Copying large files from pc to laptop

Windy21

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What would be the best cable to buy to copy large files (video) quickly from pc to laptop for viewing.

Cheers
in advance
 
Nothing faster than Cat6 (gigabit ethernet) for the home user at the moment. Not seen many laptops that come with it mind...

Another option would be an external hard drive.
 
If you just want to view the videos, you should be able to view them through the network without having to copy them from the desktop to the laptop... Would probably be the fastest method :)
 
If you just want to view the videos, you should be able to view them through the network without having to copy them from the desktop to the laptop... Would probably be the fastest method :)


ITA, if get a ethernet cross-over cable and setup file sharing on your desktop then you can view them on your laptop without needing to copy them their unless you want to view them offline.

You can get a 5m cross over cable from B&Q for around 5 quid.
 
Hi-Speed USB-Network Bridge Cable...Works great..I use one ALL the time...
Or Transfer to an External 2.5" HDD n use that.
 
Nothing faster than Cat6 (gigabit ethernet) for the home user at the moment. Not seen many laptops that come with it mind...

Another option would be an external hard drive.

Just a quick note, as this is a technology I have been heavily involved in, Cat6 does not come with any PC.

Cat6 is a specification for cabling, the wire, sockets, plugs etc that are combined when installing or using network cabling, and Guarantees that the system will pass data at a specific rate without crosstalk etc provided that alll the installation practices required in Cat6 have been ahdered to. Just because you happen to have a Cat5, Cat5e or Cat 6 rated RJ45 type patch lead does not mean that you areable to pass data at the rates defined in the specifications

So on the PC front you can plug in a Cat5, Cat5e or Cat6 type RJ45 and the PC does not care. It will pass data at the fastest speed it is capable of.
 
Wired network is about the fasted way of coping the files to the laptop, or a usb drive if you can not connect to a network and want to take the laptop away with you.

If I am using the laptop just to view files I use VLC to watch over the network without coping the files over.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
 
Just a quick note, as this is a technology I have been heavily involved in, Cat6 does not come with any PC.

Cat6 is a specification for cabling, the wire, sockets, plugs etc that are combined when installing or using network cabling, and Guarantees that the system will pass data at a specific rate without crosstalk etc provided that alll the installation practices required in Cat6 have been ahdered to. Just because you happen to have a Cat5, Cat5e or Cat 6 rated RJ45 type patch lead does not mean that you areable to pass data at the rates defined in the specifications

So on the PC front you can plug in a Cat5, Cat5e or Cat6 type RJ45 and the PC does not care. It will pass data at the fastest speed it is capable of.
True, and I should have just refered to it as gigabit ethernet.

In my defence I specified Cat6 as this is how PC World sell their gigabit ethernet cables and I didn't want windy going in and finding none of the sales reps knowing that gigabit ethernet uses the Cat6 standard. (NB At home I regularly use Cat5e as a gigabit ethernet cables, but what I do and what I'd recommend isn't always the same ;))

However, if we ignore my faux pas and talk thoretical maximums it should still be fastest for the home user... at the moment (the proposed USB3 has a target speed of 4.8Gbit/s)
Gigabit ethernet = 1Gbit/s or 1000Mbit/s
Firewire 800 = 800Mbit/s
USB2 = 480Mbit/s
Firewire/IEEE1394/i-link = 400Mbit/s
Wireless 'n' = 248Mbit/s
Ethernet = 100Mbit/s
Wireless 'g' = 52Mbit/s (128Mbit/s on some equipment)
USB1.1 = 12Mbit/s

But as stated these speeds are the 'certified upto' speeds and will be wholly equipment dependent...

[edit] Actually eSATA is the current theoretical fastest at 2400Mbit/s, but that would require both machines to have an eSATA ports. However, both PCI and either PCMCIA or ExpressCard (depending on the laptop) should be available for both eSATA and gigabit ethernet options [/edit]
 
True, and I should have just refered to it as gigabit ethernet.

In my defence I specified Cat6 as this is how PC World sell their gigabit ethernet cables and I didn't want windy going in and finding none of the sales reps knowing that gigabit ethernet uses the Cat6 standard. (NB At home I regularly use Cat5e as a gigabit ethernet cables, but what I do and what I'd recommend isn't always the same ;))

However, if we ignore my faux pas and talk thoretical maximums it should still be fastest for the home user... at the moment (the proposed USB3 has a target speed of 4.8Gbit/s)
Gigabit ethernet = 1Gbit/s or 1000Mbit/s
Firewire 800 = 800Mbit/s
USB2 = 480Mbit/s
Firewire/IEEE1394/i-link = 400Mbit/s
Wireless 'n' = 248Mbit/s
Ethernet = 100Mbit/s
Wireless 'g' = 52Mbit/s (128Mbit/s on some equipment)
USB1.1 = 12Mbit/s

But as stated these speeds are the 'certified upto' speeds and will be wholly equipment dependent...

[edit] Actually eSATA is the current theoretical fastest at 2400Mbit/s, but that would require both machines to have an eSATA ports. However, both PCI and either PCMCIA or ExpressCard (depending on the laptop) should be available for both eSATA and gigabit ethernet options [/edit]

The fastest and most reliable network connection will be achieved by gigabit ethernet. I would expect real world throughput to be around 40 to 50 MB per sec. Firewire can be used for networking two machines in XP but support was dropped in Vista. IFIAK USB cannot be used without extra convertors.

I would take all the wireless options and reduce by 70% at best to allow for encryption and other overhead.

There is also ethernet via homeplug (can't remember there are two standards offering upto ~200mbps).

There is also fibre channel which offers upto 4 GB but I don't think too many having that installed at home.
 
powerline ethernet will give you around 160Mb per second if you have a relatively modern house/flat. I use this at home myself and it is very, very good.

I dont know why you are saying Gb ethernet will give you up to 50Mbps though? 1000Mbps would equate to 125MBps, which is incredibly fast? Also, isnt fibre channel almost exclusive to a SAN?

However, if networking isnt an option, then the cheapest and fastest method would be to use a USB pen or external HDD to move the files physically.
 
powerline ethernet will give you around 160Mb per second if you have a relatively modern house/flat. I use this at home myself and it is very, very good.

I dont know why you are saying Gb ethernet will give you up to 50Mbps though? 1000Mbps would equate to 125MBps, which is incredibly fast? Also, isnt fibre channel almost exclusive to a SAN?

However, if networking isnt an option, then the cheapest and fastest method would be to use a USB pen or external HDD to move the files physically.

My bad, of course that should have read 50MB (500mb) per sec for Gb ethernet.

I havn't tried home power (I flood cabled my house with Cat5 years ago) but I hear mixed reviews. Still faster and more reliable then wireless I guess.

I know that 8bits = 1 byte but you have have to cater for frame wrappers, headers, trailers and various other things so I find 10 bits = 1 byte is usually not far from the truth when talking network speads in real life.

Unfortunately the original poster has not got back to us as to what they are using this link for. Either synch files in which case USB key/hdd will do the trick or streaming/realtime transfers in which case they will need a network.

FB is almost always used for SAN but I have heard that it can be used for networking as well. Apparently there are some HBA can run a IP stack over fibre.
 
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We've just experienced a drive-by posting.

Windy21 came in, posted off a quick one, left a lot of confusion in his wake & promptly buggered off. :)

Would've been nice of him to drop by & let us know how he got on, or if anyone helped him in any way.
 
lol, you are both right.

I thought there may have been some confusion over MB and Mb, almost did it myself when typing the post.
 
FB is almost always used for SAN but I have heard that it can be used for networking as well. Apparently there are some HBA can run a IP stack over fibre.

just for info, ive been doing some work for the mod and a site in the Midlands the whole site is fiber wired to each pc and printer, it must have cost a fortune but they wanted is secure so thats what they got....
 
is that fibre channel over ethernet? Or just fibre optic for ethernet?

I always assumed that fibre was much more insecure than cable, due to the ease you can splice it?
 
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