I use cable internet, and but a while back after a lightning storm the ethernet port on my modem got hit. Well the cable guy came by and simply put a USB cord and I have been using that port ever since. I am curious to know how much of an internet speed hit I am taking by using the USB port over the ethernet.

The ethernet port is faster, but since the speed of your internet service is no where near the max speed of the Ethernet or USB standards, it doesn't make any different. -Ryan Adams http://ryanadams.blogsite.org

All network related devices such as network cards, routers, switches, and dial-up and high speed modems, and your max internet speed rating, are rated in bits per second, not bytes per second. Dividing the rate in bits per second by about 10 is your approximate max data transfer speed in bytes per second - 8 bits per byte, plus the equivalent of about 2 bits per byte for error correction and other network overhead. Your internet max speed is still achieved if you have a high speed modem even if you connect to only a USB 1.x connection, or only to a 10mbps network card on an older computer, at least that's the case if max internet speeds don't exceed 10 megabits per second.(They're presently trying out faster than that in parts of Australia apparently)

The fastest broadband speeds I have seen being trialled is 24 Mbps. This is faster than the USB 1.1 speed of 11Mbs but still a lot slower then USB 2.1 speeds of 480 Mbs. So if you have USB 2.1 as stated previously, it's not going to make any difference to internet speeds for a long time to come. Stuart

short answer...Its just as fast...long answer, it requers more work for your computer to use a usb modem then the built in ethernet so in theroy your comp might run slightly slower, but the difference is porbaly un noticable. 24 mbps is for t1 or t3, not dsl or cable. Since your using cable internet the max u will ever even dream of gettign is about 8-10. Even if u used usb 1.1 the intenet speed is still the bodle neck thus usb will be just as fast. Ultra Gladiator Blk Mid-Tower w/500w V-Series Intel DP35DPM Socket 775 Motherboard Intel Quad Core Kentsfield 2.4Ghz Q6600 CPU Ultra 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel 2X1024 GeCub

>> 24 mbps is for t1 or t3, not dsl or cable << Well actually here in the UK T1 or T3 is meaningless, we dont use it. There are trials going on for 24 Mbs DSL. In fact depending on where you live in the UK 24 Mbs DSL is avalalble now. 50 Mbs cable is a possibility in the not to distant future. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/... Stuart

Your PC has USB 2.0 and a 10/100 NIC. USB 2.0's maximum transfer rate is 60MB/s, but it usually peaks out at around 30MB/s. However, this is still much faster than the 11MB/s that a 10/100 NIC is capable of sustaining. Your internet speed should not have dropped by switching the modem over to USB. Despite his qestonable speling, Cody makes a good point in saying that sending data through a USB port does burn a few more CPU cycles than does sending data through an Ethernet connection. However, you wouldn't notice the difference on any 300MHz+ computer. 3.2GHz on S939--E.T. no need phone home. Opty 185 @ 3.2GHz Dual 8800GTS-640, both flashed to 625/1458/1950 4GB PC3200 HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo A8N32-SLI Deluxe Big Typhoon HSF