Internet connection. USB or Ethernet?

[Dillinger4]

Right now im running Cable through my USB port. Speed seems pretty good but anything is better compared to dialup. I do have a brand new Ethernet card (Netgear 32 bit PCI Adapter) which says 10/100Mbps on the box. If I install it what kind of speed boost (if any) can I expect? According to some online tests my speeds are the following. Thanks for the help.

cnet 701Kbps
performance.toast.net/ 871Kbps
http://www.bandwidthplace.com 3.3 megabits per second
www.cable-modem.net/features/oct99/speed.html 771 Kbps.
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ DL 4257Kbps UL 358Kbps

[techgnome]

Significant.

USB has a ceiling on speed. There's a certain point at which it simply can't go any faster. With the ethernet link, that ceiling gets raised significantly. - everything has a ceiling, it's just a matter of how fast.

I recently did some testing on my cable modem too and was surprised by the results. Turns out my cable modem at home is faster than my T1 at work! And this was with a Linksys router stitting between the modem and the PC.

Honestly, there isn't a reason to stick with the USB connection to the modem. Ethernet is the fastest, most reliable connection there is. (in this case)

-tg

[Dillinger4]

Thanks for the help techgnome. Do you know what the cap is for USB? I assume Eithernet is 100Mbps. Cable faster then T1? I would think even though your work conection is faster more bottle necks exist then at home.

[RobDog888]

Eathernet is currently at 1 Gig now for a while. My motherboard has a built in Gigabit Eathernet port. 1,000 Mbs transfer rate max

[techgnome]

Do you know what the cap is for USB?

Not specifically, but I do know it's less than FireWire. I did used to have my DSL via USB, and I did notice an increase in performance when I got on to Ethernet, but 1) that was a while ago and 2) My cable modem is still faster than DSL. So I can only assume that CM on Ethernet would be faster as well.

-tg

[dglienna]

Google is your friend:

How fast is USB 2.0? Add Your Notes
USB 2.0 has a raw data rate at 480Mbps, and it is rated 40 times faster than its predecessor interface, USB 1.1, which tops at 12Mbps. Originally, USB 2.0 was intended to go only as fast as 240Mbps, but then, USB 2.0 Promoter Group increased the speed to 480Mbps in October 1999.

I don't think your DSL is faster than that, so there shouldn't be any difference, unless you have a USB 1 device.

[RobDog888]

So USB 2.0 is faster then Firewire's 400 transfer rate then Firewire is obsolete unless they upgrade it in some future release.

[Dillinger4]

Posted by RobDog888

So USB 2.0 is faster then Firewire's 400 transfer rate then Firewire is obsolete unless they upgrade it in some future release.

If I recall correctly Firewire 800 overtook Firewire 400 a time ago.

[Dillinger4]

So if USB 2.0 has a raw data rate at 480Mbps then what is the point in having a network adapter card? Just to free up a USB port?

[dglienna]

Lots of computers don't have network cards!
But a lot of them do have USB. Some are USB 1.x, though.

[NoteMe]

So if USB 2.0 has a raw data rate at 480Mbps then what is the point in having a network adapter card? Just to free up a USB port?

First of all, a networks card to more work then just sending data, as USB does. Both the speeds are theory, not practice. And USB is better on one way communication then two way. Network cards is better on two way. And a lot of the work done in software on USB is done on the Hardawre on the network card.

AlsoI can imagine that it is harder to build up a network behind your router if you are using USB. Anyone seen a USB switch? And if there is one. Does all the packet switching have to be done in software?


- ØØ -

[Dillinger4]

I could see adding a nic card if you only have USB 1.0 ports but why would anyone decided to run a 10/100 Mbps nic card when you could just go USB with a transfer rate of 480Mbps and nix the install?

[Dillinger4]

Good point NoteMe.

[-TPM-]

I've never heard USB is bad at bidirectional communication, or experienced it, my Flash drive works just great… The reason there aren’t USB switches is that there isn’t TCP/IP, there are however USB NIC’s (network interface cards).

The one thing to remember about USB is that it’s a shared bandwidth, more devices = less bandwidth for each.

I believe the main reason for offering both is as others have stated, not everyone has a NIC card, or for that matter USB. The other reason to have it networked is it’s easier to share.

[RobDog888]

TPM touched on it and I think its why you doint see USB switches. USB is limited by power and can only have so many ports and they are connected in a heirachal order. So as you connect more your bandwith and power suffer. Hubs rob you of bandwidth and switches do not.

[Ideas Man]

If you have a choice between USB and Ethernet, always pick ethernet. USB because it is not a network adapter requires Windows to emulate one. This in turn slows down your computer because Windows is emulating a network card. Plugging your modem/router into ethernet will not give you a speed increase on your internet connection (Unless your speed is faster than the max for USB), but it will make your computer appear faster because Windows is no longer emulating a network card and can transfer all those requests to the hardware device to process, freeing up both the OS and the CPU which in turn makes your computer run or at least seem faster.

[DaveBo]

Forgive me if I'm off-base here, but,
the issue doesn't seem to be USB vs Ethernet,
since, if you want to network through your USB you'll still need some sort of network interface plugged into the USB, which may indeed be Ethernet.
So, it would seem the issue is more one of an internal vs external NIC.

Does that make sense?
DaveBo

[Ideas Man]

Yeah, that makes sense. It depends on how the device connects to the computer. If you need to install software that inturn emulates a network device e.g. ADSL modems do this w/ USB, then you will suffer a performance hit as Windows emulates the network adapter. Cable modems I'm not too sure as I ain't got nor seen one, but I suspect it's the same, correct me if i'm wrong.