A network based surgical system including a first medical device (104) having a first network interface (140), a second medical device (130 132) having a second network interface (144 146), a communications network over which the first medical device (104), through the first network interface (140), and the second medical device (130 132), through the second network interface (144 146), are communicable, wherein the first network interface (140) and the second network interface (144 146) employ the same network protocol for communicating over the communications network, and wherein the first network interface (140) has a maximum throughput greater than a maximum throughput of the second network interface (144 146).