Hardware Internet is better with Ethernet cable???

[Mythical]

So I just bought an Ethernet cable to replace my old one (a cat6 cable) which was broken
(or so I thought. my old cable would cap out at about 20mbps while without a cable I get 40+ mbps with more hiccups).
I set it up and plug in the new cable (another cat6 cable from a different reputable brand then the first) and I'm having the same issue. It's not the cables and my internet is capable of 40+ mbps (hits 55 max) without cables and 20-25 mbps with cables.
Does anybody know what the issue might be? Currently I've tried restarting the router, multiple cables, and different ports on the router. I've also tried turning of energy saving options in internet settings for my ethernet connection as well as trying to change the link speed (I meant to say Speed and Duplex) to 100mbps half, 100mbps full, and 1 gps full to no avail (it was originally on auto-negotiation)
I'm also aware of certain cable types having a maximum, but my cables clearly exceed said maximum by their cable class

Also yeah the thread name is redundant and wrong

 

[Mythical]

I'm still looking into it and I've tried a few new things. I've mad sure the cable is properly placed with no bends. Also it's specifically my computer that's having the issue. Not others on my same internet (I tested with another laptop). One thing I think it could be would be a bad port on the computer which would suck, but I don't think that's it because I still get 20mbps atleast. I am also messing around with Ethernet drivers, but am having a hard time

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also if someone could change the thread name to worse with ethernet that would be chill

 

[IC]

Maybe the ethernet card/controller in your computer is just too old and slow

 

[Mythical]

Maybe the ethernet card/controller in your computer is just too old and slow

This laptop is high end (bought it 3 years ago) so I don't believe that's the issue, but I'll post what card it is in a bit

 

[Lacius]

If it were me, I'd uninstall and reinstall the ethernet driver.

 

[Mythical]

It's stated in the device manager as
"Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller"

 

[spectral]

I agree with the driver being the likely culprit. It sounds like the PC isn't linking at the correct speed. Do you have a console you can hook up to the ethernet and see what speed it gets?

Edit: Since you have a laptop the best be for drivers is to look up the laptop on the manufacturers website. They should have all the drivers the laptop needs.

 

[Mythical]

If it were me, I'd uninstall and reinstall the ethernet driver.

I agree with the driver being the likely culprit. It sounds like the PC isn't linking at the correct speed. Do you have a console you can hook up to the ethernet and see what speed it gets?

Edit: Since you have a laptop the best be for drivers is to look up the laptop on the manufacturers website. They should have all the drivers the laptop needs.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver from the realtek site and it seems to have somewhat helped. The new max for the ethernet it 35 compared to the previous 20, but I'm still able to get higher numbers without ethernet. Probably a more compatible driver, but not quite the right one?

 

[spectral]

It seems weird. Have you googled to see if anyone else with the same laptop has had issues. Could be a known problem.

 

[tech3475]

I would try something like iperf to test the speed on LAN and maybe a Linux live CD.

My desktop mobo shipped with some ‘network enhancement’ software which slowed things down.

Also, what router/firmware do you have?

 

[Mythical]

It seems weird. Have you googled to see if anyone else with the same laptop has had issues. Could be a known problem.

I'll look into it now. I've tried the latest driver from realtek for that ethernet and the stated driver from the laptops manufacture site

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It doesn't seen to be that either, but I'm gonna try power management options now that I'm running a different driver

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It seems to be able to hit higher numbers though, but in a weird way. If I test it'll be at 30 test again 34 test again 38 hitting the same consistency as internet without cables eventually.
Is there a setting I'm missing possibly?

 

[spectral]

Honestly, it shouldn't need all this messing about. It should just be a case of plugging it in and it connects at the fastest speed it can. How are other device's that are connected via ethernet? Could also be worth looking if there are any firmware updates,etc for the router.

I'd also try the ethernet driver from the manufacturers website, just in case they did any messing with it as PC builders like to do.

 

[smf]

Is it a Dell laptop? There is some software they install which limits network connections, as some basic form of QoS.

Look to see if you have anything installed by SmartByte or Rivet.

https://www.dell.com/support/articl...nd-audio-issues-with-inspiron-systems?lang=en

 

[spectral]

On the flip side though, in general even for gaming modern wifi speeds and latency are fine. I dont't think I'd want a laptop tethered to the ethernet anyway. That said, I know how annoying it is when something isn't working how it is supposed too, even if its something you can do without.

 

[Mythical]

Honestly, it shouldn't need all this messing about. It should just be a case of plugging it in and it connects at the fastest speed it can. How are other device's that are connected via ethernet? Could also be worth looking if there are any firmware updates,etc for the router.

I'd also try the ethernet driver from the manufacturers website, just in case they did any messing with it as PC builders like to do.

I've tried both the driver from the part manufacturers site and the driver from the laptop manufacturers site, but other devices seem fine. I'll look into the router though. And yeah it's not a big deal since it's working better already anyway

 

[Mythical]

Is it a Dell laptop? There is some software they install which limits network connections, as some basic form of QoS.

Look to see if you have anything installed by SmartByte or Rivet.

https://www.dell.com/support/articl...nd-audio-issues-with-inspiron-systems?lang=en

nothing there and it's an amd ideapad y700 isk

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On the flip side though, in general even for gaming modern wifi speeds and latency are fine. I dont't think I'd want a laptop tethered to the ethernet anyway. That said, I know how annoying it is when something isn't working how it is supposed too, even if its something you can do without.

It's not too bad, but I use cloud gaming so occasional stutters are more disruptive than normal

I would try something like iperf to test the speed on LAN and maybe a Linux live CD.

My desktop mobo shipped with some ‘network enhancement’ software which slowed things down.

Also, what router/firmware do you have?

I missed this earlier, I'll look into it in a bit


thanks all for the help

 

[AbyssalMonkey]

So I just bought an Ethernet cable to replace my old one (a cat6 cable) which was broken
(or so I thought. my old cable would cap out at about 20mbps while without a cable I get 40+ mbps with more hiccups).
I set it up and plug in the new cable (another cat6 cable from a different reputable brand then the first) and I'm having the same issue. It's not the cables and my internet is capable of 40+ mbps (hits 55 max) without cables and 20-25 mbps with cables.
Does anybody know what the issue might be? Currently I've tried restarting the router, multiple cables, and different ports on the router. I've also tried turning of energy saving options in internet settings for my ethernet connection as well as trying to change the link speed (I meant to say Speed and Duplex) to 100mbps half, 100mbps full, and 1 gps full to no avail (it was originally on auto-negotiation)
I'm also aware of certain cable types having a maximum, but my cables clearly exceed said maximum by their cable class

Also yeah the thread name is redundant and wrong

Questions: What units are you aiming for? mbps and MBps are two different things. Megabits are the things your internet provider gives their data rates in, MegaBytes are what you typically see measured while downloading.

Unless you are dealing with gigabit, cat6 is typically unnecessary because cat5e does gigabit pretty well over short runs. If you are on windows, you can open up your internet properties to see what connection speed is being negotiated between your link as a sanity measure. This is how I found out I had a bad cable that was supposed to run gigabit, but only negotiates 100mbps.

You may want to check your LAN to see that you are able to pull what you are expecting, and that it's not an issue with your ISP connecting you to WAN. Again, with windows, if you are on the same homegroup or network as another computer, you can share a file and move it between the computers. If you are able to pull more on your LAN, your ISP may be screwing you.

If it is your LAN that is throwing fits, try using another device, like a smartphone to check it's speeds. If it is running faster over WiFi than your laptop is, the radio card/ethernet adapter in your laptop may be going bad. If your wifi on the laptop matches the phone or other device, but the cable is running behind, the cable needs to be checked with another device that is known to be able to hit the same speeds over ethernet as wifi.

If the cable still works on that other machine, the problem is then localized to your machine with the issues. Either failing hardware or bad drivers may be at fault. You can try diagnosing the drivers by loading a different OS like ubuntu off a usb drive and checking the internet from there. If that fails, you have bad hardware.

Your best bet to troubleshoot something like this is to get another machine working properly and start systematically backwards until it reproduces the issue.

 

[Mythical]

Questions: What units are you aiming for? mbps and MBps are two different things. Megabits are the things your internet provider gives their data rates in, MegaBytes are what you typically see measured while downloading.

Unless you are dealing with gigabit, cat6 is typically unnecessary because cat5e does gigabit pretty well over short runs. If you are on windows, you can open up your internet properties to see what connection speed is being negotiated between your link as a sanity measure. This is how I found out I had a bad cable that was supposed to run gigabit, but only negotiates 100mbps.

You may want to check your LAN to see that you are able to pull what you are expecting, and that it's not an issue with your ISP connecting you to WAN. Again, with windows, if you are on the same homegroup or network as another computer, you can share a file and move it between the computers. If you are able to pull more on your LAN, your ISP may be screwing you.

If it is your LAN that is throwing fits, try using another device, like a smartphone to check it's speeds. If it is running faster over WiFi than your laptop is, the radio card/ethernet adapter in your laptop may be going bad. If your wifi on the laptop matches the phone or other device, but the cable is running behind, the cable needs to be checked with another device that is known to be able to hit the same speeds over ethernet as wifi.

If the cable still works on that other machine, the problem is then localized to your machine with the issues. Either failing hardware or bad drivers may be at fault. You can try diagnosing the drivers by loading a different OS like ubuntu off a usb drive and checking the internet from there. If that fails, you have bad hardware.

Your best bet to troubleshoot something like this is to get another machine working properly and start systematically backwards until it reproduces the issue.

I'm referring to my download speed.
I've tried other devices so it seems to be localized with this machine. I've tried various drivers so it seems to be a semi faulty port or some router setting that affects Ethernet connections only
I'll look into the other stuff in a bit though.

 

[Mythical]

A long time since I've seen this thread, it just got 1000 views lol.
Anyways I can say safely it's the port at this point that was faulty

 

[Deleted member 668561]

yeah using a wired connection tends to be better than a wireless connection, since the connection is physical, and you don't have worry about needing enough rf power/sensitivity, and dropped packets, a wired connected is better if you need a fast connection.over longer distances, high bandwidth, streaming, wifi repeaters, gaming, torrent,

with a 5Ghz wifi router you get the same performance but you'll def need a repeater if you want a good connection, and if your devices support 5GHz otherwise you're stuck with 2.4Ghz

also the type of cable, and quality also mattters! plus the length does too, though i run a 25ft cable and don't notice any issues