USB vs. Ethernet

Post by **NeoRage** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 3:52 pm

I recently lost my main computer to a storm when lightning hit and it also fried the Ethernet port on my modem. I thought at first that the modems problem was the Ethernet cable but the company gave me a new one and still no luck, So I've been using the USB connection for around a month now and my download speeds are around 1.0MB and with the Ethernet connection I had speeds around 2.5MB. Do any of you know if the USB connection will slow down the download speeds and speeds in general? I can't figure out if it's the connection or the company doing this

Thanks in advance!

Post by **Mozgus** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:03 pm

If it's USB2.0 it should not be slowing it down like that.

Post by **NeoRage** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:14 pm

Mozgus wrote:If it's USB2.0 it should not be slowing it down like that.

That's what I was afraid of. I'm paying for the top level internet service and they said my download speed should be at around 12 times what it is now, Although I have never gotten anything over 2.0MB per second

. Sad thing is tech support is clueless and has me do the "unplug the power cord........plug it back in" trick every time. Oh well, guess it's time for a new provider.

Thanks for the reply Mozgus!

Post by **Mozgus** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:39 pm

Yeah and for more info on USB 2.0:

http://www.everythingusb.com/usb2/faq.htm

As it says, it has a theoretical cap of 60MB per second, but in reality, it maxes out at around 40MB per second. I doubt your ISP is anywhere near 40MB/sec downloads, so this should not be your issue. There could possibly be some kind of limitation in that modem's USB interface though. I suggest running some speed tests on your machine with that USB connection, as well as an internal or external ethernet solution, or maybe borrow a laptop from someone or whatever. Just find a means of testing that CAT5 connection, before you go switching ISPs.

Post by **NeoRage** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:51 pm

Thank you! I'll try that on Monday, It would be a big pain to switch so I hope it isn't them.

Post by **skate323k137** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:03 pm

As a certified cable internet/VOIP/TV installer, i can say that cable modems themselves usually only put out 1/4th the bandwith on the USB port that they push out on ethernet. Why, i have no idea, but I maxed out a surfboard at 4Mbps on USB2, but it hit over 16Mbps on an ethernet connection, without changing anything on the cable system.

edit; if you want to make sure the cable signal itself is ok, in your web browser, go to 192.168.100.1

that should take you to the cable modem diagnostics screen: you're looking for a few levels:

Recieve (or Downstream) power level: Should be between -6 and +10 dBmV, the higher the better

Transmit (or Upstream) power level; should be anywhere from 30 to 50 dBmV, the lower the better (if its too high, this means your modem is blasting out signal to keep a connection... anything over 55 is starting to get REALLY bad)

and a Signal to Noise (SNR) ratio; should be around 35. above 35 is great; if its below 32, your signal getting to the modem isn't very clean.

as a final tip, take a 7/16th wrench and tighten all your cable connections 1/6th past finger tight. this will clean up the signal a little bit.

Post by **fox099** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 6:02 pm

Are you sure it is MB and not Mb? Because it seems that having a 12 megabyte per second connection is a bit extreme and rather wasteful for a company. I think a 12 megabit, or about 1 megabyte per second sounds more reasonable.

Post by **lordofduct** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 6:38 pm

the diagnostic screen's IP varies from computer to computer.

To know your just open command prompt and type "ipconfig"

the "Default Gateway" is the router's IP address 99% of the time. (Windows' Users)

Oh and internet bandwidth is marketed the same way old cartridges are.

It's 16 Mega-bit... or Mb. Not 16 Mega-byte... or MB. There are 8 bits to a byte, so 16Mb is actually 2MB.

It's all marketing, 16 sounds bigger then 2. Most people can't tell the difference between the words bit and byte.

As for the USB the technical specs should allow most of it. If you are using USB1.1 it could be the usb, 1.1 allows 12 megabits (or 1.5 megabits in low bandwidth mode), considering in data correction, is considerably slow. Especially if it is on a shared hub of some sort.

USB 2.0 has plenty of space though.

Though the driver support could be shit. Even though you connect it to a 2.0 port, the modem might only support 1.1, or worse the driver is just horrible and just can't handle large data quantities. Why not get a 10/100 NIC and put it in your PC? They only cost about 5 bucks now a days. Shit if you really want, send me a couple bucks for shipping and I'll mail you one of the 800 I have laying around the house.

Post by **skate323k137** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:17 pm

I know that the default gateway is the router IP, but if you're not on a router, the default gateway will be a main server at your ISP. I'm talking about the address of the cable modem itself, it can act as a signal meter for your cable. if you have cable internet, whether through a router or not, you should be able to go to 192.168.100.1 to check on your modem.

allthough if OP has DSL my info is pretty much worthless.

Post by **lordofduct** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:47 pm

I was just saying that number might not be the same. The modem "routes" the data to your computer via some Network Protocol, and the number is dependent on the system... but is not a standard. So for him the number might be different.