Ethernet: Gigabit Nets For Small Business

1000-Mbps nets come to desktops.

--Ramon G. McLeod

Gigabit networking over copper wiring has been available since 1999, but until very recently, high costs placed it beyond the reach of small and midsize businesses (and advanced home networkers).

Now, gigabit ethernet controllers are starting to appear on PC motherboards, notably the one inside Dell's new OptiPlex GX260. And Linksys has introduced its first line of products aimed at smaller businesses that want to upgrade their PCs and network switches to the 1000-mbps (1-gbps) standard. Though prices are still fairly high, users who work with large data sets (such as enterprise-level databases) or stream video over a network should consider it.

We tested Linksys's $499 EF24G2 EtherFast Dual Gigabit Switch--which offers a pair of 1000-mbps ports and 24 10/100 ports--along with the same company's $75, 32-bit EG1032 Instant Gigabit Network Adapters on a small-office peer-to-peer network.

In prior informal tests on a 100Base TX network, upload speeds averaged 80 mbps, and download speeds averaged 92 mbps. With the gigabit network, upload speeds increased by 75 percent, and download speeds by 84 percent.

According to industry studies, this result matches that of similarly configured small networks. Linksys says PCs with a faster frontside bus than those used in our tests (133 MHz for a 1-GHz Pentium III PC and 66 MHz for a 500-MHz PIII unit) should achieve better performance. You'll also see boosts on the back end to and from a server.

A 75 percent performance gain is certainly worthwhile, but small offices using peer-to-peer networks may want to wait for further price drops and for switches with more than two 1000-mbps ports.

Buying Information

EF24G2 EtherFast Dual Gigabit Switch 4 stars (09/01/2002) Linksys Street: $499