Do I need a 1000mb WAN port to get 1000mb speeds?

Kaiju

Kaiju

Kaiju

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I have a 1000mb connection and can get around 600mb's without a router. Using my old Linksys E1500 router though caps me at 100mb, so I want to buy a gigabit router.

Now I see the D-Link DGL 4100 has 4 Gigabit ports but only a 10/100mb WAN port. Does the WAN port need to be 1000mb's too?
 
If you've got a broadband connection capable of delivering 600 Mbps then you'll obviously need a router that supports Gigabit on its WAN port.

You also need to make sure the router is actually capable of handling the necessary throughput. Just having a Gigabit WAN port doesn't guarantee anything. For example a router that'll handle 150 Mbps will need a Gigabit WAN port, but won't handle 600 Mbps.

Have a look at Asus's range of routers. They have several options that have Gigabit WAN ports and throughputs that'll match your requirements.

Smallnetbuilder.com is a good place for detailed router reviews.
 
Which begs the question why have a router with 4 gigabit ports if the Internet port can only do 100mb?

Thanks for the response, I'll check Asus out.

edit: Is it for wired transfers across the network?

Looks like i'll need something like this: ASUS RT-AC66U
 
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Kaiju said:
Which begs the question why have a router with 4 gigabit ports if the Internet port can only do 100mb?
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Because people want to transfer data between machines on theirs network as well as communicating to the Internet. Having multiple gigabit ports means you could plug in a NAS and a couple of PCs and have fast local access to your files over gigabit as well as being able to access the Internet at the slower speed.

But you say you get 600mbps without a router but how are you doing that?
 
memyselfandi said:
But you say you get 600mbps without a router but how are you doing that?
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I live in Hong Kong and have a fiber optic connection.

I'm starting to get my head around it now. The Buffalo N450 looks to be half the price of the Asus and still houses Gigabit WAN and LAN ports.

Will have to look into getting a NAS to house all my media.

Thanks for the idea! :)
 
Kaiju said:
I live in Hong Kong and have a fiber optic connection.
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Nice but that wasn't really my point. That you are getting over 100mbps means that whatever was connected to the WAN link when you measured 600mbps must already have a gigabit WAN port. So how were you measuring the speed in that situation?

What I'm getting at is you don't want to find, after you've bought a new router, that there is no improvement as the problem is that the NIC on your PC isn't pushing things any faster than 600mbps.
 
600mbps, could be a hard drive limitation at that figure.. ~75mb/s

I've got zero experience with gigabit WAN, so can't recommend a router for you.
 
memyselfandi said:
So how were you measuring the speed in that situation?

What I'm getting at is you don't want to find, after you've bought a new router, that there is no improvement as the problem is that the NIC on your PC isn't pushing things any faster than 600mbps.
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Ah, I get ya. I used speedtest.net to measure the connection. Obviously my speeds are nowhere near 600mb outside my locale.
bledd. said:
600mbps, could be a hard drive limitation at that figure.. ~75mb/s

I've got zero experience with gigabit WAN, so can't recommend a router for you.
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Wow, never thought of that. Good thinking!
drizzy said:
There's a few routers tested for gbit speeds here:

http://digitaldreamer.com.au/nbn-ready-routers-10-routers-tested-for-speed/

If you connect via PPPoE I think this can significantly lower speeds though.

edit: Just realised how old this article is. I didn't think it was that long since I read it! :(
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Nope, it's all auto-DHCP. The article was created today, is that old by OCUK standards?
KIA said:
Gigabit WAN port doesn't equal gigabit throughput.
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Oh, I see, so really it's a combination of many factors. Hmmm, lots to read up on still.

Like if I download a bunch of Youtube videos using a direct modem connection, I can get around a 60-65mbs simultaneous download speed which is awesome given I have a lot of subscriptions and just let the videos accumulate on my RSS feed. I then just load 'em up and download them all onto my home network.

When downloading torrents, I can accumulate around 40-45mbs total download but that's only if I have 20+ torrents on the go and have utorrent on unlimited upload.

Once I use a router though, I get limited to 100mb, so like 10mb cap. Not ideal, but still decent. The actually problem is that my wife has another 6mb connection we're still contracted too and I don't want another modem on the go when we could just have one. That essentially means I have to use a router. It also means we can't share our home network, well we could, but when I looked into it I was like, yup, a network noob is not gonna be able to do that. lol.

Anyway, thanks all for your replies. It's really appreciated.
 
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