new network card recommendation

[AshleyC]

I just updated my virgin broadband to their 500Mb service. Now my phone connects to it wirelessly at 400+Mb which is fine but my pc , with a cabled connection, only manages just over 300Mb. So I think need a new network card to allow a bigger speed? Would that be the obvious thing and can anyone recommend a card that can deal with the higher speeds? Thanks.

 

[petersmart]

Are you sure it's not your router?
I'm assuming you have a router of course.
In their advert for their M500 service Virgin actually states: " Enjoy average download speeds of 362Mbps – that’s over 35x faster on average than standard UK broadband. "

 

[andy1868]

Have you got a straight cable from your PC to the router or do you have power line adapters in the mix? 300mb sounds a little odd of a speed to get with the usual limits on network cards being 100mb and 1gb

 

[hunnymonster]

Is the 400Mbit a reported speed or one borne out by a speed test? The PC could easily report a (much) lower speed test result due to a multitude of factors...

 

[AshleyC]

I use the same Google speed test on each device. Wireless on my iPhone 11 runs at the 400Mb , so I assume the router is capable of those speeds , I'm using a cat7 cable into the back of my pc which apparently can handle mad amounts. Granted my pc is a good few years old now so could be a motherboard limitation or the network card. But 300Mb would suggest the network card is more than an old 10/100 card.

It's still fast, but I always assumed a cabled connection would run at full pelt whereas wireless is always the slower option. Wireless into the pc is awful due to location in the house.

 

[JonathanRyan]

Which Speedtest are you using? According to Virgin (who may of course be lying) many speedtest sites can't actually keep up with their fibre and so report lower speeds because of bottlenecks at their end.

Fast.com just gave me a speed of 370 to the PC while Speedtest.net reports 450+. Virgin recommend speedtest.net though apparently they cache some of the files. That's over a weird hybrid I run of mesh wifi and ethernet. There are posts elsewhere where I've been advised how to speed this up but I haven't got round to it yet because 3 - 400 is plenty for me.

 

[hashcake]

Unless your PC is prehistoric, the RJ45 LAN connection should support gigabit so no, leave it alone.
I'm not a fan of Vermin media as most people I know who use it never get a download speed equal to their connection speed.
Try using the speedtest on think broadband, theirs has always been the most acurate for me,

 

[Mr Bump]

you could be losing speed just due to packet issues, personally 300Mbs is massive
you're over thinking it mate, the VM speed is the speed to there uplink switch and no further.
after that its anyone's guess.

 

[Mr Bump]

Is the 400Mbit a reported speed or one borne out by a speed test? The PC could easily report a (much) lower speed test result due to a multitude of factors...

exactly people think a broadband speed test is an exact test, its not its just basically a ping test with certain size packets.
in all reality 100mb broadband is more than anyone needs, any more and you're into comedy territory