Confusion about upgrading to Mac Min 10gig ethernet and issue of not having Wifi 7

[Applelad]

I'm thinking about getting a new mac min with 10 gig ethernet (to replace my older mac mini with 1 gig ethernet) so I can get much faster transfer speeds between this and my main computer (a macbook pro). I already have a cat8 cable running from where this mac mini will live and my office (I had it installed when re-wiring the house a couple of years ago trying to think ahead). The possibility of Wifi7 on macs though in the future (hopefully near future) is throwing up a few questions. I'm hoping to upgrade my main computer to a macbook pro in a couple of years which will hopefully have Wifi 7. If this is the case it would be really useful to have it working to it's full practical potential to my mac mini so I can have reasonable speed anywhere around the house (as well as having 10 gig ethernet when in my office (using a 10 gig ethernet to USB C adapter connected to my laptop). I'm worried however about the mac mini not having Wifi 7 and thus becoming a bottleneck. So how would I best set this up with a Wifi 7 enabled router? I was thinking that if I buy one of the expensive Wifi 7 routers that have 2 10 gig ethernet ports, do I just use one of these ports to connect an ethernet cable to my mac mini and then the other to plug the ethernet cable which runs to my office so basically the ethernet connection sort of passes straight through my router but when I connect to my mac min via Wifi there will not be a bottleneck between the router and the mac mini (because they are connected via an ethernet cable and not relying on the wifi speeds of the mac min)? Would this work - or am I thinking about things incorrectly (I have little knowledge of networking).

 

[Bigwaff]

So how would I best set this up with a Wifi 7 enabled router? I was thinking that if I buy one of the expensive Wifi 7 routers that have 2 10 gig ethernet ports, do I just use one of these ports to connect an ethernet cable to my mac mini and then the other to plug the ethernet cable which runs to my office so basically the ethernet connection sort of passes straight through my router but when I connect to my mac min via Wifi there will not be a bottleneck between the router and the mac mini (because they are connected via an ethernet cable and not relying on the wifi speeds of the mac min)? Would this work - or am I thinking about things incorrectly (I have little knowledge of networking).

You have the basics correct.

 

[estabya]

Appledad your proposed setup would work just fine and create no bottleneck. Having the Mac mini plugged in with 10Gbps Ethernet will be much faster and more stable for internetwork transfers than if it were on WiFi 7.

I recently purchased a base M4 mini with 10Gbps Ethernet for similar purposes. I have a hard drive enclosure set up on it for cold storage and an NVME drive for hot storage. I only have it hooked up to a 2.5Gbps port but it is still noticeably faster than my previous M1 1Gbps when transferring to/from the NVME or internal SSD, even on my WiFi 6E devices.

 

[Applelad]

Appledad your proposed setup would work just fine and create no bottleneck. Having the Mac mini plugged in with 10Gbps Ethernet will be much faster and more stable for internetwork transfers than if it were on WiFi 7.

I recently purchased a base M4 mini with 10Gbps Ethernet for similar purposes. I have a hard drive enclosure set up on it for cold storage and an NVME drive for hot storage. I only have it hooked up to a 2.5Gbps port but it is still noticeably faster than my previous M1 1Gbps when transferring to/from the NVME or internal SSD, even on my WiFi 6E devices.

Thanks for replying, but to clarify, the doubt I have is not the internet transfers (which I'm sure will be very fast) but the speed of the direct laptop to mac mini transfers via ethernet going through a router - that is, will the router slow the direct transfers between by my laptop and the mac mini down. The wifi 7 comes into the equation only because if I want wifi 7 wireless speeds as well (should I want to work from my kitchen which does not have an ethernet cable) I would have to use the ethernet port on the mac mini to connect to the router and not directly to my laptop - if you get what I mean (I'm struggling to explain it in a less complicated way I'm afraid!).

 

[Bigwaff]

What would you be transferring between the mini connected via 10Gbs ethernet to the router and a WiFi 7 client that would potentially saturate the 10Gbs connection? Or the WiFi 7 connection to another WiFi 7 device for that matter?

 

[estabya]

Thanks for replying, but to clarify, the doubt I have is not the internet transfers (which I'm sure will be very fast) but the speed of the direct laptop to mac mini transfers via ethernet going through a router - that is, will the router slow the direct transfers between by my laptop and the mac mini down. The wifi 7 comes into the equation only because if I want wifi 7 wireless speeds as well (should I want to work from my kitchen which does not have an ethernet cable) I would have to use the ethernet port on the mac mini to connect to the router and not directly to my laptop - if you get what I mean (I'm struggling to explain it in a less complicated way I'm afraid!).

I maybe would have said intranetwork transfers. Between my Mac mini and various MacBooks, iPad Pro, etc.

 

[Applelad]

I maybe would have said intranetwork transfers. Between my Mac mini and various MacBooks, iPad Pro, etc.

Ah, OK that sounds good then - thanks.

 

[Applelad]

What would you be transferring between the mini connected via 10Gbs ethernet to the router and a WiFi 7 client that would potentially saturate the 10Gbs connection? Or the WiFi 7 connection to another WiFi 7 device for that matter?

I'm a photographer and an average job results in about 100 gigs of files (sometimes a lot more). My general workflow involves a lot of duplication as well. Even if I initially work locally from an internal ssd and then copy over at the end to the server (which by that time a typical job might have grown to over 200 gigs including a lot of small files that tend to take disproportionately longer to transfer) a 2.5 gig connection (that I have now) doesn't cut it but I think a 10gig connection might - I should find out tomorrow as my OWC 10 gig ethernet adaptor turns up so I can start testing that out. The point of my question here though is thinking ahead for when hopefully I can get a macbook pro with Wifi 7 and I'm wondering if I can have this level of connection to my mac min without losing my 10 gig ethernet (which from estabya's post looks like I can).