Question 200Mpbs wired connection refuses to pass ~120Mbps

[onlugassy]

Hi,

I have upgraded my internet package to 200/5 Mbps from 100/2 a few days ago, but when I ran an internet speed test on my windows 10 PC it seemed to only settle around 120Mbps.

• I was using Cat 5e cable so I tried tried changing it to a Cat6 one but that didn't solve it so I connected my laptop(that has windows 7 on it if that makes any difference) to the internet with the same cable and got around 190Mpbs on it which means the issue lies with my main PC.
• I followed some instructions I found online but nothing seems to have helped, Ethernet adapter options show that it is indeed a 1.0 Gbps connection so that's not it either.
• I then thought that it might be a hardware issue and that my motherboard's sole Ethernet port was defective so I ordered a separate Gigabit PCI-E ethernet adapter but that also wasn't the solution.

Is there anything that comes to mind that I might be missing? I really want to sort the issue out.
thanks!

 

[bill001g]

First thing to check for is any so called "gaming" network software on your machine. Many times this is packaged in with the motherboard. Killer network chipset tend to be the worst offenders.

Since your port runs at more than 100mbps it means it is connected 1gbit and is likely physically fine.

I would do some testing inside your house where you have more control. I would first try a old program called IPERF to transfer between your pc and your laptop. You want both plugged into your router via ethernet.

In most cases you will see 900+mpbs in both directions. This is a very simple program it pretty much only tests the network cards, cable, drivers etc. It is not impacted by cpu, memory or disk issues.

If this is fine it means it is not a simplistic network problem. You could try coping large files between your machines. This would add some addition software complexity and disk performance. Watch the resource monitor network tab to see the rates. Be very careful some are in BYTES/sec and other are in BITS/sec

If this is all good you then start suspecting web browsers or something else. Have you tried something like steam to download a free game since it is not browser based.

 

[onlugassy]

First thing to check for is any so called "gaming" network software on your machine. Many times this is packaged in with the motherboard. Killer network chipset tend to be the worst offenders.

Since your port runs at more than 100mbps it means it is connected 1gbit and is likely physically fine.

I would do some testing inside your house where you have more control. I would first try a old program called IPERF to transfer between your pc and your laptop. You want both plugged into your router via ethernet.

In most cases you will see 900+mpbs in both directions. This is a very simple program it pretty much only tests the network cards, cable, drivers etc. It is not impacted by cpu, memory or disk issues.

If this is fine it means it is not a simplistic network problem. You could try coping large files between your machines. This would add some addition software complexity and disk performance. Watch the resource monitor network tab to see the rates. Be very careful some are in BYTES/sec and other are in BITS/sec

If this is all good you then start suspecting web browsers or something else. Have you tried something like steam to download a free game since it is not browser based.

Thanks for the reply.

• There is no "gaming" network software on my PC, I built it on my own and the motherboard doesn't come with any(MSI Z370 PC-PRO).
• I started by downloading IPERF and then went through the checking process, I either got around 700Mbps or 900Mbps as you said.
• HOWEVER, I took my PC to the living room where the router is seated for the testing and the PC managed get to 160Mpbs compared to the 130Mbps I'm getting in my room which might prove to be helpful information for solving the issue.
• I tested the download speed in Steam- I downloaded CS:GO and throughout the 8.7 Gig download the speed peaked at around 20 MB/s which lines up with the 160Mpbs that the speed tests are showing.
• Finally I tried all the browsers that are on my machine(firefox, chrome and edge) and there was no difference in the speeds shown.