I'm looking to upgrade my current network to gigabit. I had a dig around the net and can only seem to find 1 router available with gigabit ports, the D-Link DGL-4300.

 

http://games.dlink.com/products/?pid=370&sec=4

 

D-Link also do the DGL-4100 without wireless, but does anyone else do a gigabit router? I can find millions of switches, but no routers other than these.

 

Basically i want neat and simple i.e. cable modem --> gigabit router --> pc's X4

 

Thanks in advance all you IT guys :p

You will never get gigabit speeds between PC's unless you are using pucker servers with SCSI hard disks and motherboards that have multiple south bridge chips that can handle really high sustained bandwith.

But 100mbit Ethernet can do 12MB sec with no bottlenecks :) I upgraded work's network switches months ago and i chose managed 3com 100 mbit switches that can handle sustained 100mbit speeds to dozens of PC's at once.

If you have a particular reason for speed (file transfers, games etc) then use cables if you can. As said above wireless just doesn't cut it in these situations. Plus as the signal degrades various overheads cut in to make sure the signal is still as it should be, making it many times worse again as you go further away from the access point (wireless source). The routers normally have a few ethernet ports on them, maybe you could use these for the pc's that you need the speed with and the wireless for laptops or whatever.

Currently i do use copper cables, the wireless part could come later for a laptop possibly.

 

Transfer rates are around 10mb/sec for large files (800mb), quite a lot less for smaller files.

 

Let's ask this then, if i were to upgrade to gigabit NIC's and a gigabit router, you would expect the tranfer rate to go over 50mb/sec? This i would be quite happy with.

 

I know this has nowhere near hit the gigabit limit, but just wondered how much real world speed increase i would see.

Ah, I've just re-read the post. I didn't quite realise what you were getting at. I can't flash any figures at you but I'm sure that upgrading to gig NICs and with the 4 gig ports on that router you'll have very noticable benifit. Maybe its worth considering a good gig switch if you are looking at throughput for large files rather than just a router? I'm not sure of these particular devices but routers process at a higher level than switches so wouldn't have the throughput that a switch would have. You could just plug your current router into the switch then. I guess the faster wireless is still missing though.

Right, so i would still need the router, I couldn't plug the cable modem into the switch?

 

And as for wireless, i am not that fussed, i have not got a wireless laptop right now. I was thinking to the future is all.

 

Thanks so far Dave :)

Actually Dunk I think I'm giving you mis-leading info. I'm pretty sure the ethernet ports would work like a switch on those routers anyhow. So the one you suggested is probably a good solution. Sorry to ar*e around like I know what I'm on about! (I'm only a networking pro, currently up to my eyeballs in a new job by the way! can't see the wood for the trees).

 

Chri*st ,I'm mumbling sh*t tonight! I'm off to bed cause I feel stupid. :x:

So does anybody know of anybody else who makes gigabit routers other than D-Link???

 

Or will i have to get a gigabit hub and plug it into my existing router?

You could plug a gigabit switch into your existing router, that would speed up your local network while having no effect on the internet connection speed, this might be cheaper than a gigabit router (royal is right, the routers have switches built in to provide the multiple sockets). Then again if you want wireless support then you would have to buy a WAP at a later stage too, so maybe cheaper to get that one.

Either way, don't expect 50MB/s transfers, todays hard disks can't sustain a transfer rate that fast.

Damn! so what is your best guess at transfer rate then? As I say i have about 10mb/sec max at the mo........

I think you should go with the D-link dunks. It covers all that you need including the wireless. The gig ports are the fastest you'll get at the moment for reasonable money. If you need more ethernet ports in the future it would be cheap to buy a switch to plug into it.