New laptop limited to 100Mbps

HappyH

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Bought a Dell Inspiron late last year, impressed with it BUT only had 100 MB broadband from Virgin at that time. Testing wired/wireless speed on the laptop then showed 100MB full speed ok. Now have 200 MB from Virgin but laptop still only allows 100 MB, even when wired. Laptop Network card is a Realtek PCle Family Controller, look like it's max speed is 100 Mbps (The 7 year old laptop I replaced gets the full 200 from Virgin :mad:)

Is buying one of these
TP-LINK UE300 USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet Universal Adapter
the easiest option to get the full 200 MB on my laptop rather than being limited to 100?
Thanks in advance,
HH.
 
What is the laptop make / model ?
Is it latest WiFi 6?
Most New laptops have gigabit card these days.
 
Yes 2 USB3 connectors
Dell Inspiron 15 3505

Yeah I assumed it had a gigabit card, never noticed 100Mbps on the spec as it either wasn't listed or I never noticed.

Cheers HH.
 
have a good look on dell site and make sure the right drivers are installed as windows may have installed a generic one
but at 7 years old its just on the limit of being a 10/100/1000 card
 
have a good look on dell site and make sure the right drivers are installed as windows may have installed a generic one
but at 7 years old its just on the limit of being a 10/100/1000 card
Sorry, the 7 yr old laptop i replaced has a a 10/100/1000 card.
The new Dell one seems to be 100Mbps max
 
That laptop model spec has;

gigabit ethernet
x2 usb 3.2
AC 1x1 wifi

Check your router is transmitting signal on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.

PS: It is common for wifi speed to be less than direct ethernet cable.
 
Last edited:
IT's connected by LAN cable, when I go to Speedtest.net max i get is 100MB
IF I connect the old laptop (which has other issues so can't use long term) using the same LAN I see full 200MB

Cheers for replies so far,
HH.
 
Bought a Dell Inspiron late last year, impressed with it BUT only had 100 MB broadband from Virgin at that time. Testing wired/wireless speed on the laptop then showed 100MB full speed ok. Now have 200 MB from Virgin but laptop still only allows 100 MB, even when wired. Laptop Network card is a Realtek PCle Family Controller, look like it's max speed is 100 Mbps (The 7 year old laptop I replaced gets the full 200 from Virgin :mad:)

Is buying one of these
TP-LINK UE300 USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet Universal Adapter
the easiest option to get the full 200 MB on my laptop rather than being limited to 100?
Thanks in advance,
HH.
Anybody know for sure if I buy that adapter from Curry's will I get 200MB download speed on the laptop from Hub 3 --> Lan cable--> the adapter --> USB3 port ??

HH.
 
I think it will work , my laptop network card is the same as yours,
I bought this RJ45 USB 3.0 to Ethernet LAN Network Adapter 10/100/1000 Gigabit Computer PC UK | eBay
So I could transfer my ps4 games from lappy at full speed and it works fine,
I know this is wired option but as long as your usb3 it should work
Arrived today & working as required. Had a bit of a Faff finding the best driver & usb port but getting full 200MB from VM now.
Thanks again @papa2 & everyone else 👏 👏 👏
HH.
 
Glad I could help, it worked for me straight of the bat and transferring games to my ps4 went from around 30min to 10 min
 
Bought a Dell Inspiron late last year, impressed with it BUT only had 100 MB broadband from Virgin at that time. Testing wired/wireless speed on the laptop then showed 100MB full speed ok. Now have 200 MB from Virgin but laptop still only allows 100 MB, even when wired. Laptop Network card is a Realtek PCle Family Controller, look like it's max speed is 100 Mbps (The 7 year old laptop I replaced gets the full 200 from Virgin :mad:)

Is buying one of these
TP-LINK UE300 USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet Universal Adapter
the easiest option to get the full 200 MB on my laptop rather than being limited to 100?
Thanks in advance,
HH.
I do find it weird how there are still new laptops out there, usually it's the budget ones, that only have 100mb ethernet port.
But be careful though, it definitely a USB 3 to gigabit adapter will probably be your best bet but make sure you have USB 3 ports on your device otherwise you will not benefit from the throughput. I have tried doing one of those with my phone and I actually had worse connectivity using one of those adapters that I had over the Wi-Fi.
 
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