How to get good Gigabit Ethernet speeds....

[daneoni]

....between two macs connected by standard RJ45 cables. I have an iMac & MacBook and to keep both in sync i usually connect the two macs by ethernet and then move files over. However thus far i haven't been able to exceed 11mb/s despite both macs having Gigabit Ethernet.

Was just curious if its possible to get faster speeds and how?

PS-Both macs are relatively close together i.e. on the same desk area so loss of throughput due to distance shouldn't be a problem right?

 

[Eidorian]

Are they connected directly to each other or on a switch? It could be that that cable isn't rated for gigabit speeds or you're just using a 10/100 switch.

 

[daneoni]

Directly connected no hub/switch or anything like that. Not sure about the cable but its fairly recent i think

 

[aaronw1986]

Standard cat5 cables won't work. You need a cat6 cable.

 

[brand]

Standard cat5 cables won't work. You need a cat6 cable.

But a Cat 5e cable will do 1000BASE-T. So either Cat 5e or Cat 6 will work.

 

[GotPro]

Also... if it's connected directly... are you using a regular patch cable or a crossover cable?

If you aren't plugging into a router, then you should be using a crossover cable, which is different from a standard cat5e or cat6 cable.

Macs and OS X can detect and use a standard cable in place of a crossover, but your throughput will go through the floor.

For MAXIMUM throughput... you MUST use a Router... that's its job... to efficiently route packets through a network.

 

[brand]

Also... if it's connected directly... are you using a regular patch cable or a crossover cable?

If you aren't plugging into a router, then you should be using a crossover cable, which is different from a standard cat5e or cat6 cable.

Macs and OS X can detect and use a standard cable in place of a crossover, but your throughput will go through the floor.

For MAXIMUM throughput... you MUST use a Router... that's its job... to efficiently route packets through a network.

Since the two computers are on the same network a router is not needed, just a switch. A router does not route data that stays on the same network but instead routes data that leaves the network. If the network device can autosense which type of cable is used then speed should not be effected.

 

[GotPro]

Sorry, meant switch / router as one interchangeable item. All routers have switches built into them... of course.

You might be right in theory... but in almost 20 years of networking... I've never seen 2 computers connected via a crossover cable that worked as smoothly / transferred data as fast as when connected separately via a switch.

YMMV, of course!

 

[yg17]

Sorry, meant switch / router as one interchangeable item. All routers have switches built into them... of course.

You might be right in theory... but in almost 20 years of networking... I've never seen 2 computers connected via a crossover cable that worked as smoothly / transferred data as fast as when connected separately via a switch.

YMMV, of course!

If anything, all a switch is going to do is ADD overhead, since it has to inspect every packet, look up the destination MAC in the switching table to figure out which port to send the packet out, and then finally send it out the right port. The overhead is probably negligible, but a switch isn't going to help (and a router is completely unnecessary).


And no, not all routers have switches built into them. None of the enterprise grade ones by Cisco, Nortel, etc have switches built in. Hell, some of them don't even have RJ45 ethernet jacks

 

[GotPro]

Well... duh... lol.

I doubt the OP would have run out and bought a $10K Router...

Let me FURTHER clarify... 99% of all routers under $120 that you are going to pull off the shelf in your local FRY's will have switches in them.

But thank you for pointing that out!

 

[yg17]

Well... duh... lol.

I doubt the OP would have run out and bought a $10K Router...

Let me FURTHER clarify... 99% of all routers under $120 that you are going to pull off the shelf in your local FRY's will have switches in them.

But thank you for pointing that out!

Relax, I was only joking, hence the smiley


I wouldn't expect anyone to go run right out and buy a $10,000 Cisco router for their house

 

[amccallum1]

Back to the question.

I'm only getting about 7 MB/sec from my so-called gigabit ethernet. What gives?

 

[isus]

Back to the question.

I'm only getting about 7 MB/sec from my so-called gigabit ethernet. What gives?

Thanks for bumping a year old thread without giving any details.

(this forum really needs a facepalm smiley)