100Mbps and Firewire on a MBA ?

[Mr Eddy]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here and I'm about to buy this new MBA. Indeed I was waiting since the first MBA for one that seem powerfull enough for my needs (usual stuff, plus some Lightroom and photoshop)
I have an iMac (i5 - 2,66ghz) and an iPad. The first one is powerfull but definitely not portable, the 2nd one is very handy but still cannot replace a computer (not yet..)

So I've decided to sell my iMac and get the MBA 13" i7.
The last questions I have are the following. For internet, I have a home connection supposée to be 100Mbps (but it's more 60 to 80Mbps), with which I can DL at 8 to 10MB/s. Don't need this much everyday, but when I buy some large film or for my work when I UL and DL large psd files or for Lion (joking.. But 4GB.. wow), it's really usefull.
So Apple's ethernet adaptater isn't enough. Is there one that coule manage this speed ? Or via thunderbol ?

And I have 3 external drives chained by firewire. I've read there was some thunderbolt-FW adaptater coming. But if I plug an ethernet adaptater in the thunderbolt port, how can I do this ? Is there some thunderbolt hub ?

So here it is... If the is an answer to these 2 questions, I'm buying it right away

Eddy

PS: Sorry for my english, I'm french in fact but I use d to read this forum for a long time and decided to register

 

[Mr Eddy]

Any idea ? Would really appreciate some help

 

[old-wiz]

There's talk of Thunderbolt adapters, but so far only thing that's showed up is the new Apple display at 999, which does a lot.

 

[KPOM]

A company called Sonnet is supposed to release Firewire and Gigabit Ethernet adapters for the Thunderbolt port sometime this summer, but hasn't released the price or the exact date it will be available.

The new Apple Thunderbolt Display for $999 will connect to a MacBook Air, and provides Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire 800, and USB 2.0 ports. Since you are replacing an iMac, that is one potential option. You would only be able to access your Firewire hard drives when your MacBook Air is connected to the display (at least until the Sonnet adapters come out).

Unfortunately, it looks like the Thunderbolt Display won't be shipping for 6-8 weeks in the US.

 

[Xgm541]

The USB adapter goes at 100mbps (usb is 480, the ethernet adapter is 100).

 

[Mr Eddy]

There's talk of Thunderbolt adapters, but so far only thing that's showed up is the new Apple display at 999, which does a lot.

A company called Sonnet is supposed to release Firewire and Gigabit Ethernet adapters for the Thunderbolt port sometime this summer, but hasn't released the price or the exact date it will be available.

The new Apple Thunderbolt Display for $999 will connect to a MacBook Air, and provides Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire 800, and USB 2.0 ports. Since you are replacing an iMac, that is one potential option. You would only be able to access your Firewire hard drives when your MacBook Air is connected to the display (at least until the Sonnet adapters come out).

Unfortunately, it looks like the Thunderbolt Display won't be shipping for 6-8 weeks in the US.

This display would be perfect, but the price is
I may buy it in a year or two (or the futur version of it) if I can afford it.

But since this one display can add USB, firewire and ethernet, I assumed some thunderbolt hub would exist.
So I may wait to see if Sonnet is going to annonce it's price... But might be quit expensive :/

The USB adapter goes at 100mbps (usb is 480, the ethernet adapter is 100).

Between 100 and 480, there's a gap I hoped some adaptater would fill. And I've read some exists and was working with NAS, but I couldn't find any feedback on customer using them with success or not for web connection which were similar to mine in term of speed.