Gigabit network for home. is it worth it?

Right now I have a wireless G network for home, and it's ok for basic
file transfer and surfing the web. I want to have a dedicated file
server where I'll keep all my music files and tons of DIVX movies,
using the wireless connection it's ok for music but I cannot stream a
DIVX movie from another computer.

I already have 10/100 cards on all of my computers, so I just need the
wiring and a switch or hub.

Here are my questions:

1. Since I'm wiring the whole house with cat6 cable, should I go for
the gigabit network?? Or will 10/100 work fine?

2. If I go for the gigabit network, do brand names card like lynksys,
netgear and 3com make a difference? Or will generic gigabit cards be
ok?

Thank you in advance for your help..

"Henry J." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
[snip]
> 1. Since I'm wiring the whole house with cat6 cable, should I go for
> the gigabit network?? Or will 10/100 work fine?

For streaming music and video, 100 Mb/s is plenty. IMO it is adequate for
the majority of file transfer needs. However, its limit shows if you are
trying to work with large amounts of data over the network.

> 2. If I go for the gigabit network, do brand names card like lynksys,
> netgear and 3com make a difference? Or will generic gigabit cards be
> ok?

Some of the more expensive branded cards offer hardware acceleration (IP
checksum offloading) to reduce CPU load, which can be significant at gigabit
speeds. Other than that, there probably isn't much to choose between branded
and unbranded cards.

Alex

Henry J. wrote:
> Right now I have a wireless G network for home, and it's ok for basic
> file transfer and surfing the web. I want to have a dedicated file
> server where I'll keep all my music files and tons of DIVX movies,
> using the wireless connection it's ok for music but I cannot stream a
> DIVX movie from another computer.
>
> I already have 10/100 cards on all of my computers, so I just need
> the wiring and a switch or hub.
>
> Here are my questions:
>
> 1. Since I'm wiring the whole house with cat6 cable, should I go for
> the gigabit network?? Or will 10/100 work fine?

For streaming , 10/100 is more than fast enough.

--
Alex

Sig on old laptop - new one coming soon.
www.drzoidberg.co.uk www.ebayfaq.co.uk

Soni tempori elseu romani yeof helsforo nisson ol sefini ill des 25 Jan 2006
05:13:58 -0800, sefini jorgo geanyet des mani yeof do uk.comp.home-networking,
yawatina tan reek esk "Henry J." <(E-Mail Removed)> fornis do marikano es
bono tan el:

>Right now I have a wireless G network for home, and it's ok for basic
>file transfer and surfing the web. I want to have a dedicated file
>server where I'll keep all my music files and tons of DIVX movies,
>using the wireless connection it's ok for music but I cannot stream a
>DIVX movie from another computer.

Really? I manage to stream DivX over an 11b, 11Mbps wireless connection.
What software are you using?

deKay
--
+ Lofi Gaming - www.lofi-gaming.org.uk
|- ugvm Magazine - www.ugvm.org.uk
|- My computer runs at 3.5MHz and I'm proud of that
|- "CLART - YOU KNOWS IT"

JUst WMP 10 with the DIVX codec

Soni tempori elseu romani yeof helsforo nisson ol sefini ill des 25 Jan 2006
08:55:02 -0800, sefini jorgo geanyet des mani yeof do uk.comp.home-networking,
yawatina tan reek esk "Henry J." <(E-Mail Removed)> fornis do marikano es
bono tan el:

>JUst WMP 10 with the DIVX codec

Try VLC or DivX Player. They're what I use and have no problems.

deKay
--
+ Lofi Gaming: www.lofi-gaming.org.uk [Gamertag: deKay 01]
|- Gaming Diary: www.lofi-gaming.org.uk/diary/
|- My computer runs at 3.5MHz and I'm proud of that
|- CSS Crap Games Comp 2005: http://www.lofi-gaming.org.uk/speccy/cgc2005/

deKay wrote:
>
> Really? I manage to stream DivX over an 11b, 11Mbps wireless connection.
> What software are you using?

Ditto. My WAP is capable of more, but my laptop isn't.

Never had any problems streaming video from my server upstairs, via the
WAP on the stairs to the laptop in the living room.

Don't know about the OP's environment though, his wireless gear mustn't
be going at full pelt for whatever reason.

I have a Linksys wireless G router and network card, and trust me on
this one it's really ahrd to stream a video file across the network. It
starts out fine and then it lags.

I have no problem with the music