Monthly Archives: October 2014

You’ve upgraded to a gigabit network and you already notice a big speed boost.  Here are the limitation of a gigabit network you should know about.

What is a Gigabit Network?

Wired Gigabit networks have far superseded the days when Ethernet or its successor, Fast Ethernet, were employed to deliver 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps over a network. However, the next best thing, which has been around for over a decade now, is Gigabit, running at 1000 Mbps or 1 Gigabit over many networks.

Bearing this in mind, what would be the first thing you’d think of when you hear of a “Gigabit network”?  You may associate Gigabit networks with large corporate companies who can afford to implement this “expensive” technology in order to gain faster connections, along with all the “complex” equipment needed to support such requirements.  The truth is, it was expensive when it was first introduced into the market, however the price has eventually dropped so that small businesses and home users alike can benefit from it.

In a previous article, we explained the benefits of upgrading to a gigabit network at your home or office.  Here are some points you should keep in mind.

Limitations of a Gigabit Network

It doesn’t help to speed up internet connection

Gigabit networks are designed to help speed up the transfer rate of data between one device, desktop or server, to another, within an internal network. Whoever your broadband provider is, they’d be the ones who’ll determine and set your Internet connection speed. This is why a Gigabit network will leave this area unaffected until services like Google Fiber are widely available. Just think of the Internet as connecting to an external source from your desktop, phone or device.

Your gigabit networks will not run at 1000 Mbps for everything

Since resources are shared, there are many things running on your network that will be utilizing pieces of that 1000 Mbps gigabit speed. Speedier performances will however be very noticeable compared to a 100 Mbps network.  Also, note that many wireless devices still haven’t reached gigabit speeds, although we are getting there.

Is all of your equipment gigabit capable?

Have you confirmed that all of the equipment on your network is capable or running at your new gigabit speed? Having a gigabit router and the correct Cat 6 cabling is enough to get you up to gigabit speeds only for devices that support Gigabit.  It won’t break the bank to get them up to speed though.  For instance you can buy $15 switches, $20 routers with Wi-Fi, $0.50 cables, and even PCI gigabit network cards to install on old computers for around $10-25, making the possibility of running a Gigabit network an affordable reality!

For more advice on setting up a gigabit network in your office or home, contact your local IT professionals.

Whether at home or in the office, the low cost and huge benefit of running a gigabit network is too good to pass up.  Here’s what you need to know.

What is a Gigabit Network?

Let’s start with what a network, let alone gigabit network means in the context of your office or home.  The network is how all of your computers, wifi/wired printers, tablets and even TVs talk to each other.

The speed at which your devices talk to each other is determined by your network equipment such as your wireless router and network cables connecting all of your devices to the router. Having equipment and cabling capable of gigabit speeds means you are running 10 times faster than traditional networking equipment often running at 10 or 100mbit speeds.

Benefits of a Gigabit network

1.  Google fiber could be coming to you 

   That’s right, gigabit internet could well be accessible to you, helping your network perform better, along with improved traffic flow to better avoid bottle necks.

2. Faster file transfer rates and program load times 

   Up to ten times the speed to help increase communications between your office computers for file sharing, and loading programs over the network. It can also, for instance, considerably reduce the waiting time for backups to complete, compared to the average standard Ethernet rate of 12.5 Mbps.

3. Your equipment may already be compatible 

   If your equipment is fairly new, the chances are that it may support running on a Gigabit connection. Equipment such as desktops, LAN switches, cables, and so forth, all need to be able to run 1000 Mbps and have ports that support this too. Category 5e or 6 cables are the best to use in a Gigabit network.

4. Old switches/ routers can still work on a Gigabit network 

   What’s good is that you don’t need to throw your existing switch/router away. You can obtain a standalone gigabit-enabled switch, like a Netgear that can cost around $40, and connect it up your old switch or router.For the low price of setting up a Gigabit network it’s definitely worth the upgrade. Anything that streamlines access to applications, facilitates smooth daily backup operations, or allows access to any shared resource in the company is going to benefit everyone.

For more advice on setting up a gigabit network in your office or home, contact your local IT professionals.