When connecting to the Internet, if we want to take advantage of all the bandwidth, the best option is the Ethernet network cable. A good operation of the network card is one of the most essential parts to be able to enjoy the network of networks. That we navigate normally does not mean that there is not some small problem. One of them could be, for example, that we were not sailing at maximum speed. Then it’s time to check both the network adapter itself, its software, the router and also the Ethernet network cable itself. In this article we are going to see how to know if you are using the network card in Windows at maximum speed.
What do we need to make it work at full speed
The vast majority of current computers have a Gigabit Ethernet network card. That means that they are prepared for connections of up to 1 Gbps. If we want to take advantage of it to obtain maximum speed, we have to have it in line with both our Ethernet network cable and the router.
As for the router, if we have a fiber optic router, however old it may be, it will also be Gigabit Ethernet. On the other hand, if it is an ADSL router, it is probably limited to a speed of 100 Mbps. The only option in which the current fiber router falls short is that we have a 2.5G or higher Multigigabit network card in our computer. This is usually very unusual and would only be useful if we regularly move many large files on our local network.
The interesting thing to start with would be to know the specifications:
- From the Ethernet ports of our router.
- The speed supported by that network card in Windows.
- Know the category of that network cable that we have connected to the router.
In most cases, what we are going to need is simply to have a fiber optic router. Under the router there is usually a sticker that shows its manufacturer and model with which we can easily find its characteristics.
Then apart we will have to connect to it using a minimum category 5E network cable. However, for greater compatibility, a category 6 would be better and since they do not go up much in price, category 7 would also be interesting. Thus, the latter could be used more in the future because they can be used in 10GBASE-T networks. Normally distinguishing the category of a cable is very simple, just look at the letters printed on the outside.
Check the speed of the network card
Suppose that we have already checked the maximum speed that both that router, Ethernet cable and network card in Windows can support. Here we must take into account that the element with the lowest speed will be the one that determines it. For example, if we have a Category 7 Ethernet cable that can support 10 Gbps but we have a Gigabit Ethernet router or network card, our speed will be limited to 1 Gbps.
Now it’s time to check the speed at which that network card is connected in Windows. In this case we are going to do it with a desktop computer and network equipment that can work at 1 Gbps. If we want to check it in Windows 10 we will follow these steps:
- Let’s go to Start Menu .
- Settings .
- There we choose Network and Internet .
- We select Ethernet .
Then we will see a screen like this:
Here to see the maximum speed of our network card in Windows we click on the Ethernet adapter to which we are connected, and that in this case you have indicated with a red arrow.
As you can see, it is connected at 1000 Mbps, which is equivalent to 1 Gbps, which is the speed we expected to achieve. This means that everything is in order and we can rest easy. In the event that you obtain a lower speed, you must check that there is no physical fault in the router, network card and check that Ethernet cable. If it was not a hardware problem, the problem would be related to the driver for that network card that we could update or reinstall. Finally, here you have explained more options to configure your network card in Windows to achieve maximum speed.