Your Internet Is 10Gbps. So Why Is Your Office Network Still Slow?

A 10Gbps internet plan only delivers 10Gbps to a device if every link between the fibre and that device can carry it. In most offices something in the chain cannot: the router or firewall (especially with security inspection switched on), a Gigabit switch, the Wi-Fi link, the cabling or the laptop's own network port. The office is only as fast as the slowest hop.

This guide walks the chain from the fibre to the desk, shows how to find the bottleneck, and points to the store items that fix it, including the Fortinet FortiGate 50G and FortiGate 90G firewalls, the HPE Networking Instant On 1930 24G 4SFP/SFP+ switch, the TP-Link TL-SX105 10G switch and TP-Link TX201 and TX401 network cards.

Quick diagnosis: where is my office network bottleneck?

Is a 10Gbps fibre plan real in Singapore?

Yes. Singapore ISPs market 10Gbps fibre plans; MyRepublic, for example, lists a range of 10Gbps plans with optional bundled routers and Wi-Fi 7 mesh. The plan describes the fibre connection, not what reaches each laptop. The headline speed is shared by everyone in the office, and it only appears at a device whose path supports it end to end. That is why a speed test on a single laptop over Wi-Fi rarely shows anything near 10Gbps.

Is your router or firewall the bottleneck?

This is the hop most offices miss. Firewall datasheets quote several throughput figures, and the biggest one is not the one you will see once protection is on. Fortinet's product matrix shows the gap clearly:

• FortiGate 50G: up to 5 Gbps firewall throughput, 1.25 Gbps NGFW, 1.1 Gbps threat protection, with 5 x GE RJ45 ports.
• FortiGate 70G: up to 10 Gbps firewall, 1.3 Gbps threat protection, 10 x GE RJ45.
• FortiGate 90G: up to 28 Gbps firewall, 2.5 Gbps NGFW, 2.2 Gbps threat protection, 2.6 Gbps SSL inspection, with 8 x GE RJ45 and two 10GE shared port pairs.
• FortiGate 120G: up to 39 Gbps firewall, 2.8 Gbps threat protection, with 4 x 10GE SFP+ ports.

Fortinet's footnotes explain why the numbers fall: NGFW throughput is measured with firewall, IPS and application control enabled, threat protection adds malware protection, both use "Enterprise Mix" traffic with logging on, and all figures are "up to" values that vary with configuration. In plain terms, once you switch on the protection you bought the firewall for, a small-office unit inspects in the low gigabits, not at 10 Gbps. That is a fair trade for security, but it needs to be planned rather than discovered.

Notice the ports too. A model with only Gigabit ports cannot pass more than 1 Gbps through any single port, whatever the internet plan. The Fortinet FortiGate 50G is listed at S$1,168.80 for hardware only or S$1,819.20 with 1-year UTP (Unified Threat Protection) on 23 Oct 2026, and is a sound fit for a small office on a Gigabit-class connection. For an office that wants multi-gigabit internet with inspection, the Fortinet FortiGate 90G (S$3,796.80 hardware only, S$6,094.80 with 1-year UTP) has 10GE ports and a higher inspected throughput. Both were in stock at the time of writing. Our earlier post on choosing a FortiGate for a small business covers sizing by users.

Size the firewall for the speed you will get with protection switched on, not the biggest number on the datasheet.

Are your switch ports and uplinks only Gigabit?

Most office switches have Gigabit access ports, which is fine for individual desks. The problem is the uplinks: if the switch connects to the firewall, the NAS or another switch over a single Gigabit link, every user behind it shares that one gigabit. The fanless HPE Networking Instant On 1930 24G 4SFP/SFP+ (S$408.00, in stock) keeps Gigabit to the desks but adds four 1/10G SFP+ uplinks, which removes the shared-uplink choke point. For a small group of heavy users, the TP-Link TL-SX105 (S$300.00, in stock) gives five ports that run at 100 Mbps up to 10 Gbps. If the switch is old, unmanaged or overloaded, read Is Your Company's Network Switch Secretly Holding Everyone Back?, and if you are weighing 10GbE to desks, 10GbE Networking in a Small Office: Brilliant or Completely Unnecessary?

Why is Wi-Fi slower than the internet plan?

Wi-Fi is usually the narrowest link for laptops. Even a capable client adapter has a ceiling well below 10 Gbps: Intel lists its Wi-Fi 6E AX211, a 2x2 adapter common in business laptops, at a maximum of 2.4 Gbps, and real throughput depends on distance, walls, channel width and how many people share the access point. More APs in the right places, wired back to the switch, usually help more than one powerful router. We cover that in Why the Most Expensive Router Doesn't Guarantee Better Wi-Fi and in our guide to choosing an Instant On access point.

Could the cabling or the laptop port be the limit?

Yes, on both counts. Intel's 10GBASE-T guidance gives Cat 6a for the full 100 m, Cat 6 for up to 55 m and lists Cat 5e as not supported at 10G. A damaged patch lead or a poorly terminated wall point can also force a link down to 100 Mbps, which shows as one unusually slow desk. Messy cabinets make these faults harder to find; see Your Network Cabinet Is a Mess. And That Could Cost You.

Then check the computer itself. Many desktops and laptops have a Gigabit port, so a speed test on them will stop just under 1 Gbps however fast the line. For a desktop with a spare slot, the TP-Link TX201 2.5 Gigabit PCIe adapter (S$49.00, in stock) is an inexpensive step up for Cat 5e or Cat 6 runs, and the TP-Link TX401 10 Gigabit PCIe adapter (S$89.00, in stock) needs a PCIe x4 or wider slot and ships with a 1.5 m Cat 6a cable.

How should we test the office network properly?

Test in layers. Start with a wired PC connected directly to the firewall's fastest port, then move one hop at a time: through the core switch, the access switch, the wall point, and finally Wi-Fi. Note the negotiated link speed at each step. Run the test with your normal security profile enabled, because that is how the network will actually run. Repeat at a busy hour. The hop where the number drops is your bottleneck, and fixing that one hop is cheaper than upgrading everything.

Buying firewalls, switches and network cards in Singapore

SourceIT supplies Fortinet, HPE Networking Instant On and TP-Link with local warranty and a GST invoice; prices are as listed on 23 Oct 2026. Browse Fortinet FortiGate firewalls or the HPE Networking Instant On 1930 switch collection. Tell us your ISP plan, user count and which security features you run, and we will size the firewall, switching and cabling together: use Request for Quotation on the product page, call (65) 6978 3502, email Sales@sourceit.com.sg or use our contact page. GeBIZ and Vendors@Gov buyers are welcome.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my speed test stop just under 1 Gbps on a 10Gbps plan? A Gigabit link in the path is capping it, usually the PC's network port, a switch port or a firewall port. Check the negotiated link speed on each device between the fibre and the PC.

Does a firewall slow down internet speed? Inspection does. Fortinet's figures for a FortiGate 50G drop from up to 5 Gbps firewall throughput to 1.1 Gbps with threat protection enabled. Size the firewall for inspected throughput.

Can Wi-Fi reach 10Gbps? Not for a single laptop in practice. Intel lists its common Wi-Fi 6E AX211 adapter at a maximum of 2.4 Gbps, and real speeds are lower with distance and shared airtime.

Do I need a 10G switch for a 10Gbps internet plan? Only where the bandwidth is used: the firewall uplink, the NAS and heavy users. Gigabit desk ports with 10G uplinks suit most offices.

What cable do I need for 10Gbps? Cat 6a for runs up to 100 m. Intel's guidance gives Cat 6 up to 55 m for 10GBASE-T and lists Cat 5e as not supported.

Is a 10Gbps plan worth it for a small office? It helps when many users share the line or large cloud transfers are routine, provided the firewall and switching can carry it. For a few users on web apps, a smaller plan with a well-sized firewall often feels the same.