Ethernet compared to airport?

[MacBook-Gal]

This is probably a dumb question, but I am wondering if it is possible to conntect to the internet wirelessly using the built-in ethernet card, or if the ethernet card is only for wired connections.

I have been using airport to connect to a wireless network, and it works great, but I was just wondering what the main difference in the airport and ethernet is.

 

[drawstring]

ethernet is the name we apply to the wired port/connection. airport is the brand applied to the wireless radio inside your mac. so you must use a wire to take advantage of ethernet which has higher speeds than wifi.

 

[MacBook-Gal]

Ok.....That answers my question. Thanks!!!!

 

[Topher15]

In the same topic... would wireless internet be slower than ethernet?

 

[Fezzasus]

In the same topic... would wireless internet be slower than ethernet?

That depends what you are connected to.

In terms of what the macbook is capable of, the wired ethernet will be faster than the wireless connection, however wired ethernets are harder to upgrade so many may be 100baseT rather that the faster 1000baseT (gigabit) ethernet, wireless networks are much easier to upgrade so may be the 802.11n standard which is faster than 100baseT wired ethernet.

Confusing? Thought so. Also make other considerations such as being able to move your laptop about and battery life, which will be reduced with wireless usage.