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Fast ethernet to gigabit ethernet.


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#1
jrspie

jrspie

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I'm going to be getting a router with a firewall for my broadband cable connection.
I've read that the gigabit ethernet set up is better to have.
I've currently got Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC in my pc.
Running XP Pro w/SP2.
Do I need to buy a new card or is this just a driver update.
If its just an update, can somebody send me to a site that gives simple step by step directions as I've never done anything like this before.
Thanks to all.
J.
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#2
SRX660

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Reality is that you will be lucky if you get 15MB/s internet speed from your ISP. So the 100 MB/s realtek lan card is plenty fast enough to handle what ever is thrown at it. The only place you may get higher lan speeds is between computers in your home network.

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#3
jrspie

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Thanks. I understand what you're saying.
But I'm looking at it from a different point of view.
If the router I want to get comes with the gigabite set up, is it a big pain in the butt to change my pc over to the appropriate set up?
Thanks.
J.
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#4
SRX660

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No, it is no problem. The router will run at its speed and will adjust to any speed network card you use. The faster the network card the faster the router is. It really doesn't matter because if you don't have a gigabyte network the fastest you can run is 100MB/s anyway. You can future proof yourself for the cost of a 1G network by buying a gigabyte network now, but just don't expect to get that speed too soon. The real world tells me i will have a couple of new computers before i ever get 1Gig network speeds.

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#5
jrspie

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OK. Thanks for the help.
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#6
Dryfter

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I'm gonna disagree with that. My roommate and I are running a gig network right now. On top of that all my friends have gig network ports built into their mother boards. So when ever they come over, we're all running at gig speeds.

Also, we have comcast and our cable speeds will range from 11MB/s - 18MB/s (according to speakeasy.net). I would attach a screen shot but I'm not at home right now.

Edited by Dryfter, 11 April 2007 - 08:54 AM.

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