you for. They could also tell you whether those speeds introduced on 1 March are actually up and running in your zip code area.
Their Technical support will advise you on those matters. But if you are a multi-user household, ie it is common for several people to be using internet connected devices at the same time then it's important to tell them that to emphasise the need for the highest bandwidth usage.

You can go into your Windows system > device manager > network adapters > properties > driver > UPDATE driver > search online and see if it offers an update.
The Macbook would need you getting advice on that from a Mac help forum.

 

Make sure you patch cables from your computer to the wall/switch/router are Cat5e or newer too.

 

I

have a Cat6 cable to the wall and I have tried updating the driver. I will call CDE as soon as I get chance. They do reccomend certain routers but I was hoping to eliminate the router as the issue.

Here is pic of my box outside the house if anybody is interested.

 

I'd call CDE and see if they have provisioned your account to reflect the 250 you're paying for. If so, there could be a problem on their end or who knows.

Also, try this

task manager > networking tab

Does it show 1Gpbs link speed for your adapter?

Could be bad cable or that there aren't gigabit rated connectors on the cat5e cable or wall jacks

 

When I flip it to gigibit speed the internet cuts out si I'm thinking its not setup for it at my house. Worse case, I have to pay them to come back and install the right cable. I have recently got a newer laptop to and I'm going to try that. CDE installed the Internet 2012 so it should be gigabit compatible. Im running Windows 10 on the Thinkpad W500 so the the driver may be flawed.

 

OK I contacted my ISP and I said that my laptop is negotiating at 100 Mbps.

here's what the website recommends for economy level routers

(Recommended for Internet Speeds up to 250Mbps)
Netgear AC1200 Model 6220
Linksys AC1200 Model EA6300 series
Asus AC1750 Model RT-AC66
TP-Link AC1350 Model Archer C59

what do you all think I'm using a Belkin router right now but I'm thinking it's not as good as the other brands.

I paid $30 on eBay for my AC900 hundred Belkin router.