Do the majority of iMac owners use the "Ethernet cable" or connect wireless?

I have 75 meg fibre (get 50 on a good day but normally around 40).

With wireless, the quickest I can get on speedtests on any of my devices (ipad, Nexus, imac, Windows laptop) is 30 meg.

So I use Homeplug AV 200 with the imac (and I have a Sonos, Sky box, Xbox and Nas drive all plugged into Home Plug all over the house) and I get the full speed.

You can't beat a Homeplug in my view unless you can wire directly into the router.

Wired whenever possible.

I started with wireless but switched to wired because copying large files to my NAS is faster on a wired network. I didn't notice much difference on internet speeds.

Wired. It's always faster than WiFi.

To the people who think Wifi is faster than a ethernet cable... *SMH*

Wired ethernet is always more reliable and a better solution than wifi when available. This is FACT.

If you plan on sharing files or streaming media to or from your iMac using the local network, I'd highly recommend a wired connection. As others have pointed out, your WiFi is probably faster than your Internet connection, and you probably won't notice much difference on YouTube, etc. But Ethernet will allow for much faster connections between computers on your local network.

Also, if I have my facts right, 802.11n networks supports a theoretical throughput of 300mb/s total shared by all devices. So if you have one computer serving the file, and the other to receive the file both using WiFi, you're effectively halving your throughput (the 802.11ac spec fixes this). But if one of your computers/devices is using Ethernet, then the other has access to the full throughput of the WiFi.

Obviously, if you've only got one computer in your home, that's not an issue. In my home, there's two people and four computers. Having the media center/server using gigabit ethernet makes streaming 720p content bearable. It also makes moving photos to the server for long-term storage a lot faster.

rand0 said:

To the people who think Wifi is faster than a ethernet cable... *SMH*

Click to expand...

I don't see anyone in this thread claiming WiFi is faster than ethernet.

Wired, because it was a G3

Mac2133 said:

Would appreciate if you could throw some light on how to ideally configure my wireless. I just used a top of the line Netgear N900 out of the box with no adjustments to any settings. Have not had a single hiccup using that router. BTW, I do use wireless for my iMac

Click to expand...

Wish I could help you with that but I don't have the knowledge. Since I switched to mac I have gone whole hog and now everything, including wireless routers and access points are all mac. I just let the apple stuff set itself up and now it is working really well. I have a Time Capsule and two Air Express gizmos for wireless throughout the house. One of the Air Expresses is connected to my stereo system so I can airplay music from my computers, iphones and ipads to the stereo and that works very well. I think unless you have the expertise to configure that wireless router you have you might consider an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule and see if it improves your situation. Just a thought. It doesn't make sense to me that you would have that poor performance with your internet connection compared to wired. I should say I do use wired for my desktops and wireless for laptops, iphones and ipads.

Ethernet connection.

GGJstudios said:

The OP did not ask which is faster for purely LAN traffic: wired or wireless. It's well known that wired is faster for that. The OP specifically asked about internet traffic, which has everything to do with the connection beyond your home or office. Since both wireless and wired LANs are more than double the speed of most internet connections, there will be no difference in internet connection speed between them. While a minority have internet service at speeds faster than WiFi delivers, the OP is not likely in that group, or they likely wouldn't be asking the question in the first place. If your wireless LAN is not operating up to specs, that's another matter entirely. The OP did not ask, "Which is faster? Internet access via Ethernet or via a wireless network with major signal loss or other technical problems."

Click to expand...

Okay, if you want to be picky I suppose I will include using wifi and 3g as well when comparing to my wired ISP. My wireless devices I use for the net *alway* lose their signals whenever I walk into a building and even if they do not like the nearby wifi router. Meanwhile I can cound on one hand the number of times I have had an ISP have problems since I first started using one in the 90s, and usually it was just their email server. So case closed, wireless is for the dogs.

KaraH said:

Okay, if you want to be picky I suppose I will include using wifi and 3g as well when comparing to my wired ISP.

Click to expand...

Again you missed the point of the OP. The thread isn't comparing wireless ISPs to wired ISPs. The OP asked about accessing a wired ISP through either a wired or wireless LAN.

rpg51 said:

Wish I could help you with that but I don't have the knowledge. Since I switched to mac I have gone whole hog and now everything, including wireless routers and access points are all mac. I just let the apple stuff set itself up and now it is working really well. I have a Time Capsule and two Air Express gizmos for wireless throughout the house. One of the Air Expresses is connected to my stereo system so I can airplay music from my computers, iphones and ipads to the stereo and that works very well. I think unless you have the expertise to configure that wireless router you have you might consider an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule and see if it improves your situation. Just a thought. It doesn't make sense to me that you would have that poor performance with your internet connection compared to wired. I should say I do use wired for my desktops and wireless for laptops, iphones and ipads.

Click to expand...

It's funny how people throw stuff out like "your configuration settings may not be ideal" etc. etc. and yet have "no knowledge" and just "let the 'Apple' branded stuff set itself up" and then claim stuff they have no clue about sheeeesh... *smh*

Mac2133 said:

It's funny how people throw stuff out like "your configuration settings may not be ideal" etc. etc. and yet have "no knowledge" and just "let the 'Apple' branded stuff set itself up" and then claim stuff they have no clue about sheeeesh... *smh*

Click to expand...

This much I know - I had the configuration all balled up and my internet speed was poor. I reset my time capsule and Airport Express to factory settings, reinstalled both, and my internet speed was excellent, equal to ethernet. No other changes were made.

Simple.

Wired - my router will only allow me to connect 5 devices wireless at one time, so imac and youview box wired via powerline 200mb but hoping to add Apple TV+ps3 to that list soon.

Leaving Mbp,laptop, iPads and iPhones free for wireless(yeah I will still need to turn off a device on occasion)

We have a multitude of iPhones, iPads and MBA's in the house all work incredibly fast using AirPort Extreme the MBA does not work faster over the internet using wired connection through the TB adapter.

I have recently replaced the printers and scanner with an all in one Laserjet 400 colour MFP M475dw and had intended to wire it into the airport extreme, however the wireless capabilities are stunning so it's just a printer plugged into a power socket, the rest is wireless - no cables.

It's my intention once my new 27" iMac arrives to use that only on wifi too.

This will result in the whole wired network (save for Sky) being redundant.

My whole approach to wired / wifi has changed as a result of firstly the BT HomeHub3 and more recently replacing it with an AirPort Extreme stunning performance and no interference with the wireless landline phones either.

For information I have Fibre Optic broadband and as I said wired performance shows no improvement on any of the apple devices, but wired is an improvement on my existing Dell XPS 630i (soon to be replaced with the iMac).

I hope that provides some assistance with your decision making process.

I have a long ethernet cable going into the room where my computer is. I'll be using this same method when I get my iMac.

FTTH here and the iMac is wired. Everything else is wireless.

Wired where ever possible.

I use wired because my D/U speeds are 85/35 wired and 45/35 on wireless N. The iMac is the only wired device on my network.

My microwave interferes with wifi.

Fishrrman said:

Faster throughput, more secure, one less element in the "internet equation" to go wrong on you.

Click to expand...

HAARP can read anything, but yeah a wire will stop your neighbors spying.

Hasn'tbeensober said:

Question for all of you use wired!
Is the Air Drop function still work when you are wired?

Click to expand...

I don tbelieve so.

I use the cable just because its next to the mac, so might as well use it.