February 1, 2022

Now That You Have 2 Gig Speed, How Do You Get the Most Out of It?

2 Gig internet is so fast, you can’t just plug a cable into your router and expect to get the best speeds. If you want the fastest internet around, you have to configure your home network, update your devices and make sure everything is compatible. Let’s look at how to make the most of a 2 Gig connection.

The 2 Gig internet advantage

2 Gig fiber optic internet offers symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 2 Gbps—that’s ridiculously quick. With that kind of bandwidth, you can download a 10 gigabyte file in less than a minute. Most of the time, you won’t be able to come anywhere close to maxing out your connection.

But here’s the thing about 2 Gig internet: It means everyone and every device in your house gets incredibly fast connection speeds at the same time. It doesn’t matter if someone is downloading an HD movie, video gaming or conference calling—your connection will stay lightning quick.

Getting a fast wired connection

Wired Ethernet connections allow for faster, more stable connections than wireless connections. With the right setup and compatible devices, you can get the full 2 Gbps speeds over a wired connection.

A fast wired connection requires a few things:

A gigabit router capable of handling 2 Gig speeds.
An Ethernet cable that can handle all that bandwidth.
A device with a port that’s capable of handling 2 Gig speeds. The latest games consoles, like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, for example, have Ethernet ports that can only support 1 Gbps speeds. You can easily upgrade your gaming consoles and computers with an adapter or dongle for your Ethernet connection.

Gigabit routers

A compatible powerful broadband router will probably come with your internet service provider’s fiber plan, but if not, you’ll need to get one with a Multi-Gigabit port (which just means it has a port that can handle 2 Gig-plus speeds). Dong Knows Tech maintains a list of the available routers, as there’s only a handful of them. Check the list there and if your router is on it, you’re good to go. Otherwise, you’ll need to buy a new one.

Gigabit switches

Most routers that can support Gigabit internet speeds only have a single Multi-Gigabit port. If you want more than one device to be able to get the maximum speeds possible, you’ll also need a device called a network switch with multiple Multi-Gig ports. Again, Dong Knows Tech is one of the best resources for this.

Cat6 (or better) Ethernet cables

Not all Ethernet cables offer the same speeds, even though they look the same. To get 2 Gig support, you need at least Cat6 cable; Cat5e or lower won’t do it. (You can normally find which category of cable you have written on the side.)

A device or dongle that can handle 2 Gig

As discussed above, most computers and other devices don’t have Ethernet ports that can support 2 Gig speeds. (It’s an option on some high-end PCs and Macs, but if you don’t know you have one, you probably don’t.)

This doesn’t mean you can’t get the most from your 2 Gig connection, however, it just means you need to use an adapter. USB-A 3.0 and USB-C ports (which most computers do have) can support 2 Gig speeds using an adapter. When you’re purchasing, you’ll see the adapters described as 2.5 G or Gb or Gbps. Select any of these to upgrade your Ethernet adapter for your new 2 Gig speed.

Getting a fast wireless connection

Wi-Fi connections are a little harder to control for than wired connections, as there are multiple factors that affect your internet speed, including the Wi-Fi standard your devices support, how far they are from the router and what materials your home is built from. A brand new iPhone 13 placed right next to a top-of-the-line Wi-Fi 6 router is going to get faster wireless speeds than an iPhone X two rooms away from an older router.

With that said, there are some ways to improve your Wi-Fi speeds and make the most of your 2 Gig connection.

Look for Wi-Fi 6 devices

The latest and fastest Wi-Fi standard is Wi-Fi 6. It lets Wi-Fi routers have faster speeds with more (compatible) devices than Wi-Fi 5 (which you’re more likely to see called 802.11ac). To get the fastest wireless connection you can from your 2 Gig service, you’ll need both a Wi-Fi 6 router (which will likely come with your plan) and Wi-Fi 6–compatible devices.

This means you may need to upgrade some of your gear if you want to see the fastest possible speeds. The iPhone 11 and newer, for example, support Wi-Fi 6, but older iPhones don’t.

Similarly, you also may need to update the firmware or operating systems in your various devices, so they can take advantage of your faster router.

Set up your Wi-Fi network correctly

To get the fastest possible Wi-Fi speeds throughout your home, you’ll need to set up your network correctly. You can’t just plug your router in anywhere and hope to get a lightning fast connection in the far corners of your home.

You need to:

Place your router as centrally as possible.
Avoid possible sources of wireless interference, like microwaves, large appliances and electrical wiring.
Consider getting range extenders or setting up a mesh network to boost signal around your house.

For more, check out our article on getting the strongest Wi-Fi signal.

Don’t stress it

If you have a 2 Gig connection, you’re on the cutting edge of home internet. It’s going to take a few years for every device to support such fast speeds—but that doesn’t matter.

The point of a 2 Gig connection isn’t that one device has ludicrous speeds, but that every device has really great speeds (and important ones like your computer have incredible speeds). It’s not necessary for your smart speaker or smart lights to support Wi-Fi 6, as they are inherently low-bandwidth devices. The advantage of a 2 Gig connection for them is that they’ll never detract from your internet speed when you’re working, gaming, watching a movie or otherwise doing some kind of higher-bandwidth activity with a device that is making full use of the fast speeds of your amazing 2 Gig internet service.

Is your 2 Gig speed from Frontier?

If you’re still on the lookout for the right ultra fast internet connection for streaming, gaming, working from home and running your smart home, find out about Frontier Fiber here. Then check here to see when it’s available at your address.