On my Linksys router, what is the speed and duplex option mean?

Question

Under basic setup, there is a speed and duplex option. You can set it for 10mb & half, 10mb & full, 100mb & half, and 100mb & full. What are the differences in these options? It was on 10mb and half as a default, but is that the best option for me?

Answer 1

in layman's terms:

you can set your network for either 10 mega bits per second or 100 megabits per second. you want to use 100 Mbps, it's 10x the bandwidth of 10 Mbps

half-duplex means that the devices will either send or receive data but not both simultaneously. you want the setting for full-duplex this also increases your bandwidth

Answer 2

In telecommunication, duplex communication means that both ends of the communication can send and receive signals at the same time. full-duplex communication is the same thing. half-duplex is also bidirectional communication but signals can only flow in one direction at a time. Simplex communication means that communication can only flow in one direction and never flow back the other way.
An ordinary telephone conversation is a duplex communication. Most inexpensive speakerphones in conference rooms are half-duplex communication. (If you're speaking, you can't hear anyone else interrupt. You have to pause to let others speak.)

Answer 3

You will want to use the 100mb and full duplex setting for the best performance.