Win7, 100Mbps LAN vs 1.5Gps DSL

[IfItsX]

I've built many Windows desktops over 20 years, but now my first laptop will be arriving tomorrow and I have to learn a little bit more (like, "anything" about networking, etc. (I have new LAN cables and a card to install, with a crossover adapter, if I need it.)

My current Win7 Pro LAN connection is listed at 100Mbps, and my CenturyLink and local ISP provide my 1.5Gbps DSL service, which at my ~1.2 mile distance from the switching station gives me a Speakeasy Speed Test result of about 1.3Gbps/.73Gbps.

I think I understand these "...bps" acronyms to mean "bits per second," rather than "bytes per second," which maybe would be "...Bps," instead?

So, in the midst of all of this change (researching, buying a laptop, etc.) now I'm wondering if I've been missing some major clue for all of these years: Am I truly limited to receiving into my Win7 system through the "...\Network and Sharing Center\Local Area Connection Status" only "100Mega-bits per second" even though I'm paying for 1.5Gbps DSL?

Why is there such a major discrepancy with the LAN/Control Panel listed speed and the "available" DSL download speed?

Please help me to gain more than a cursory understanding of this, perhaps with a few clues and a link, maybe, to some more comprehensive description.

I know I'm missing some major clues because I've been searching this for a few days and found "nada."

Barry

 

[Glhs958]

I believe you might be confused on your DSL account.
I would assume what you have is a 1.5Mb = megabits not 1.5Gbps DSL account. Your network adapter is a 100MB = Megabytes
So if you were getting a speed test of 1.3Mb dl speed that would be 0.1625 MB so in reality you are not even using 1% of your 100MB Network cards potential.

 

[IfItsX]

Thanks for your reply: You started a reevaluation of my "sanity..."...well, maybe, but Gbps!?

I've always worked hard to maintain or "inspect" my memory, but "where" I came up with the jump from megabits to gigabits is a mystery, and not one I'm comfortable about.

Anyway, my network adapter, according to Win7 Pro, is "100Mbps," and not "100MB" or such.

Unless MS and others are getting a bit loose with the acronyms, I understand "100Mbps" to refer to "megabits per second," and not "Megabytes per second."

So, that part of the issue is still not clear.

Barry

 

[Glhs958]

Anyway, my network adapter, according to Win7 Pro, is "100Mbps," and not "100MB" or such.

Unless MS and others are getting a bit loose with the acronyms, I understand "100Mbps" to refer to "megabits per second," and not "Megabytes per second."

So, that part of the issue is still not clear.

Barry

Barry I am not sure where the MB "Megabytes per second" came from the other night as it was very late here sorry. You are correct with the 100Mbps "Megabits per second"

 

[PeaB4YouGo]

In most cases I've heard of, the only time you may see a GB limit is in the total amount of data downloaded on a cell phone (data cap). In other words, regardless of speed, you can only download x number of GB before they throttle down your download speed. I have the fastest download speed available through Charter Internet, and that is only 100 MB/s. You should never see a data cap on your ISP. I've already downloaded 304.9 GB since Jan 7 using Charter. My phone, on the other hand, has only downloaded 385 KB since Jan 1. At what speed, I have no idea as the phone doesn't report that number.

One other thing. Don't let nomenclature throw you. My phone is 3G. That's not a speed limit or data cap. That's the type of cell data service that is provided to me, using this phone.

 

[dsperber]

My current Win7 Pro LAN connection is listed at 100Mbps

This is the rated speed of the wired ethernet network adapter (aka NIC) hardware device in your laptop.

Its speed rating has nothing to do with your ISP service to/from the Internet.

The 100Mbps number is simply the maximum rate at which data bytes (expressed in Megabits, with 8-bits per byte) can go out from and come in to your PC, via an ethernet cable connected to this ethernet port on the side of your laptop.

and my CenturyLink and local ISP provide my 1.5Gbps DSL service

As has already been clarified, this was clearly an unintended typo and could more likely be a 1.5Mbps speed provided in this DSL service. Note that this is very slow, but is also probably very cheap... relatively speaking.

My experience with Verizon is that if you buy a "bundle", including optionally TV (if available) and/or at least phone along with Internet (i.e. in a "double-play" or "triple-play" package deal), they give you extraordinary savings with very likely significantly increased Internet speed.

I have a friend who had been paying for internet and phone separately a la carte from Verizon, and was paying $125/month for the two and getting 768Kbps (yes, that's right!) DSL internet speed. I spoke to Verizon about alternatives that would save money, and they proposed phone+internet in a "double-play", which would provide 7Mbps Internet speed (instead of the previous 768Kbps, i.e. about 10x faster!) for a new combined price of $60/month for the two services!! Yes, that's right... $60/month for the two services in a bundle and with 10x faster 7Mbps Internet speed, instead of $125/month priced separately and with only 768Kbps Internet. My friend thanked me.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with the Gigabit network adapter NIC he had in his computer, which was theoretically capable of handling data transfers over wired ethernet cable at 1000Mbps. He was only going to be seeing data to/from Verizon and the Internet at no more than 7Mbps. These are two entirely separate numbers and speeds, and have nothing to do with each other aside from the fact that they both do relate to ethernet data speeds.

Am I truly limited to receiving into my Win7 system through the "...\Network and Sharing Center\Local Area Connection Status" only "100Mega-bits per second" even though I'm paying for 1.5Gbps DSL?

Why is there such a major discrepancy with the LAN/Control Panel listed speed and the "available" DSL download speed?

Because one is a hardware number built into the computer you purchased, and the other is a vendor-provided service tier number depending on how much money you're willing to pay them and what their data speed the infrastructure (cable or DSL) reaching your home can provide. You would no doubt get much faster speeds via cable provider (if possible) to your house, rather than DSL from the phone company. But it still would almost certainly NEVER be as fast as the NIC in your PC, unless you were in a very modern and updated city where ISP speeds have recently jumped... e.g. from 15Mbps standard up to 50Mbps standard, and higher-speed tiers now going up to 300Mbps, from TWC in some areas.

Anyway, where your hardware NIC speeds (either 100Mbps in your case, or gigabit 1000Mbps in newer more expensive machines) really come into play is for inter-LAN transfers, i.e. between the multiple computers in your house all of which are connected through a "router", which itself can truly support inter-device transfer speeds of up to 100Mbps or 1000Mbps over wired ethernet cable connections. Fastest inter-machine transfers come using wired connections of course, but even with wireless connections (from wireless laptops connecting through a wired/wireless WiFi router) speeds through the router can be extremely fast (though of course limited to the max speed of the wireless NIC in the computer, which can be say 65Mbps or 150Mbps or 300Mbps at the absolute maximum, which is never actually achieved).


Apples and oranges, NIC speed and ISP speed.