The Gigabit Ethernet standard supports a theoretical maximum data rate of onegigabit per second(1,000 Mbps).

Information in this article applies broadly to a collection of technologies used to transmit data via Ethernet.

How Does Gigabit Ethernet Work?

Open the Windows Control Panel.

Fortunately, those are only necessary for long distances.

These cable types follow the 1000BASE-T cabling standard (also called IEEE 802.3ab).

How Fast Is Gigabit Ethernet in Practice?

A screenshot of Windows settings with the Network & Internet section highlighted

For example, disk drives can limit the performance of a Gigabit Ethernet connection on PCs.

There’s also the factor ofbandwidthlimiting the connection.

The same is true for any number of concurrent devices.

A screenshot of Network settings in Windows 10 with the “View Network Status and Tasks” option highlighted

There arewebsites that let you check your internet speedin real time.

In Windows 10, for example:

Open theWindows Control Panel.

SelectView connection status and tasks.

A screenshot of Windows 10 settings with the Ethernet and speed sections highlighted

SelectEthernetto bring up the status window and view the speed.

Connections to these devices function normally but perform at the lower rated speed.

10 Gigabit Ethernet is a computer networking standard that’s 10 times faster than Gigabit Ethernet.

It operates at 10 Gbps or 10,000 Mbps and is most common in data centers and businesses.

While typicalCAT5 Ethernet cablescan support Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections requireCAT6 cabling.