No Gb LAN? What are you thinking Dell?

What Ethernet adapter do you show in Device Manager or the connections control panel (ncpa.cpl)?

I haven't looked yours up but my Inspiron 17 does not even have an Ethernet port but depends on an external device.

Its a Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller.  I understand an ultrabook not having an ethernet port, but why even bother putting a 10/100 network card into such a high spec'd full size laptop?   The cost would be the same, and the issue was big enough to have multiple Dell tech support agents trying to update drivers and contact Realtek over the problem.

I can't see any reason why a current manufacturer would go to the trouble of including a LAN port if it doesn't even support network network speeds that have been around since 1999.

Is this a stuff up on Dell's part, or is it just a nasty plan to really aggravate customers?  It can't be a money saving reason.  What motherboard manufacturer would still be making boards that only support 10/100?  Dell can only be dumping old technology.  Full refund on this.

Absolute rubbish. This laptop has all current higher than average specs. Yet has a network card spec'd from the mid 1990s. Even home users have been sent free gigabyte capable routers by their ISPS for the past 5 years. A win10 pro machine is for business use and there are no businesses operating on 10/100 network speeds that I know of.

There are multiple variations of the Inspiron 15 5000. What is your specific model? Like Inspiron 15-5448.

5567 "Designed for the real world", "With high end features".  Back to my original question.  What is Dell thinking? There must be some reason for it.  This gigabit lan problem has been highlighted to Dell before.

In 2012

en.community.dell.com/.../19472763

In 2014

www.pcworld.com/.../dell-inspiron-15-5000-series-review-this-15-inch-notebook-disappoints.html

In 2017 New Zealand is well into rolling out ultra fast broadband to home users.  Yet Dell is selling laptops with old sub standard LAN hardware that will barely cope with a home user's network requirements.

Is the LAN card part of a motherboard that supports DDR4 RAM, or is it a device that has been added to the motherboard to save Dell $4.00, and really disappoint the customer who thinks they're buying a current featured new laptop?

Does your ISP service offer speeds >100 mbps?

Yes, they do and so does my home use NAS box, my 8 year old home use media box, the router the ISP supplied me with for free, and all the business servers and networks I expect to be able to connect to.

10/100 networks and hardware are old and obsolete technology.

Somebody explain to me Dell's rational for putting this hardware into a laptop designed for the real world with high end features.  There is no valid or sensible reason for this type of behavior.  It's nothing short of dumping old technology onto customers who should be able to expect current technology when they buy a new laptop.

Why marketing decided to do this, no idea. But it was posted online for all to see before they purchased in the Inspiron 15 5567 manuals section.
* Click on "Inspiron 15 5000 Setup and Specifications"
* Click on Communications

I accept your advice of buyer beware, but I should be able to expect far better from Dell on this.  I feel ripped off and conned.  Dell have had previous grizzles dating back years ago from both end users and reviewers regarding Dell supplying laptops without gigabit support.  If I'd known this before I purchased, I wouldn't have bothered.

My two page invoice and four page order acknowledgment make no mention of 10/100 network support (or gigabit), yet a LAN port is clearly visible.  Why should I have to go hunting on a website for a simple gigabit specification on a Win10 Pro laptop sold in 2017?

If anything, Dell's marketing should say "Designed for the real world", "With high end features (except gigabit LAN)".  If we can conclude that Dell marketing are behind this decision to deceive, then again I ask Why?

Is it to save money?

Is it a mistake?

Is the Dell marketing department not across the current laptop hardware technical specifications users should be able to expect?

Even your tech support agents were fooled by the stupidity.

All I want from Dell is a "Sorry we shouldn't have sold you this Inspiron 15 5000 i7 Win10 Pro notebook without gigabit LAN, and this is what we're going to do to put things right".

I've been buying Dell since the mid 1990s and have been well and truly caught.

If there is even 1 USB3 port then you can use a USB3 to gigabit adapter.  HOWEVER there is a difference between industry marketing which has nothing to do with Dell in particular and actual speed.

100 meg ethernet is not 10 times faster than 10 meg ethernet and gigabit is not 10 times faster than 100 meg ethernet.   Half and Full duplex also counts as well as jitter and latency with final problem being cables and switches etc.  A real world working gigabit switch is going to be expensive.

You didn't say DSL or Cable or FIOS or what brand and model of Router we are talking about.

Mega BITS vs Mega Bytes also counts aka its 8x slower.

433 megabits data transfer rate is close to 80meg data transfer rate which is 802.11AC Wave 2  5GHZ wireless.

I have fios which has super low 10ms latency and 150 meg bi directional speed but i dont want trip wires all over the house so I use 600AC usb Wifi adapters and they work Just fine.

Gigabit Ethernet runs up to 125 Mbit/s (1.000 Mbps / 8 = 125 MBits/s).
By just observing these two numbers you could say that Gigabit Ethernet

The other fly in the ointment is a gig is not a gig.

1000000 vs 1048576
Bits vs Bytes 8X slower

400 mbit per second is not uncommon using wired gbit hardware.
600 mbit per second is usually pushing it and if you have
network gear that supports jumbo frames, 800 mbit is feasible
but again you run into other issues.

Giga BIT does not mean you can download 1048576 bytes of data in 1 second aka an entire dvd iso in less than 5 seconds.

Thanks for taking the time Speedstep.

It's a pretty simple issue.  This win10 Pro laptop cannot connect to a gigbit/ byte capable business network and transfer files at the same speed as all other connected devices because it has a 10/100 network card in it.  

Again, it's obsolete technology being dumped on the NZ market -and doesn't fit with the rest of the specs of the notebook.  Absolutely no reason for it given other than a marketing choice.  I don't expect to be buying (or seeing on the market) a similar spec'd laptop from any other major vendor who includes such an out of date 10/100 network adapter.  Other Dell purchasers have been complaining about this for the past 5 years (including reviewers).

Back to my original question.  Why?  What are Dell thinking?

Brilliant answer ejn63 -and it's the answer I expected from someone at Dell.  Unfortunately for me, I'm the business owner who bought the laptop for business use, -and did notice.

I have an i5 5567, and I got a 10/100 card in the US.  And also feel ripped off.  Except I spent hours on the phone with Dell Techs over many calls, and shipped my computer to them twice before the 2nd tech noticed that the computer is only spec'ed for 10/100.

In the US, Verizon Fios (disclaimer - my employer - though I'm writing as a "person") just introduced near-gigabit internet under $80 with TV and phone. This may contribute to faster internet from most American ISPs to compete - and a real need for wired internet speeds faster than 100 Mbps.  Yes, Amazon (US) has Gigabit ethernet adapters that will go in a USB 3.0 port for $12 USD, but I agree - I wonder what Dell was thinking when it saved pennies on these motherboards by using 20 year old rather than 15 year old Internet technology.