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I upgraded from 100 Mbps to 1 Gig and I can't hear a difference!

Gang,   

As I prepare for my new gig and for the new year I’ve been fixing things up around the house.  One thing in particular was that yours truly really flubbed some wiring in the data closet.  My home office and entertainment center (at least) had swapped wire pairs and as a result my router was only connecting at 100 Mbps.    

Today was the day I finally fixed this all up. Using an inexpensive Ethernet wiring tester I headed into my patch panel with a punch down tool, headband flashlight and reflective vest.  The vest wasn’t needed but I like feeling like I am doing real work when I’m in there.  Couple of hours later including breaks for lunch, etc. I was done.  My Asus router and the switch at my entertainment center confirmed my improvements, showing all ports were now connecting at 1 GigE and my speed tests were fabulous.   I had 1 GigE from router to streamer and about 600 Mbps from the street. 

I sat down to listen to my Roon based audio and, it sounded exactly the same.  

What did I do wrong?? 

OK, just kidding. 192k samples x 24 bits x 2 channels is about 10 Mbps.  I already had 10x more bandwidth than I needed.  I have been running with ’degraded’ Ethernet for at least a year without knowing it or feeling it.   It’s fine to get the latest and greatest network technology, wiring and speeds but be aware that we are already blessed with a lot more bandwidth than most of us ever use. 

erik_squires
erik_squires OP
17,552 posts
 

@audphile1 

 

but there are other tasks that are being performed by a number of various devices at any given time including work computers where we benefit from higher download speeds. 
 

I definitely feel it working and downloading big fat games from Steam (like Horizon) that's for sure, but it's worth looking at your router's Internet usage charts from time to time to show you what's going on.  

 

Good news is there’s no degradation in sound quality with higher bandwidth. 

Very true!   I'm not suggesting people downgrade their Internet provider, but to be judicious and be aware that chasing the latest Ethernet (10Gbps), fiber or higher Internet speeds is probably not going to be as useful as, for instance, adding an Apple TV account.

 

@lordmelton 

I don't understand how having a 1GB between your router and switch helps when you have 600 Mbs coming in. Sorta like putting a 3 inch pipe on your faucet.

It won't help.   No upgrades will help.  Thats' my point. smiley

This isn't the pipeline, it's about overkill.  My internet bandwidth is generally underused.  At 600 Mbps an uncompressed 192k/24 bit stream is using about 1/60th of the bandwidth.   It's like having a 60 lane freeway with 1 car on it.   

With 100 MBps I have 10 lanes, 1 car.  

erik_squires OP
17,552 posts
 

It may help others to know that I have about 40 internet connected devices.  About 15 Kasa smart switches, Roon, a TV, a couple of streamers and various smart thermostats and Alexa devices, plus 4 computers. 

With all of that I barely use my Internet bandwidth except transferring large data files for work or downloading games or new OS images. 

The place where you have to be careful is having too many Wifi attached devices, and that's where mesh routers and devices like Asus' AiMesh can really help.  The access points can offload the Wifi overhead, but I doubt you'd feel this below 40 devices. 

riie
241 posts
 

Why would you hear a difference?

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,623 posts
 

Actually 100 megs is better ,lower noise y brother has a innuos and they said 1000% 

100 megs is what is used far less noise ,and if built to a high standard many other factors all try ,my friend  is a digital software engineer agreed.

laps
101 posts
 

Increasing download speed will make no difference in sound quality.

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