WAN versus LAN cable, for Siro FTTH broadband

Geuze

I have Siro Gigabit 1000 broadband from Vodafone, and I get 300-350 on speedtests, on a Cat 5e cable from router to computer, which AFAIK is a fairly good Dell notebook, built 2014.

I asked Vodafone today about the download speeds.

A Vodafone agent (technical) tells me the WAN cable from the ONT on the wall (is ONT the correct term?) to the router is more important.

I has assumed that any WAN cable provided must be optimal, and that it was my ethernet LAN cable that might be the slow point.

He suggests to get two Cat 6e WAN cables.

He says everyday for a week, at the same time each day, turn on and off the router, to adjust the router to the new cables.

Does that sound correct?

All I see on the WAN cable is "UTF 24G AWG", no sign of any CAT mentioned?

My queries:

(1) are WAN and LAN cables the exact same?
(2) Should I upgrade to Cat 6e as advised by agent? I am aware there is Cat 7 and Cat 8

THANKS

ED E

That agent needs to find a new job. Complete horsecock.

lawred2

Turn the router on and off at the same time each day to get it used to the cable...

That sounds like folklore rather than technical advice.. were you told to perform a special dance at the same time?

newirishman

Cat 5e cable is more than able to reach up to 1000mbit/sec between the ONT and router, giving is likely only a few metres long. The category should be printed somewhere on the cable. UTP 24 AWG could be either cat 5 or 6.
There is no WAN or LAN cable definition.
Cat 6 can support up to 10 GBit/sec.
Given cables are cheap, there is no harm getting a cat 6 or 7 cable but I doubt it’ll make a difference in a home environment unless the cable you have is either defect or you have a lot of interference.
Speed wise, cat 5e already is rated for 1000 Mbit up to 55 metres IIRC.
So the tech support guy talks ****e.

newirishman

Cat 5e cable is more than able to reach up to 1000mbit/sec between the ONT and router, giving is likely only a few metres long. The category should be printed somewhere on the cable. UTP 24 AWG could be either cat 5 or 6.
There is no WAN or LAN cable definition.
Cat 6 can support up to 10 GBit/sec.
Given cables are cheap, there is no harm getting a cat 6 or 7 cable but I doubt it’ll make a difference in a home environment unless the cable you have is either defect or you have a lot of interference.
Speed wise, cat 5e already is rated for 1000 Mbit up to 55 metres IIRC.
So the tech support guy talks ****e.

newirishman

Cat 5e cable is more than able to reach up to 1000mbit/sec between the ONT and router, giving is likely only a few metres long. The category should be printed somewhere on the cable. UTP 24 AWG could be either cat 5 or 6.
There is no WAN or LAN cable definition.
Cat 6 can support up to 10 GBit/sec.
Given cables are cheap, there is no harm getting a cat 6 or 7 cable but I doubt it’ll make a difference in a home environment unless the cable you have is either defect or you have a lot of interference.
Speed wise, cat 5e already is rated for 1000 Mbit up to 55 metres IIRC.
So the tech support guy talks ****e.

ED E

Geuze wrote: »

which AFAIK is a fairly good Dell notebook, built 2014.

Uninstall Dell "Smartbyte" and run the test again btw.

lawred2

ED E wrote: »

Uninstall Dell "Smartbyte" and run the test again btw.

ha I just checked to see if that was installed on my dell and it was - it's gone now..

what did it do?

Geuze

ED E wrote: »

Uninstall Dell "Smartbyte" and run the test again btw.

This program is not listed in the list of Apps.

Only Dell app is Dell TouchPad.



I am reading about this program..

Geuze

newirishman wrote: »

Cat 5e cable is more than able to reach up to 1000mbit/sec between the ONT and router, giving is likely only a few metres long. The category should be printed somewhere on the cable. UTP 24 AWG could be either cat 5 or 6.

I looked at the WAN cable again.

Lots of letters/codes, but no mention of CAT or Cat.

Odd.

Static M.e.

Honestly, it is not that odd. The text is written a longer cables run every metre or so, so it is possible that on your cable then missed that section. On smaller cables runs they also might not bother having all the text.

(1) are WAN and LAN cables the exact same?

Short answer is Yes, and for your purposes think of them as the same.

(2) Should I upgrade to Cat 6e as advised by agent? I am aware there is Cat 7 and Cat 8

No. He is talking crap.

Stop thinking about the cables. I would say that they are definitely not the problem here

Static M.e.

Just thinking about this again. I would ring back and speak with another customer service agent. The advice you received is so terrible and incorrect that I would also write to them and let them know. It makes absolutely no sense at all.

You need to forget about the cables but if you really want one, I can make a Cat 6 cable and post it out to you. I'm sure you could probably buy them locally too.

MarkR

Check what speed your network card is connecting at maybe.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-determine-wi-fi-and-ethernet-connection-speed-windows-10

timmyntc

Bottleneck is most likely your laptop - as MarkR said above check your connection between your laptop -> router first.

Geuze

MarkR wrote: »

Check what speed your network card is connecting at maybe.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-determine-wi-fi-and-ethernet-connection-speed-windows-10

This is what I see under View your network properties


Name: Ethernet
Description: Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (3) I218-LM
Physical address (MAC): xxxxxredactedxxxx
Status: Operational
Maximum transmission unit: 1500
Link speed (Receive/Transmit): 1000/1000 (Mbps)

Geuze

timmyntc wrote: »

Bottleneck is most likely your laptop - as MarkR said above check your connection between your laptop -> router first.

That is a short, maybe 1m, Belkin 5e cable.

The machine is a Dell Latitude E5550, 8 GB RAM.

Geuze

ED E wrote: »

Complete horsecock.

A wonderful phrase, I must remember to use it.

trev44

Geuze wrote: »

That is a short, maybe 1m, Belkin 5e cable.

The machine is a Dell Latitude E5550, 8 GB RAM.

try turning your wifi off while connected via the LAN cable and test again. You may be accidentally testing the wifi speed even though you are plugged in ..

Geuze

trev44 wrote: »

try turning your wifi off while connected via the LAN cable and test again. You may be accidentally testing the wifi speed even though you are plugged in ..

Thanks, wi-fi is off.

I will test again now anyways.

Using speedtest.net

Ping = 7ms

DOWNLOAD Mbps 443.02
UPLOAD Mbps 205.44

The download seems to have improved, I used to get 300 approx.

MarkR

Geuze wrote: »

This is what I see under View your network properties


Name: Ethernet
Description: Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (3) I218-LM
Physical address (MAC): xxxxxredactedxxxx
Status: Operational
Maximum transmission unit: 1500
Link speed (Receive/Transmit): 1000/1000 (Mbps)

Your network card is suitable for up to gigabit, and the cable too. Does the modems configuration page have a speed test function?

ED E

lawred2 wrote: »

ha I just checked to see if that was installed on my dell and it was - it's gone now..

what did it do?

It slowed you down, definition of bloatware.

ED E

OP can you open task manager and set it to graph individual CPU cores? Then run the speed test.

I suspect you'll see 1 core at 100%. Your machine isn't that old but really a middling i5 from 2014 was never envisioned to be pulling down a gig.

Geuze

MarkR wrote: »

Your network card is suitable for up to gigabit, and the cable too. Does the modems configuration page have a speed test function?

Modem configuration page???

I'm not sure where to look in Windows 10 for that, will go looking now.

EDIT: I see now that I login to modem through browser.

Ubbquittious

Get the router used to the cable. That is a good one lol

Geuze

MarkR wrote: »

Does the modems configuration page have a speed test function?

I have to thank ye, as this is the first time I have ever logged into the modem.

This is new to me, thank you.


GigaBox Fiber Status

Fiber Status Information
Status Up
MaxBitRate 1000 Mbps
DuplexMode Full



No sign of any speed test, but I do see Diagnostic Utility.




LAN Network
IPv4 Network xxxxxx
Default Gateway xxxxxx
MAC Address xxxxxx
DHCP Server On
LAN Port 1 Active 1000 Mbps

Geuze

ED E wrote: »

OP can you open task manager and set it to graph individual CPU cores? Then run the speed test.

I suspect you'll see 1 core at 100%. Your machine isn't that old but really a middling i5 from 2014 was never envisioned to be pulling down a gig.

Task Manager>Performance

Intel Core i5-5300U CPU @ 2.30 Ghz

Sockets = 1
Cores = 2
Logical processors = 4

I see a moving graph, labelled CPU utilization, is that what you mean?

Geuze

ED E wrote: »

OP can you open task manager and set it to graph individual CPU cores? Then run the speed test.

I suspect you'll see 1 core at 100%. Your machine isn't that old but really a middling i5 from 2014 was never envisioned to be pulling down a gig.

I am looking at moving graph now, CPU utilization, usually at 5% - 7%, but with sudden peaks to 90%, why I don't know?

Then time passes with graph always below 10%.

Geuze

ED E wrote: »

OP can you open task manager and set it to graph individual CPU cores? Then run the speed test.

I suspect you'll see 1 core at 100%. Your machine isn't that old but really a middling i5 from 2014 was never envisioned to be pulling down a gig.

I am now looking at Ethernet graph, very spiky.

Send = 0 Kbps - to 16.0 - 24.0 - 32.0 Kbps, sometimes 64 Kbps

Receive = 0 Kbps - 32 Kbps, sometimes 96 Kbps

While looking at this graph for a minute, Mbps only appeared, then disappeared.............????

ED E

Geuze wrote: »

I am looking at moving graph now, CPU utilization, usually at 5% - 7%, but with sudden peaks to 90%, why I don't know?

Then time passes with graph always below 10%.

Brief spikes to 90+ % are normal.

What Im suggesting you do is watch the graph at the exact moment you run a speedtest. CPU, ignore the network one.