1Gb network running at 100Mb

A few months back a ran some Cat6 cable from the front of my house where the router lives to the back where my PC is terminating each end with a wall socket. I also swapped out all of the patch cables used in the network from Cat5 to Cat6.

My intention was that I would have Gigahertz network. The Router should be capable, my PC is and so should the cable between. But my PC is reporting 100MB/s.

So to my question, do all of the devises and their cables have to be running at 1GB/s for any one device to be getting it? As I have just discovered that the NAS (Netgear Stora) is 10/100M


Description of my network:
Modem to Router
Cat6 to all devises

  • NAS
  • Wife’s PC
  • My PC

WiFi to phones and tablets in the home.

When you say you computer is reporting 100MB/s where is this coming from? Is this a file transfer speed or is this the link speed of the network adapater?

If it's file transfer speed then this is correct. 1 gigabit per second is equal to around 120 megabytes per second (there are 8 bits in a byte).

No, as long as the two devices which are communicating with each other (file transfer, streaming, etc.) and everything in-between them are gigabit then that's the speed you'll get. On switched networks you can have devices with different speeds connected without effecting the speed of the other devices, unlike a wireless network which is limited to the speed of the slowest device.

Here is the connection info

Right, well assuming the driver is working properly the problem could be with the cable (if it's damaged or not terminated correctly it might fall back to 100mb/s) or whatever your computer is plugged in to isn't gigabit.

You can test if the cable is damaged by using a different one, even moving the pc to where the router is and testing it with a direct connection. Otherwise your router (or whatever the computer is plugged in to) may not be gigabit.

how long is the run and are you sure you are plugged into a gb port not all ports on a router have gb ports

My PC is connected with two patch cables and the run I put in, but the wife's PC just has a 5m cable directly into the router. My guess it that it's the fact that one device is 100M and it's preventing all of the attached network cards negotiating the 1Gb connection.

I guess I could test this by disconnecting the NAS and restarting everything...

Two cables?

100m is the max recommended level, but you'll still get gigabit past that with cat6+, so that should not an issue.

You may want to ensure full-duplex is enabled and not half, for whatever reason. Other than that just check that the port you're connected to is gigabit on both sides and that your cable is not damaged.

When you say

Do you mean an RJ45 wall socket? If so: triple check the wiring in it.
If it's just one long cable, again, triple check the wiring.

Do you know the model of your router/switch?

P.S. a quick sketch of your home network would be very helpful.

Here is my masterful use of LibreOffice Draw:

My router is a TP-Link 450Mbps Wireless N Router (TL-WR940N)

Oh Feck! I'm a blooming idiot! I have just looked up the specs on my Router... If anyone needs me I'll be stood in the corner with the dunces hat on. It's a 10/100 router! I picked it up a few weeks back to replace my ISP supplied unit that was shit. The TP-Link has great WiFi but lacks Gb for the wired network. As opposed to the BT unit that had crap WiFi and Gb network.

Looks like if I want a full GB network I'm going to have to swap-out my router and my NAS enclosure. Might be a while... Sorry to waste everyone’s time.

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You can just get a gigabit switch and plug your router and everything else in to it. That will give you gigabit without the need for a new router.

Also, you don't need to replace the NAS unless you want a gigabit connection to it. It won't prevent other devices from being gigabit. But a 100mbps nas is no fun either.


Keep the router for the wireless, and just connect everything through a gigabit switch. This way you get gigabit interconnects between your pc, your wifes pc, and the nas (if the nas is Gb capable).

My recommendation for a switch:


I'm using one to connect everything on my network and I'll be upgrading to the 8 port version soon. Its great, and doesn't give me any trouble. Its as plug and play as it gets.

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Thanks, I'll look into it.

100mbit between a Gigabit switch and Gigabit nic.
could be that one of the two wall sockets might not be connected properly or both.
Or maybe a damaged cable or whatnot.

i would suggest to firstly findout where you are loosing the signal.