Speed up wired internet network
Q: I amusing AT&T’s U-verse for internet service and am getting consistent speeds of around 94Mbps up and down over a short Cat6 Ethernet cable tomy latemodel MacBook Pro. Over WiFi I get upload and download speeds of 350Mbps to 450Mbps. AT&T has been unable to explain this but has replaced my modem twice with no effect on these speeds. Overall my 94Mbps speeds are OK for my needs, but the cause of thedifference interests me. Any ideas?
A: Even though your WiFi speeds are suitable, there are plenty of times that having a fast and stable wired connection will be more reliable in these work from-home times.
The fact that you are only achieving speeds of 94 Mbps on your Ethernet connections tells me that some part of your Ethernet network is ether configured for 100 Mbps or is physically limited to 100 Mbps.
If you are using a USB to Ethernet adapter, check to make sure you have one that is capable of gigabit speeds. Many of the less expensive adapters will only support 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps.
If you are using built-in Ethernet on your computer, and the computer is amore current model, you should have gigabit Ethernet, but it would not hurt to check this in the Network System Preferences just to be sure.
If everything looks good on the laptop, then you will need to check the network between your computer and your router. If you added a network switch or a hub to give you more Ethernet connections, make sure it supports gigabit speeds as well. If you have inserted a slower switch or hub to expand connectivity, you may have inadvertently created a bottleneck.
If all of that looks good, then the router you have from AT&T is either misconfigured, or is limited and you will need to speak with them to further troubleshoot.
These same network concepts apply to Windows PCs as well.