Gigabit ethernet to the desktop has actually been the norm in all small office networks I have been seeing now for years. Keep in mind that it was designed to run on plain old CAT 5e cabling.

On the other hand, 10 gig on copper has been around for over a decade now, and I still have yet to see it adopted anywhere for desktop PC connections. This seems to be primarily for the exact reason that newtecky cited: It costs to damned much, with no real gain in the performance of actual real-world applications. It is also too flaky in the reliability department, in my opinion.

Ten years is a long time. Ten years ago I asked on here if anyone was actually seeing 10 gig to the desktop being deployed anywhere in their world. I am still waiting.

Ten years is a long time. But I am patient.

That thread quickly degenerated into a debate about giving the customer what they wanted, whether they actually need it or not...

I have seen wi-fi access points that "require" a 10 gig copper connection back to the router, but have never installed one. So yes, presumably people are using 10 gig on copper. But people who really need that bitrate should be using fiber anyway, as many here have already pointed out over the years.

Jim
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Yes, I remember threads from ten years ago. In detail.