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Old 06-10-2021, 09:30 AM   #1
HDTV1080P HDTV1080P is offline
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Jan 2007
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Default The Internet keeps improving in big cities and even in rural areas around the world.

The Internet keeps improving in big cities and even in rural areas around the world


In the late 80’s I used a 2400 baud dial up modem with my 1983 Coleco ADAM computer in order to connect to some BBS boards once and awhile. Later on, some people used a 9,600 baud and 19,200 baud modems with their ADAM computer instead of the original 300 baud modem.

Around the years 1995-2002 I use to use 33.6K to 56K dial up internal modems in my Windows desktop computer that allowed me to sometimes connect at around 28K to 56K download speeds over a copper telephone dial up connection (I think I averaged around 48K since getting higher was very hard). I had the latest dial up modem that supported Caller ID call waiting that would place the Internet on hold when a voice call was coming in. Before that technology one would tie up the landline for Internet and anyone trying to call would get a busy signal. At the time high speed Internet did not exist. I believe by special request the telephone company around 1995-1997+ started offering 256k DSL at a very high price (it was not even 1Mbps but around 256k which is 4 times slower). For some reason I decided not to subscribe to the DSL service since I was busy with projects and did not spend that much time on the Internet. Plus in the late 90’s I had never seen high-speed Internet and did not even know how much better it was (High speed Internet made the Internet much more popular for the entire world).

Sometime around the year 2002 I purchased my own internal cable modem and for the first time in my life I experienced high speed Internet with the local cable company (an internal cable modem is good for only one PC). It was much faster than what the local DSL telephone company was offering. With the internal cable modem, I was getting seeds of around 1.5Mbps download and then within a year the speed doubled to around 3Mbps. Now in 2021 some cable modems are capable of 10,000Mbps speeds over a fiber/copper hybrid cable network.

In late 2004 I created my first 100% wired home network using a 1,000Mbps router and 1,000Mbos switches connected to an external cable modem. While living in a new home around 2006 all the new homes in the area had CAT5e networking jacks in every room that was good for up to 1,000Mbps upload and 1,000Mbps download speeds as long as the CAT5e cable is no longer then 328 feet. The cable modem was used for awhile at that location, until we switched to a phone company that offered 100% fiber optics with cable TV channels. That phone company had a 100% fiber optic network with a RJ45 jack that allowed my 1,000Mbps router to be connected directly with no DSL modem or cable modem required. Around 10 years ago the Internet speeds were around 85Mbps download and 35Mbps upload at that location. Now that same phone company offers 1,000Mbps upload and 1,000Mpbs download speeds.

Since 2004 I have always had a 100% wired 1,000Mbps home network even though the Internet speed has always been slower. Also, many new homes in the United States around the turn of the century were getting CAT5e networking cable being ran to every room in the house. So many new homes built around the year 2004 have a minimum of CAT5e networking cable.

Around the year 2008 a family member that I know, when they were remodeling installed CAT6A networking cable and then later on around 2013 installed some CAT7A networking cable. Plus, some fiber cable. CAT6A networking cable is good for up to 10,000Mbps speed. CAT7A networking cable is good for up to 30,000Mbps networking speed. In the last 2-3 years CAT8 cable offers up to 40,000Mbps speed and it is the latest technology for copper RJ45 ethernet. Plus, some 300,000Mbps fiber optic cable was installed for possible future use a few years ago.

One of my family members that I know has had a 1,000Mbps home wired network using a minimum of CAT6a cable since 2008 and later CAT7A cable for a later remodel for one area. However, this family member I know lives in a rural area of the United States where no cable TV service exists, and for several years the fastest possible Internet service that they could get from the local phone company was 14Mbps download speed and 1Mbps upload speed. This is because a copper telephone line was supplying the ADSL2+ modem at a long distance from the point of transmission. Therefore, for several years 14Mbps download and 1Mbps upload was the absolute fastest possible Internet speed available to their location. That all changed a few weeks ago. The phone company in the area has just recently upgraded to 100% fiber optics to the side of the customers home using a fiber box that is installed either on the outside of the building or inside the buildings utility closet. On the street my family members live on, they were the first or one of the first to get the 100% fiber optic connection. With the new fiber optic upgrade the landline phone sounds crystal clear and has a much better sound quality when compared to the copper landline that was being used before. Also the fastest Internet service offered in their rural area is 1,000Mbps download with 100Mbps upload speed. While doing some testing at that family members location I was measuring around 947Mbps download and around 95.7Mbps upload using the 64 bit Speedtest application for Windows PC’s. On my family members oldest and slowest X38 motherboard desktop PC that is 13 years old the download speed is around 905Mbps and the upload speed is around 95.7Mbps. Now on my family members newest and fastest X99 motherboard desktop PC that is 6 years old the download speed is around 947Mbps and 95.7Mbps for the upload speed. Doing some testing I discovered that the Microsoft Edge 64 bit browser is a faster browser when compared to the Firefox 64 bit browser. Surfing the web and downloading items is almost instant for large files being downloaded. During the busiest time of the day the average download speed when connecting to a speedtest server around 200 miles away, is between 915Mbps to 925Mbps. Companies like Verizon FIOS have been rated as offering the fastest 1,000Mbps Internet service in the country. In Verizon FIOS service agreement, it mentions that the download speeds over a 100% wired network is anywhere between 750Mbps to 940Mbps download speeds. While my family members do not subscribe to Verizon FIOS where they live, that 750Mbps to 940Mbps range is the typical speed range everyone should get with any Internet provider that claims to offer 1,000Mbps speeds. Any consumer getting speeds below 750Mbps on a wired network either has something wrong with their computer or home network, or there is something wrong with the Internet provider.


Therefore, my family members just recently went from 14Mbps download speed to 947Mbps download speed with the fiber upgrade. Also the upload speed went from 1Mbps to 95.7Mbps after the fiber upgrade. There is a big advantage when the ADSL2+ modem is not needed anymore and the service is switched from copper to 100% fiber optics.

The following link contains a 64 bit speedtest application for Windows that gives much more accurate results then a web browser. They also have speedtest software applications for MAC and other operating systems.


https://www.speedtest.net/apps/windows



However, while there was a major increase in the landline sound quality and Internet speed where my family members live. One issue is that most 100% fiber optic networks in the United States offer the exact same upload and download speed. For example, if I was to drive around 40 minutes to a little bit larger town, I could subscribe to 1,000Mbps upload and 1,000Mbps download Internet service. There are some Internet providers that also offer 10,000Mbps upload and 10,000Mbps download in big cities. The good news is that its my understanding that the fiber that was installed to the side of everyone’s home by the phone company in this rural area, has a capacity of 10,000Mbps upload and 10,000Mbps download. So maybe in 5-10 years they could increase the bandwidth to offer 10,000Mbps upload and 10,000Mbps download speed one day. But the existing fiber to RJ45 ethernet box that was installed has a maximum speed of 1,000Mbps upload and 1,000Mbps download. So any 10,000Mbps speed increase would require a new box be installed with a 10,000Mbps ethernet jack. Now maybe in a few years the local phone company might increase the network capacity so that they can offer both 1,000Mbps upload and 1,000Mbps download speed. That would be the next logical upgrade since almost every other 100% fiber optic network currently offers the same upload speed as the download speed. With 1,000Mbps upload speed people can transfer 8K and 4K homemade family videos to other friends and family members that they know. With 1,000Mbps upload speed a Hollywood film crew can work from a remote location and upload their 8K digital camera footage to the home studio. With 1,000Mbps upload speed a gamer or several gamers in the home can have the same advantage as other people while playing a videogame on the worldwide web. For some people 100Mbps upload is not fast enough. But maybe in a few years the Internet capacity might be increased to offer 1,000Mbps upload instead of 100Mbps upload.

Some big city Internet providers offer 10,000Mbps upload and 10,000Mbps download speeds. Comcast in some areas offers 2,000Mbps Internet speeds. The majority of people in the United States including what some people call extreme rural areas has access to 1,000Mbps download and 1,000Mbps upload speeds. Also, where my family members live there is no cable TV service offered by the telephone company in terms of a real cable box. Instead, my family members use Direct TV and an outdoor TV/FM antenna to get their TV channels. So Direct TV and Dish Network satellite systems are very popular in extreme rural areas of the United States where no cable TV service is offered. Some people with high-speed Internet now use streaming services like fuboTV in order to get their favorite channels instead of a satellite dish.

Also, while I love the sound quality that a 100% fiber optic landline can offer. Most telephone companies in the United States offer unlimited local and long distance calling with all the features like Caller ID call waiting, three way calling and other services for as low as $20 a month. It use to cost $50 a month for unlimited local and long distance but some phone and cable companies on a 100% fiber network offer the price as low as $20 a month. However, for some reason where my family members live, the local phone company still does not have any unlimited local and long distance plan for the landline phone. Cell phone reception is poor in rural areas, therefore landlines are more reliable and sound better especially when 100% fiber optics is involved. Plus cable TV service might never be offered where my family members live.

Now if my family members want to start purchasing 100GB 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray downloads to a hard drive server, the 947Mbps download speed well be perfect. Also maybe one day streaming companies well offer 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray streams that require a minimum of 150Mbps per each TV location.


Its fairly easy to create a home wired network with a minimum speed of 1,000Mbps

Since around 2004 many new homes that have been built have a minimum of CAT5e cable that is ran to every room in the house with a wall jack that offers the RJ45 networking feature. CAT5e is good for up to 1,000Mbps speeds. However, many people that are wiring a home now use CAT8 40,000Mbps networking cable or at the very minimum CAT6a cable which is good for up to 10,000Mbps networking speed. Some people use 300,000Mbps fiber cable. There exists now fiber networking cards for a PC that offers up to 50,000Mbps upload and 50,000Mbps download speed. Monoprice offers a 1,000 feet roll of CAT8 2,000Mhz cable for only $479.99. With a 100% wired home network it offers the fastest speed, best security, and greater reliability when compared to wireless. That is fine for people that have a desktop PC, Notebook PC, Roku Ultra, Blu-ray player, and other devices. But if someone has a tablet PC where they walk around the home and push buttons while holding the tablet PC in their hand, then one can add a wireless access point by simply plugging in the encrypted wireless access point into the ceiling mounted RJ45 Ethernet jack or any other RJ45 Ethernet jack where wireless coverage is needed. Some wireless access points claim home network speeds of up to 10,800Mbps. But in reality, many people have trouble getting more then 2,800Mbps out of some wireless access points. A 10,000Mbps wired home network is ideal for those that need faster wired and wireless speeds. A wireless network is always 100% of the time connected to a wired network in order to make the wireless work. Even a Smartphone that gets its Internet from a cell tower, well have a fiber optic connection that makes that cell tower work.

While wired home networks can have garages and other buildings connected with underground networking cable. Someone that lives in a one bedroom apartment can create a 100% wired home network at a fairly low price by laying the CAT8, CAT7A, CAT6A, or CAT5e cable along the wall behind furniture to get to one or two computers in the same room. Then even having a wireless option if needed. The smaller the apartment, condo, or home, and the less buildings on the property results in the price of the home network being cheaper in price. Some people get by with one low cost 1,000Mbps router with 4 LAN ports for a few hundred dollars and they add low cost 1,000Mbps unmanaged or managed switches. For example a 5 port or 8 port 1Gbps unmanaged switch from Amazon costs around $15.99 with free shipping and is ideal to use on many devices in a home entertainment room. The 1Gbps switch is connected to the 1Gbps router.

While a 15 to 20 year old PC with a 1,000Mbps Ethernet jack can offer 1,000Mbps speeds. Some people with a PC older then 15 years might have only a 100Mbps networking jack installed which limits their Internet speed to 100Mbps when doing a speed test. New Egg and the Amazon website sells 1,000Mbps PCIe style Ethernet cards for as low as $9.99 with free shipping that well upgrade a 15+ year old PC to 1,000Mbps speeds (old Notebooks can also get 1,000Mbps upgrades with a different card interface). On my family members old X38, X58, and X99 motherboards they all have two 1,000Mbps RJ45 ports on them. However, Ethernet jacks can age and degrade in performance over time. On a 13 year old X38 computer motherboard one of the ethernet jacks was getting speeds below 500Mbps (in the high 480Mbps range) since the port has degraded over the years. When I unplugged the CAT6A cable and plugged the cable into another RJ45 jack on the exact same X38 motherboard I was instantly getting speeds of around 905Mbps download which is really good for a 13 year old PC.

There are several dozens of new motherboards from both AMD and Intel that offer native 10,000Mbps RJ45 networking jacks built into the motherboard. Also there is networking add on cards for PC’s that offer 10,000Mbps RJ45 jacks. It use to be that all RJ45 networking cards and motherboards offered only 3 speeds of 10GB/1GB/100MB. If one looks at some of the $300 networking cards made in 2013 they offer 10GB/1GB/100MB speeds only. However, starting around 2016 and especially in 2020+ the latest networking cards and motherboards offer a total of 5 speeds for the RJ45 ethernet jack. They offer 10GB/5GB/2.5GB/1GB/100MB. The problem with a 10GB (10,000Mbps) home network is that one has to use a minimum of CAT6A cable that is no longer than 328 feet (100 Meters). The problem is that since 2004 most new homes have only CAT5e cable installed which is rated for 1GB (1,000Mbps) home networking speed, that is as long as the cable is no longer than 328 feet (100 Meters). Therefore, with the existing standard that is in place many homes since they are pre-wired for CAT5e cable cannot achieve speeds over 1,000Mbps. However, the new 5 speed cards that offer the new 5GB and 2.5GB speeds allow CAT5e cable to be used at 10GB or 5GB up to 98 feet (30 meters), or 2.5GB speed at up to 328 feet (100 Meters) under ideal conditions. So one of the reasons why 5 speed cards are replacing 3 speed cards is because many people did not install a minimum of CAT6A cable in order to get up to 10GB speed for 328 feet (100 Meters) runs. So the industry had to create 5GB and 2.5GB speed modes for people with CAT5e cables and the other reason is that 10,000Mbps routers and switches are very expensive and 5GB and 2.5GB routers and switches can be made cheaper.

When I was researching 10,000Mbps networking cards I saw many of them made since 2013 for around $300+ that only offered 10GB/1GB/100MB speeds. I would rather purchase a new motherboard for $500+ with the 10GB RJ45 Ethernet jack built in before paying $300 for a networking card. Some of the RJ45 ethernet jacks degrade in performance with age. For around $100 with free shipping both Amazon and New EGG offer the TP-Link TX401 5 speed Networking card that offers speeds of 10GB/5GB/2.5GB/1GB/100MB. I purchased a couple of these cards and I liked the performance of the card offering around 50Mbps faster speeds when compared to some of the older ethernet ports built into the motherboards. However, I only have a 1,000Mbps home network and I was not able to test the cards at 10GB, 5GB, and 2.5GB speeds to see how they perform. This card is a new model that was released around August 28th 2020, and in theory it appears to be a good quality networking card even though I can only test the card currently at 1,000Mps. The TP-Link card is a lot cheaper then an old $300 3 speed card and in theory should work fine up to 10,000Mbps.



While there is plenty of low cost choices for those that want a 1,000Mbps wired network, any network faster has very limited choices to choose from



For around 15 years there has existed low cost 1,000Mbps routers and switches that allow one to create a home wired 1GB network for as low as a few hundred dollars. The problem is that jumping to 100% wired 10,000Mbps routers and switches can literally cost between $10,000-$65,000+ since they are designed for the professional business market. Someone needs to make a 10,000Mbps 100% wired router with 4 ports for under $5,000. To make matters worse since wireless has become so popular it is decreasing the demand for research and development being spent into making faster home routers and switches up to 10,000Mbps speeds. The 100% wired routers and switches are stuck in the 1,000Mbps mode and are very cheap to purchase. Then there are companies claiming to have wireless access points and routers that reach wireless speeds of 10,800Mbps for around $600. There are a massive number of new motherboards that have 5 speed 10GB RJ45 networking jacks built into the motherboard, plus there is many 10GB RJ45 networking add on cards on the market for as low as around $100. There needs to be more research and development spent in making 48 port and 24 port 10GB 5 speed switches and 4 port 10GB 5 speed wired routers. There is a very small number of wireless routers that only have one 2.5GB LAN jack or one 5GB LAN jack, or one 10GB LAN jack. They cannot even put four ports on a consumer router above 1,000Mbps speeds since wireless is taking over. Good luck finding a 5 speed 10GB switch. In the ideal world someone needs to make a 100% 4 port 10GB 5 speed wired router. Then also there needs to be made available 48 port, 24 port, 16 port, 8 port, and 5 port 10GB 5 speed switches. The consumer electronics industry needs to stop making 100Mbps wired routers and switches since 1,000Mbps routers and switches are very inexpensive. Then the industry needs to do research and development into 5 speed 10GB routers and switches. If one needs wireless, they can always plug a wireless access point into any ceiling mounted or wall mounted RJ45 jack for the building or floor that needs wireless. What good is having all the new motherboards with built in 10GB 5 speed RJ45 jacks if no one makes a selection of consumer routers and switches that can reaches those speeds.


Also with 1,000Mps and faster Internet services, when someone uses the home network from one PC to the other, it slows down the Internet since a 1,000Mbps router can only route 1,000Mbps at a time. So if 300Mbps is used on the home network the Internet speed instead of being 1,000Mbps well end up being 700Mbps. My point is wired routers need to be made faster to keep up with the Internet. If the Internet is offered at 10,000Mbps speed one day then having 20,000Mbps or 100,000Mbps routers would be ideal. In the past the router has always been faster then the Internet. Now the routers are either the same speed as the Internet and sometimes slower then the Internet. 10,000Mbps and faster wired home routers need to be developed for under $5,000, then a few years later under $2,000 models.

Last edited by HDTV1080P; 06-10-2021 at 10:32 AM.
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