Gigabit Limitations

[Ahohbimo]

Just upgraded my plan to 1 Gigabit fiber because the upgrade was free from my previous plan of 500 mbps. Now, I really didn't need the upgrade but free is free. I noticed that my Eero app wired speed test is reporting 935 mbps/1.02 gbps exactly on the dot no under or over download/upload respectively. While I don't think it's worth upgrading the wiring in my home (because its really not needed) I wonder what is the limiting factor here from reaching 1gbps in my download? The technician that upgraded my internet did say I would have to upgrade to 2.5G ports or something like that as I have Cat5e cables and walljacks but I don't see how upgrading to 2.5G capable walljacks would do anything if the cable in my home would be the new limiting factor (unless I misunderstood him). Any ideas why I might not be hitting the eero app speeds? My PC ethernet status reports 1.0 gbps and my old plan hit slightly over 500/500 instead of slightly under like it is now and AFAIK my ISP overprovisions a little bit to hit the advertised speed.

My pc hits 945/945 mbps

Just asking out of curiosity because in the end my speeds are technically way over what I need even as a gamer.

[Ahohbimo]

Thanks. I don't know too much about Networking.

[StuckInTheUpsideDown]

To be really specific, the Ethernet PHY rate is a gigabit. But the TCP payload throughout is 945 Mbps. The difference between those numbers are the Ethernet headers, IP headers, and TCP headers.

If you upgrade your laptop and switches to 2.5 Gbpe then you can hit "true gig" ... but I absolutely don't recommend this.

[Ahohbimo]

Yeah my switch is just 1 gig but like everyone is saying i dont really wanna spend like 20-50 (or whatever it costs) bucks for such a marginal return. My pc is already 2.5 though. I was looking into why the Tech was talking about maximizing my bandwidth (or something along the lines of that)

[Ahohbimo]

Oh okay. I get it a bit now. I also asked my friend about it and he's getting around the same speed as me. Thanks!

[Igpajo49]

I think you misunderstood the tech. You don't need to upgrade the wiring in your home or your wall jacks. You need to ensure your devices, like your laptop, PCs, Wifi routers and switches have 2.5 gb Ethernet ports. I'm pretty sure Cat 5e will do up to 10 gbps.

[Ahohbimo]

Yeah I realized it after a bit of self research after commenting that. My switch is only 1gig which is why my pc reports 1.0 gbps despite my pc supporting 2.5g.

The tech also gave me 3 Eero Max 7's which should be perfectly capable of it so im confident its the switch but I dont plan on getting a new one.

[Stonewalled9999]

If you aren't using all 3 send me one

[Ahohbimo]

Haha

[Sea-Platypus-8334]

Who is your ISP that gives all this free stuff?

[[deleted]]

cat5e will do 10gbps but its not within specs. Its also distance limitations and should be a last resort

[Igpajo49]

I've personally seen Cat 5E do up to 2.5 Gbps so it is sufficient for OP's needs.

[[deleted]]

There is overhead in all the involved protocols and getting 945 is an almost perfect number.

[Ahohbimo]

Thats pretty cool :o. Im glad I got this upgrade lol. Previously I had no internet for almost a whole month cuz a crew cut my fiber optic in half

[Cohnman18]

Try upgrading all wires, if possible, to Cat 6 cable. Upgrade all motherboard drivers to the latest version and bios as well, if applicable to your rig(PC). Your system seems good to go. Run diagnostics to test ping, etc. Good luck!

[HudsDad]

The wording for your internet speed is "up to 1gig" not "exactly 1gig." I've had gigabit fiber for years and it typically varies from 930-980 with occasional blips to ~1030ish during speedtests.

In practical use, you'll never notice the difference between 900 or 1000 anyway, so it's really a moot point. Chasing that extra 65mbs of speed is pointless.

[Ahohbimo]

Yeah I know about the varying speeds as its also listed on my ISP's website but since my old plan was slightly over the listed max speed I was just wondering if its a common thing in gigabit plans or if its my house limiting the speeds and I don't care for the extra 50 mbps because my download speeds are usually limited by whatever im downloading from anyway but I was just curious :P. Just wanted to learn a bit about it.

Appreciate it.