Windows 10: 2.5G Ethernet Networking is Definitely Worthwhile

Just built a new PC that has a 2.5G Ethernet adapter built in. I wanted to do some testing to see if I would really benefit from switching over my other machines to 2.5G Ethernet especially now that cheap 2.5G switches have just become available.

I started by picking up a 2.5G USB-C adapter for $20 from Amazon. I connected the new computer to my laptop using that adapter and directly connected it to my desktop machine with no switch. I definitely saw some huge performance improvements. So, I took the dive. I picked up an 8 port 2.5G switch from TrendNet (TP-Link also has one and both companies also make 5 port 2.5 G switches). I upgraded my other machines to 2.5G Ethernet adapters for $23 each.

So here are the results:

About the best speed you can get over a gigabit link is 113MB/Sec even if you are copying data from an SSD on one system to an SSD on another system. With the 2.5G Ethernet, I'm getting a dead stable and constant 280MB/Sec so that's a huge improvement.

That part was not a particularly large surprise, but what did surprise me was copying from an SSD on one system to a spinning HDD on the other system. The HDD in my system is not even a particularly fast drive but I was was continually exceeding the 113MB that gigabit Ethernet can do. The speed was bouncing up and down a lot but I was seeing speeds of between 140 to 190MB/Sec. So even with a "slow" HDD, when transferring data between machines gigabit Ethernet is the bottleneck. I would have thought that the HDD would be the bottleneck but now I know that gigabit Ethernet cannot even keep up with a slow HDD.

Bottom line: If you transfer a lot of data over the network, even between HDDs and not SSDs, the upgrade to 2.5G is worth the while and has now become very cost effective.

Components I tested with:

Built on the motherboard of my ASUS MB: Intel 1225-V 2.5G Ethernet
PCIe Adapters added to other systems: Cudy 2.5Gbps PCI Express Network Adapter, Based op Realtek RTL8125 ($22.99 on Amazon)
CableCreation USB-C 3.1 2.5G Ethernet adapter ($19.99 on Amazon). Great for laptop our temp connections to system without a 2.5G Ethernet adapter installed.
TRENDnet 8 port 2.5G switch, model TEG-S380 ($179.99 on Amazon)

:)

 

5G Networking: The Definitive Guide

All you ever wanted to know about the upcoming 5th generation mobile network. Looks like it will be epic and could well replace wired broadband access in the home or office.





Read all about it at Tom's Guide

 

Cannot connect to 5g

Hi I'm Peter an independent advisor, if your trying to connect to 5g then you've got a router and network adapter that supports 5g (ie a virgin media router)? Qualcomm is your wireless network card....realtek is your ethernet adapter (physical network
port) for wired networks. If you want to connect to 5g open your wireless network available list and you should see the same SSID as 2g and one as 5g...just click on the 5g one.

 

Wireless printer does not show my Asus router 5g network

Hi Dan,

It is possible that this issue is caused by the incompatibility between your network/router and printer. To better assist you we would like to verify some information:

• Can your other devices detect the 5G network?
• What troubleshooting steps have you tried so far?

Regards.