Thread: Gigabit tests

To test the different cabling standards, I connected two PCs equipped with onboard Gigabit adapters to a Netgear GSI08 Gigabit switch. Gigabit network adapters have become standard on modern motherboards, but to exploit their full speed, you must connect them to a switch or hub that also supports Gigabit speeds; most hubs and switches still use the slower 100Mbit standard.

One PC was connected to the switch using a 10m length of Cat 6 cable, while the other PC was connected with a series of different 1m patch cables: first an old Cat 5 cable, followed by Cat 5e, and then Cat 6. The first PC was equipped with a striped Raid array to ensure data throughputs wouldn't be a problem.



I then copied a variety of files from the first PC to the second and timed how long it took before shutting down, changing the cables, powering up and repeating the test. The first set of files consisted of a 925MB folder containing 168 digital photos. The second set was a single Media Center TV recording measuring 1,208MB.