Gigabit lan differences

[<<Onafets>>]

heya,
I'm planning on getting a few gigabit pci cards for a home router build using linux and i had a few questions. a) Is cat 6 worth it over cat5/5e? b) are all gigabit cards built the same? (specifically: http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4194 and http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4238)
thanks
-ona

 

[FordGT90Concept]

All network cards aren't built the same (e.g. high end cards of network processors on them that take load off the system to handle the network stack) but those two pretty much are. I've heard of TP-LINK before, not EDIMAX; thereofre, I'd gravitate towards TP-LINK. The only major difference I see between them is the TP-LINK supports a boot ROM chip and EDIMAX does not.

 

[<<Onafets>>]

All network cards aren't built the same (e.g. high end cards of network processors on them that take load off the system to handle the network stack) but those two pretty much are. I've heard of TP-LINK before, not EDIMAX; thereofre, I'd gravitate towards TP-LINK. The only major difference I see between them is the TP-LINK supports a boot ROM chip and EDIMAX does not.

Would a boot rom chip be of any use to me? and im not worried too much about the power because the box is a dedicated P4 2.8 with 2gb of ram. All its doing is running untangle for 3 machines (maybe 4 later) unless you still believe that will be an issue.

 

[newtekie1]

Is cat 6 worth it over cat5/5e?

Cat6 is not necessary for gigabit, Cat5e will handle gigabit just fine for distances of ~100m(Cat6 doesn't increase this distance any). Do not use regular Cat5, it will not work with gigabit, you must use Cat5e.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

CAT6 supports 10/100/1000 up to 100m and 10,000 up to 55m. 10 gigabit is rare though so don't worry too much about it unless you have interferance/crosstalk issues. CAT6 is quite a bit more expensive than CAT5e because the cable has more components (there's a plastic divider running the length of the cable keeping the 4 twisted pairs isolated) and the connectors are more difficult to assemble (instead of being 8 in a row, it's 4 on 4--they often don't like hitting the right hole).

 

[Phusius]

I have used Cat6 for years, oddly enough Comcast installed my internet at home with Cat6 which surprised me. I know it doesn't really matter, but eh.

 

[<<Onafets>>]

Thanks guys Im gonna go with 5e and the 5 dollar pci cards

 

[Jetster]

This is a great site to look at review.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/

 

[Frick]

if it's a more permanent install i would go with cat6 actually.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Yeah, leaves the door open to 10 gigabit in the future without running new cable (assuming the distances aren't too great).

 

[robal]

Is cat 6 worth it over cat5/5e

Yes it is.
Not now, but in future, new ethernet standards will emerge that will not work on 5e, but will on 6.
Your house wiring will be ready.

 

[<<Onafets>>]

I suppose future proofing wouldn't be too much of a bad idea, I may as well pickup the cat 6 then. Is there any reduction in latency for cat 6?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

No, but might be fewer lost packets.

 

[ChristTheGreat]

CAT6 supports 10/100/1000 up to 100m and 10,000 up to 55m. 10 gigabit is rare though so don't worry too much about it unless you have interferance/crosstalk issues. CAT6 is quite a bit more expensive than CAT5e because the cable has more components (there's a plastic divider running the length of the cable keeping the 4 twisted pairs isolated) and the connectors are more difficult to assemble (instead of being 8 in a row, it's 4 on 4--they often don't like hitting the right hole).

That is all correct. That plastic in the cable reduces crosstalk. Cat 6 support 10 gigabit and is able to operate at up to 250 MHz.

I would surely go with cat 6. For sure, the price of the cable aren't the same, well from the last time I bought some. All my cables are now Cat 6.

 

[Mussels]

just remember that PCI will bottleneck gigabit, you only get 133MB/s shared between all PCI devices, and gigabit theoretically goes to 125MB/s, so you'll be limited.


but yes, limited at even 50MB/s is still better than 100Mb connections 12.5MB/s

 

[Rhyseh]

You're not planning on connecting all 3 hosts to the router are you?

If so then it is probably pointless using gigabit NIC's due to the aforemention PCI bittleneck. It is also pointless to have a gigabit NIC if you are only routing your internet connection as it's unlikely an internet connection would fill a fast ethernet interface, let alone gigabit.

My 2c: Purchase a cheap, unmanaged gigabit switch.