Firewire 800 (3200) Network

[gaomay]

is it possible to network several macs together using Firewire 800 and optical cabling in the same way as using Ethernet.

Strikes me that if this were possible then this could be used to creaste the ultimate home network! With connections at 3.2 Gbps using the right cabling!

[iJon]

Originally posted by gaomay
is it possible to network several macs together using Firewire 800 and optical cabling in the same way as using Ethernet.

Strikes me that if this were possible then this could be used to creaste the ultimate home network! With connections at 3.2 Gbps using the right cabling!
well im no firewire expert, especially on the new firewire 800. I know it can be used for EXTREMLY fast sharing connections, the thing is i dont know what the longest a firewire800 cable will go. If it is short, the price of repeaters and more cables may be more and not worth it over cheap ethernet, but like i said im not firewire expert. It could go for a mile for all i know, but im doubting it. i think firewire400 was like 6 meters or something. try seeing if apple has a spec page talking about firewire 800.

iJon

[gaomay]

According to Apple 3.2Gbps is achievable over 100m using special optical cables.

My concern is how would you hook such a network up to a cable/DSL modem?

[morlium]

MacWhispers.com (http://www.macwhispers.com/) has a pretty informative article which should answer all of your questions.

[rainman::|:|]

Wouldn't gigabit be faster? or am i just confused...

pnw

[gaomay]

Surely Gigabit ethernet runs at 1.0Mbits/sec whereas FW3200 runs at 3.2Gbits/sec?

[evoluzione]

Originally posted by gaomay
Surely Gigabit ethernet runs at 1.0Mbits/sec whereas FW3200 runs at 3.2Gbits/sec?

now i think i'm right in saying that gigabit runs at 1000Mbits/sec which equates to 125MBytes per second. the new FW800 runs at 800Mbits/sec, which is 100MBytes/sec, so, gigabit ethernet is faster by 25%. i think.

[gaomay]

biut according to Macwhispers FW800 can run at up to 3200Mbits/sec as long as all devices attached are compatible and I believe the FW controllers on the new Macs are. So it should be possible to hook up a 3200Mbits/sec network, right?

[wolfywolfbits]

From MacWhispers.

"1394b" (Firewire 800) is elegantly written to be completely compatible with all existing 1394a equipment up to speeds of 400Mb/s, but to also scale upward to speeds of 800Mb/s, 1600Mb/a, and 3200Mb/s... using the right cables and connectors.

And 3200Mb/s is faster than 1000Mb/s. Don't be fooled by the name Firewire 800, 800 is one of it's lower speeds.