Can't connect at 1Gbps

Hi all, I have a PC that I built with an Asus P8Z68-V PRO motherboard and I just bought the Negear WNDR4500 router. I am unable to connect to the PC to the router at a link speed of 1Gbps. when I go into the properties of the nic card and set it to 1Gbps, it doesn't connect and says the network cable is disconnected. If I choose auto-negotiation, it will only connect at 100Mbps. I have other devices that can connect to the router at 1Gbps just fine. I have tried the latest nic drivers from Asus's site, I tried installing windows 7 64bit from scratch, I reset the router, upgraded the firmware. all my cables are cat6 or better and I even tried removing all other devices from my router. I just can't get it to connect at 1Gbps. Can anyone think of why this is happening?

I'm sure you have done this already, but have you tried using a different port on the router? Also, the maximum length of the cable can only be 100m, though I doubt you have a run that long. Also, make sure jumbo frames is turned off on the NIC.

To the wall? Do you have an ethernet wall plate in the room? If so, is the wiring in the wall cat6 and is it wired properly at both ends? To test this, make sure the computer is wired directly to the router and see if it gets a gigabit connection.

Let me know the results. I know when I've run wires through walls before, they sometimes kink bad enough to break a wire even though the insulation is intact. Any decent cable tester will show lost continuity in such a case.

Yes, especially if one of the pairs is reversed. Only 4 wires (2 pairs) are used for 10/100, the rest are used to prevent crosstalk on the wires. All pairs are used in gigabit.

http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/ethernetcables.html

If you have a reversed pair (polarity) you can still transfer data, but at the expense of a lot of data collisions on the network, at least on 10/100 networks. I'm sure somethng similar would happen on a 1000Mbit network.

Well, the components that come into play are

1. router
2. computer/motherboard (NIC)
3. patch cable (computer to wall)
4. wall wiring.

You have ruled out the router by plugging other computers into the port. Assuming 3 & 4 above are correct, which you state is, that leaves your computer. Since a new nic driver didn't fix the problem, that leaves the nic itself. Since it's an onboard nic you won't be able to remove it. As a test, I recommend going into the device manager and disabling the nic. You will need to buy or borrow a PCI/E nic card to test in it place.

If you do a lot of your own wiring, I recommend getting one of these. They are easy to use and they can diagnose a lot of line problems.

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/T [...] 13611.aspx

Not that I know of. The standards for ethernet 10/100/1000 have been around for quite a while. That doesn't mean that there can't be, but it's unlikely. A poorly written driver would be more likely.

Edit:

You can always try connecting two pc's via an ethernet cable. Check the status lights of the nic to see if it's connected at gigabit speeds. If the link light isn't on at all, then it's not running at gigabit speeds since gigabit nic's must be able to auto negotiate speeds as well as have auto mdi-x. You motherboard manual should show which light is the link light and which is the data light. The link light will usually change it's color depending on what speed it's running at.

99.9% on how they were terminated would be my guess. Get a cable tester for $10 or whatever they are and check them.

Cable testers are more than $10. I posted a link to one a few posts ago. They can check for line continuity, reversed polarity, switched pairs, cable length, and other stuff.

Without a cable tester, you won't know. It can be a broken wire somewhere in the middle of the run. Unless there is a noticable kink in the cable or a break in the insulation, you would never know.

We buy spools of cat5/6 and make our own cables here at work. Sometimes the cable is bad right off the spool. We'd be wasting hours re-ending our cables if we didn't have a cable tester.

At this point, all you can do is trial and error.

If you are using cat5e, cat6, or better cable and the tester passes it, then yes, it will be capable of gigabit speeds.

This particular tester tests for shorts, opens, miswires, reversals, and split pairs. Yes, you put both ends of the cable in. Part of the tester seperates from the rest so you can plug it into the opposite end of the cable and it also comes with patch cables and alligator clips. It can also tell you how long the cable run is. So, yes, it does tell you what the problem is and the manual describes each problem.

If you are only ever going to use it once, I can't recommend spending the money on it. If you make a lot of your own cables, then it's definitely needed. Like I said, we buy cat6 cable by the spool, 1000 feet per spool, so it makes my life much easier.

Yes, as long as it supports RJ-45 (ethernet). This includes a tone generator, which I forgot to mention the TP600 does also. This does seperate too.

Convenient remote wiremap/testing unit is stored inside tester and accommodates RJ-11, RJ-45 and F-style connectors.

I've never used this brand before, but if it works as advertised, then yes, it should be fine.

Here's a $7 cable tester, if you ever plan on wiring things they are pretty much must have devices. It's a basic one, but really all you need imo. I'm sure you could spend much more on one, but that goes for about everything you can buy.

http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PHCT45- [...] B003ZUQSUI

You would need 2 short known good pieces of cable to test your outlets with.

Sweet! I'm glad to see someone is finally producing a more generic tester for home users. The higher end ones are great, but can be over kill for the home user.

update: the problem was that 2 of my network ports in my office only ran at 100Mbps, even though they are cat6e cables. the problem was the way I terminated the cables with the plugs. I cut off those plugs and used keystone jacks instead. now my PC was able to connect at 1Gbps. I transferred a big file from PC1 to PC2 at about 70MB/s and from PC2 to PC1 at about 90MB/s. how are those speeds for this router? should I be getting closer to the theoretical max of 125MB/s or are my current rates considered good?

so I guess a couple of the little wires weren't making proper contact with the RT45 plug?