Networking question!

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by brettallica

You could upgrade to Cat6 cables for kicks, but from what I've read Cat5 can support a gigabit network just fine.

For short runs, Cat6 probably is not going to buy you anything. Cat6 may help with attenuation at longer distances, but as long as you are running Cat5e, then you should be fine. My entire home network is Cat5e in-wall cabling with 25 feet being the longest current run). Recently, I've been purchasing Cat6 cabling for my patch cables, but just because the price difference at monoprice.com is negligible.

I used to make my own cables, but I use color coded cables to help with organization and dictate which each cable performs or what it is connected to.

If you make your own cables or punch down to wall jacks, just make sure you use the same cabling standard for each end, i.e., 568A or 568B. I personally use the 568B layout because it is what is typically used in the telco world and what I am most familiar with.

As far as you current situation, if your laptop has Gig-E, then bandwidth wise you are doing all you can do. Not sure what software you are running, but if you have any security software running that is doing packet inspection, then you may seee some reduced speed, especially if you have an older computer and you are getting close to maxing out your CPU and memory.

On the hardware side, make sure you have the max amount of memory that you computer can support. You will also have to clean your registry, delete and temp files and defrag your hard drive. A couple programs I use on my Windows machine are CCLeaner, and Defraggler. Both are free and do a great job. I have not really looked for anything for a Mac, but I'm sure Brettallica may have some suggestions.