100BaseT switch and Broadband

fire_munki · 22 Mar 2012 at 12:23

Hello,
I'm getting myself confused and the more I read the more puzzled I get! :confused:

I'm looking at getting a decent switch, I've been offered a 10/100BaseT switch.
I currently have Virgin's 20Mb cable coming in, the switch will have 2 machines connected to it and a WAP at some point.
Is the 100Mbps of the switch going to limit the incoming 20MB from Virgin.
My head says no but I'd like some clarification, the Virgin is apparently be upgraded they say to faster speeds in the next 6 month.

feriso · 22 Mar 2012 at 12:47

feriso · 22 Mar 2012 at 12:47

Switch is to do with internal traffic, nothing to do with Virgin. Anyway 100>20

fire_munki · 22 Mar 2012 at 12:57

I knew it was internal traffic only but only going to 2 comuters I didn't want a bottleneck.
Also for knowledge more than anything can you exlpain the 100>20 statement, i was under the impression one is bits and other bytes.

ci_newman · 22 Mar 2012 at 13:15

fire_munki said:
I knew it was internal traffic only but only going to 2 comuters I didn't want a bottleneck.
Also for knowledge more than anything can you exlpain the 100>20 statement, i was under the impression one is bits and other bytes.

You're right, it is - except that Virgin is 20Mbps not 20MB (which is ~ 160Mbps which isn't offered in the UK).

fire_munki · 22 Mar 2012 at 13:20

Just to clear up what is Virgin roughly in bits as a comparison so I know how much overhead there is for when they do update the speeds.

Phemo · 22 Mar 2012 at 13:30

From a 20Mbit connection you should expect to see around 2400KB/sec download speeds which equates to around 2.35MB/sec.

There are 8 bits to a byte so theoretically 8Mbit is equivalent to 1MB. In theory 20Mbit would be 2.5MB but the reality with overheads is 2.35MB. That's what I got when I had 20Mbit Virgin anyway.

bremen1874 · 22 Mar 2012 at 13:49

In this context it’s all bits.

A 10/100 switch will handle any Virgin connection up to their 100Mb offering.

For their 120Mb connection you'd need a Gigabit switch to completely avoid the possibility of a bottleneck.

As Gigabit switches start at about £16 there’s not much point buying 10/100 switches anymore.