Right Card for My 2Gb Broadband Connection?

[famitsu1]

Hi,
I have just been introduced to the wonderful world of broadband via a 2Gb BT connection.
I'am currently using a Netgear FA311 10/100 ethernet card for this connection which according to the icon says that I'am currently connected 100.0Mbps.
Thing is I bought and fitted this card originally last year to FTP to my Xbox but as my pc seems unable to connect using its original 1394 Net adaptor card I'am currently using this one instead.
Whats puzzling me is that before disabling the 1394 card today when ever I had used the FA311 to connect the internet the 1394 would also be telling me it was connected as well and at a speed of 400.0Mbps.
This throws up a few queries:
taking into account that I have a 2Gb speed service shouldn't I be using the 400.0Mbps 1394 card instead of the 100.0Mbps FA311 one(that I can only seem to get working at the mo).
Is using the slower 100.0Mbps card meaning that I'am not getting max speed/performance from my 2Gb connection?
What type of card sould I use to take full advantage of my connection speed?
The FA311 had to be setup in its properties(internet protocol TCP/IP)to obtain IP and DNS addresses automatically to enable me to connect successfully.
Because these options are now set like this I can't use the card to connect to the Xbox without going back into these properties and setting the IP address back to 192.168.0.1.I then have to alter this again to get back onto the internet.Just seems unnecassarily convoluted.
Any help or advice would be so appreciated as I'ama bit out of my depth here
Cheers famitsu1

[Btang84]

Your current 100mbps card is faster than the connection.

Your 2GB broadband doesn't download at that speed. It downloads at about 200kbps and your 100mbps card can easily handle that.

[famitsu1]

Hi,
thanks for the info,that kind of tallies with some downloading I did yestaday where my DL'ing speed was averaging about 180kbps.You'll have to excuse my ignorance regarding speeds/figures,I really am quite clueless to pc related matters.
Any ideas at all why my 1394 card refuses to work with my broadband connection.
Thanks famitsu1

[superkully]

edit: :X

[Psyduck]

BT broadband is 2mb, not 2gb....

[mid]

2Gb is more probably your download limit, not your performance, if anything.

Yes, it's 2Mb/sec on the broadband vs. 100Mb/sec on the local network. All of that is in bits, not bytes - divide by 8 to find your byte speed limit to be 256kB/s. Various comms overheads mean a data transfer rate closer to 200kB/s in most circumstances.

[Hohum]

Yeah, your connection is 2 megabit, and your network card can handle 100 megabit. On the subject of connecting to your xbox, what you could do is simply buy another NIC especially for it, that way you could have them both connected simultaneously (in theory this should be fine but I haven't tried something like this myself). They're pretty cheap now, about 8-10 quid these days.

[famitsu1]

Hi,
thanks all the replies and info,its greatly appreciated.Yeah that was deff a balls up on my part stating that I had a 2Gb connection when what I meant to say was that I had a 2Mb one,I guess that goes to prove how pc illiterate I'am(thanks for your really constructive comments btw Superkully which I now see you have edited out).
Please humour me:can any one let me know what exactly a firewire connection is with regards to my 1394 net adaptor card I have installed.
Hohum:yeah I think dabs sells those 10/100 cards for approx a tenner so I think I'll buy another.Like I say I can connect up to my Xbox but it means going into the properties and altering the IP addy evertime I wish to FTP to the console,not a huge pain in the arse but aggrivating enough to warrant forking out for another card.
Thanks again for all your help
Ta famitsu1

[yosai]

That is a firewire connection. It's similar to USB but a lot faster.

1394 (IIIE1394) is the standard for data transfer using the above connection. Firewire is just the Apple brand name for 1394 connection.

i.link and lynx are also brand names for the 1394 connection.

[FelixofMars]

Well unless he uses USB 2.0

[mid]

USB 2.0 is supposedly slightly faster (480Mb/s rather than 400Mb/s), but the comms and CPU overheads on USB wipe that out under most real circumstances - I'd still go Firewire when there's a choice between them. Fewer PCs have Firewire ports, though, so if being able to plug in anywhere is an issue, USB 2.0 is usually worth the hit.

[famitsu1]

Hi,
many thanks for the explaination and info Yosai,Mid and Felix its genuinley appreciated.Just now ordered myself another 10/100 ethernet card.
Cheers famitsu1