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I have a gigabit plan with a local internet provider. I'm using a cat 5e cable to connect to a gigabit router (TL-WR1043ND) or directly to the internet using a pppoe connection.

My network adapter is Intel Ethernet Connection I217-V, I'm using Windows 7 64 bit. I have updated my network card drivers.

My problem is that I can't download with more than 10 MB/s from the internet (same for speedtests)

I created a local ftp using the router and a flash drive / external hdd - max download speed 10 MB/s so I think there's something wrong with my ethernet card.

If I go to Local Area Connection status I can see that the speed is 1.0 Gbps.

However, if I go to properties -> configure -> Link speed I get a strange message saying that 1.0 Gbps is not available.

Am I on the right track? Should I get a new network card or should I investigate further (faulty cable / connection, etc)?

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3
  • Please clarify if you mean speed of 10 megaBIT or 10 megaBYTE. It makes a big difference
    – Tonny
    Jun 11, 2016 at 19:39
  • I'm getting 10MB (mega BYTE)
    – Timo89
    Jun 11, 2016 at 19:40
  • Because the standard demands a Gigabit Ethernet connection use auto negotiation, there is no way to force it in most drivers.
    – Daniel B
    Jul 24, 2017 at 16:18

5 Answers 5

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Try disabling "Energy Efficient Ethernet." This disabled some connectivity issues for me. Go into the Device Manager (right click on the windows icon in the start bar) and edit the properties for the Ethernet Connection. Under the "Advanced" tab, change the "Value" for "Energy Efficient Ethernet" to off. Let us know if this works!

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  • Thank you for your reply. I ended up calling the ISP. The issue was on their end.
    – Timo89
    Jul 24, 2017 at 17:48
  • @Timo89 In that case, please provide an answer saying that. After some time passes, you can then accept your own answer. It’s important to do this because questions without an accepted answer will keep appearing on the start page.
    – Daniel B
    Jul 25, 2017 at 6:34
  • Thanks, that solved my new Pc only creating a 100 Mbps instead of 1 Gbps connection!
    – dtech
    Jul 30, 2017 at 17:16
  • I spent hours on the phone with the isp, installed a second connection to another isp and eventually found that it was the Intel I218-V NIC causing a problem. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I finally stumbled upon this answer. It made a huge difference. Now I just need to figure out how to do it on Linux.
    – wally
    Aug 19, 2017 at 17:08
2

I ended up calling the ISP. The issue was on their end

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1

Try using a different Ethernet Cable first before thinking of replacing the NIC. Are you sure you are using cat5e? The older CAT5 cables only supported 100Mbps rather than 1 Gbit/s.

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4
  • Usually CAT5 still allows 1 Gbit up to 10-15 meters. But some ethernet cards (not sure about this one) do detect the signal-loss iand will automatically downgrade to 100 Mbps speed. However in this case the speed is back to 10 Mbps, which is an indication not all wires are connected in the cable or some are damaged.
    – Tonny
    Jun 11, 2016 at 19:23
  • My understanding is that the OP is receiving 10 MB/s, not 10 Mbps.
    – Mark Riddell
    Jun 11, 2016 at 19:27
  • It's definitely CAT5E. It even says verified for gigabit ethernet on it.
    – Timo89
    Jun 11, 2016 at 19:37
  • Can you try using a CAT6 cable instead? Check network card properties in device manager to see if Auto Negotiation is on. If itnis, try to force Gigabit duplex and see what happens.
    – Peter
    Jun 11, 2016 at 23:57
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If disabling "Energy Efficient Ethernet" doesn't resolve the issue, try changing ports on your router, changing the router, and verify that all the cables from router to client are gigabit compatible including keeping an eye on cable length which should not exceed 100 meters per segment.

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2
  • 2
    This was posted as an answer, but it does not attempt to answer the question. It should possibly be an edit, a comment, another question, or deleted altogether.
    – Ramhound
    Oct 9, 2018 at 23:53
  • To my reading, this answer directly addresses the OP's question, "Am I on the right track? Should I get a new network card or should I investigate further (faulty cable / connection, etc)?"
    – Mark Berry
    Dec 15, 2018 at 18:36
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Seems that your Gigabit network card is thinking there is a problem and is down-throttling itself to 10 mb/s.
That sound suspiciously like a bad UTP cable.
As if 1 or 2 of the 8 internal wires are broken or if the cable has been under severe stresses (folded in an extremely very sharp bend or having been clamped somewhere).
If the cable is home-made the RJ45 connectors might be cramped on badly or mis-wired.

Get yourself another Cat 5e cable. That should fix the problem.

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6
  • After updating the driver I got some diagnostics tools. I can test for connection, cable and hardware. For cable I can select "Test signal quality and show cable status" and "Test cable connections and frequency response". All tests are green. It says Cable Quality is excellent and no cable problems detected (not sure how reliable this is)
    – Timo89
    Jun 11, 2016 at 19:36
  • The diags in the Intel driver are very reliable in my experience. That is really odd...
    – Tonny
    Jun 11, 2016 at 19:38
  • This is what the Status and Properties windows look like imgur.com/CHy7DzG
    – Timo89
    Jun 11, 2016 at 19:49
  • @Tonny - I may be wrong about this, but to test the cable properly, don't you need something to reflect the signal from the other side? (Cable testing equipment usually comes in two pieces.) I might still try swapping out the cable.
    – Diagon
    Jun 11, 2016 at 22:11
  • I had the same router and internal transfer speed peaked at 114 MB/s (900ish Mbps) with CAT6 cable. Maybe upgrade firmware for router and transfer internally first to see if internal speeds are gigabit first
    – Peter
    Jun 12, 2016 at 0:01

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