Ryan Johnson

This is why a 1,000 Mbit/s connection is disappointing (at first)

in Internet connection with a gigabit downstream - for most of them almost unaffordable so far. But Vodafone currently offers such a connection for less than 40 euros. But no matter whether Vodafone or real fiber optic: When the connection is switched, you will be disappointed by the 1,000 Mbit/s, says our editor Thorsten Neuhetzki and reports from his own experience.

Home office, HD streaming and more: 100 Mbit/s and a fast home network have long been standard in my home. So the anticipation of a connection with a gigabit was great. No matter where in the flat - I was already looking forward to clearly three-digit speed tests, rapid downloads and a future in UHD. And even though I recently asked in an article who actually needs a connection with 1,000 Mbit/s - the interest and the "want to have" effect was greater. But when the connection was up and running, disillusionment and disappointment quickly followed.

No, it wasn't the disappointment, because up to now I haven't found any application that would allow me to use the line at all. Not even the Windows update server can get out of the kink.

The disappointment was not the connection itself. Most of the day I actually get 1,000 Mbit/s out of the line. However, I know that the cable cluster I am on is also extremely small. This means that I share the fiber optic line behind it with very few neighbors. So I am not disappointed because of the shared medium phenomenon.

WHEN THE INTERNET IS FASTER THAN THE HOME NETWORK

No, the real disappointment was my own home network. But I have also just set up this one again. It was clear to me that I could not expect 1,000 Mbit/s with my terminal equipment. After all, not even a Gigabit-LAN port brings the complete Gigabit into the computer (it is about 940 Mbit/s).

In my apartment I had two possibilities to distribute the Internet over two floors: Google Nest Wifi and powerline adapters from the devolo Magic series. Both supported WLAN mesh and worked perfectly on the 100 Mbps connection. With the new 1,000 Mbps connection, I put the new FritzBox 6660 Cable into operation. After all, it has a 2.5 Gbps output and can support WLAN6. However, this is not compatible with the two possible WLAN systems. And I don't have a terminal with a 2.5 Gbit/s LAN port either.