Use Gigabit Network adapters and switches, when possible, it increases network transfer speed 10 times over 100Mbps connections. Streaming multimedia from NAS devices, P2P, very fast broadband connections, multiple clients using the network resources at the same time, IPTV, etc. Use Gigabit devices - Gigabit is very popular, especially with the ever-increasing needs to transfer huge amounts of data over the network.
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Also, downloading drivers from your NIC vendor rather than the Windows defaults may provide additional advanced driver settings that can be fine-tuned by the user. Use latest adapter drivers - Using the latest drivers from your NIC vendor can solve any issues with buggy driver support for advanced NIC functions. Good quality NICs will also have more of the advanced adapter settings listed below. While a basic off-brand NIC may suffice for casual use on a home computer, any tech-savvy power user, if you use P2P appliactions, media streaming, gaming, or running any type of server, you should opt for a good brand NIC for better reliability and performance under load. Use quality brand name network adapters - as trivial as this may sound, using a good quality Gigabit Intel/Broadcom network adapter helps improve throughput, reduces CPU utilization when under load, provides for good driver support, etc. Many settings depend upon your particular network and usage. Consider testing performance using some type of network analyzer or even a simple throughput test before and after making changes. Keep in mind that many of these settings can significantly affect performance and reliability in a good or bad way.
We will also offer some general suggestions on setting up your LAN for the best possible network performance. The information in this article is intended to improve understanding of all common and advanced network adapter settings under current Windows versions.