Don’t assume things, with your network or anything else. Hopefully you have seen the word “assume” diagrammed before so you know what I mean. I run a gigabit network at my place, and with a 3 month old PC that’s a Core 2 Duo, I expect performance.
But network file transfers seemed sluggish. I would have checked it out sooner, but you know, the cobbler’s kids wear no shoes.
Today, though, enough was enough. Right click the network icon on the desktop (go to network in Control Panel if it’s not on the desktop; or right click on the network icon on the Start Menu), choose properties, then double click the Local Area Network icon for a status. Instead of reading Speed 1.0 Gbps, it read 100Mbps. What? No wonder.
First, I yelled at myself for forgetting to reset the switch port from when my laptop’s older port replicator was plugged in there. For some reason it didn’t want to negotiate 100Mbps with the switch and I had to manually set it. But when I opened the web interface for the switch and checked, it was set to “Auto” like it should be.
Hmm. Let’s unplug the patch cable and try another. I said, “Let’s unplug the patch cable and try another!”. But it was stuck. All of the patch cables around it came out easily, but not this one. Finally I got a better grip and pulled harder. When it finally came loose, I could see that the prongs on the cable were no longer aligned properly.
What had happened was not all that uncommon, which is why I’m telling you this story. Sometimes with low voltage connections and a bit of humidity, green stuff (a technical term) starts to “grow” on the connectors. This has funny way of increasing the physical bond between the surfaces while simultaneously decreasing the electrical properties of the connection. Hence, a lower speed sync up between components.
The patch cable will get tossed, and the switch port cleaned with some electrical cleaner. In the meantime, I plugged the new cable into a different switch port.
All is well, and 1.0Gbps again. For a while, anyway. I’ll try to make a habit of checking periodically; I suggest you do the same.
