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Anyone get better connection with Thunderbolt->USB vs WiFi?

S

Spetsnazos

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 3, 2012
244
9
I just ordered a Thunderbolt to USB connector for my 15" rMBP and was wondering if its likely I'll see better stability/connection with ethernet versus the WiFi.

My router is in the other room normally and I get about 90 ping on League of Legends.
 
Spetsnazos said:
I just ordered a Thunderbolt to USB connector for my 15" rMBP and was wondering if its likely I'll see better stability/connection with ethernet versus the WiFi.

My router is in the other room normally and I get about 90 ping on League of Legends.
Click to expand...

Wired is better than wireless, every single time. So yes.
 
Spetsnazos said:
I just ordered a Thunderbolt to USB connector for my 15" rMBP and was wondering if its likely I'll see better stability/connection with ethernet versus the WiFi.

My router is in the other room normally and I get about 90 ping on League of Legends.
Click to expand...

Uhhh, yes, you will get a better connection speed over ethernet.
 
Spetsnazos said:
I just ordered a Thunderbolt to USB connector for my 15" rMBP and was wondering if its likely I'll see better stability/connection with ethernet versus the WiFi.

My router is in the other room normally and I get about 90 ping on League of Legends.
Click to expand...

What does the Thunderbolt -> USB adapter have to do with wireless vs Ethernet? Just curious if something is missing from the equation here.
 
bogatyr said:
What does the Thunderbolt -> USB adapter have to do with wireless vs Ethernet? Just curious if something is missing from the equation here.
Click to expand...

dunno how much I lose using a thunderbolt->usb connector vs having a built in ethernet
 
Spetsnazos said:
dunno how much I lose using a thunderbolt->usb connector vs having a built in ethernet
Click to expand...

USB 2.0 from most modems is a theoretical 480Mbps, whereas ethernet is a theoretical 1000Mbps.

You gain some latency by using USB rather than ethernet, but it's nothing to write home about as your internet connection can't make full use of either.
 
Spetsnazos said:
dunno how much I lose using a thunderbolt->usb connector vs having a built in ethernet
Click to expand...

Why would you go thunderbolt to USB? There are built in USB ports if you're using a USB to Ethernet adapter.

Thunderbolt -> Ethernet doesn't involve USB and can max out the gigabit speed (Ethernet is the bottleneck)

USB -> Ethernet cannot max out the gigabit speed, USB is the bottleneck at 480Mbps minus overhead

Wireless can hit 450Mbps but has overhead from encryption (assuming you encrypt it and assuming you have n capable devices on 5Ghz with 3x3)

No where would you need thunderbolt to USB though.
 
Last edited:
Wired ethernet is valuable

bogatyr said:
No where would you need thunderbolt to Ethernet though.
Click to expand...

There speaks another person on this site that does not move large data sets, ethernet is incomparably faster even when the machine is sitting within feet of the base station. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1. Wireless competes for bandwidth when more than one device is connected, whereas a wired switch does not suffer this.

2. Ethernet 1,000 Mbps is faster than any wireless

Moving a 40Gb dataset before or after analysis, the difference is between minutes and hours.
 
ssmed said:
There speaks another person on this site that does not move large data sets, ethernet is incomparably faster even when the machine is sitting within feet of the base station. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1. Wireless competes for bandwidth when more than one device is connected, whereas a wired switch does not suffer this.

2. Ethernet 1,000 Mbps is faster than any wireless

Moving a 40Gb dataset before or after analysis, the difference is between minutes and hours.
Click to expand...
It was a typo, I meant Thunderbolt -> USB. No where would you need Thunderbolt -> USB.

I have, and use, 2 Thunderbolt -> Ethernet. My entire post was questioning the statement about going from Thunderbolt -> USB. There are plenty of USB ports and you would use a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter over a Thunderbolt to USB adapter.
 
Now that I think of it, are there even any Thunderbolt to USB adapters available? I'm not talking about a dock like the one Belkin is set to release next year, just a plain adapter.
 
pgiguere1 said:
Why would you need that though? Why not just use a USB hub on the existing USB ports?
Click to expand...
I have an early 2011, it only has USB 2 ports. Doing backups would be faster with a USB 3 drive. I would get a Thunderbolt drive, but those are more than double the price right now.
 
ssmed said:
1. Wireless competes for bandwidth when more than one device is connected, whereas a wired switch does not suffer this.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ. It does, but just not at any reasonable level similar to wi-fi. You're still limited to ASIC/backplane bottlenecks and uplink contention among other things.

It's just that at gigE it's not as noticeable as it is at wireless speeds and it's a lot more elegant in it's implementation.

You know you’re a nerd or really bored when you get into conversations about the oversubscription of ports on each ASIC and things like that so I'll stop ;)
 
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