Home Share speed question

[brn2rnjk1]

I am trying to copy using home share certain iTUnes files from an iMac g5 to my new Air. The question I have is speed. It seems to take quite a while to get the file copied to the air (ie, 100 songs took 45 minutes). The iMac is ethernet to our network and the Air is wireless (Using a netgear router).

Is it normally a slow process? Thanks.

Jim

 

[spinnerlys]

It depends on the router as it seems and if the router has Gigabit or 802.11n capabilities, as the iMac G5 has a Gigabit Ethernet port and the MBA uses 802.11n.

If the router has only a 10/100 Ethernet port, you are limited to 11MB/s (disregarding the routers 802.11 capabilties, if you have 802.a/b/g, you are limited to 3-5 MB/s.

You can use Activity Monitor > Network to see how much data comes in (MBA) and goes out (iMac) and the speeds..

 

[brn2rnjk1]

Thanks I will check tonight. It is an N router, but it may be 10/100 limited.

Is there a faster way (and easy) to move the files from one to the other? I need to move about 35G

 

[Hellhammer]

Thanks I will check tonight. It is an N router, but it may be 10/100 limited.

Is there a faster way (and easy) to move the files from one to the other? I need to move about 35G

If it has wireless N, then it should have Gigabit Ethernet as it's much older. One option is to use external HD and that should be faster than using 100Mb/s Ethernet or wireless N

 

[spinnerlys]

Thanks I will check tonight. It is an N router, but it may be 10/100 limited.

Is there a faster way (and easy) to move the files from one to the other? I need to move about 35G

35GB via 10/100 Ethernet will take about 54 minutes, but as Wireless-N seems to offer only lower speeds for me (around 7MB/s), it will take 85 to 100 minutes to transfer that amount of data via wireless N.

 

[brn2rnjk1]

Thanks I will check speeds tonight. I can hook up the Air to my ethernet (i have the adapter). Can I post again here if I can't get better speed?

 

[Hellhammer]

Thanks I will check speeds tonight. I can hook up the Air to my ethernet (i have the adapter).

Remember that USB 2.0 has ~35MB/s limit in real world while Gigabit Ethernet should provide up to 100MB/s. It would still be the fastest way though. @35MB/s, it would take roughly 17 minutes to transfer 35GB.

Can I post again here if I can't get better speed?

Of course but please, use this thread instead of making a new one (just reminding as some people tend to make new threads)

 

[brn2rnjk1]

what in acitivity minder do you need ? Packets/in/sec? I am peaking out at aroun 600KB/sec?

 

[spinnerlys]

what in acitivity minder do you need ? Packets/in/sec? I am peaking out at aroun 600KB/sec?

Data in/sec and Data out/sec.

Btw, it is called Activity Monitor.

 

[brn2rnjk1]

Well, I hooked the air into my ethernet with the adapter and amazing speeds. So must be something about my wireless. Any thoughts on how to figure that out? The wireless speeds were spiking from 50 to 500k, while on ethernet around 10M.

 

[spinnerlys]

Well, I hooked the air into my ethernet with the adapter and amazing speeds. So must be something about my wireless. Any thoughts on how to figure that out? The wireless speeds were spiking from 50 to 500k, while on ethernet around 10M.

Click on the AirPort icon in the Menu Bar and hold down the Option key while doing so to reveal the wireless speed information (PHY Mode, Transmit Rate) and what frequency your router uses (Channel). Maybe also have a look at the router and its settings and have a look at that manual, that came with the router, on how to properly setup up 802.11n.

 

[brn2rnjk1]

Yes, I see I set it up for G (since other computers are not N capable). So, I could change it to N when using the Air I guess? The Transmit Rate is 11

 

[spinnerlys]

Yes, I see I set it up for G (since other computers are not N capable). So, I could change it to N when using the Air I guess? The Transmit Rate is 11

I don't know about using that router with N when other computers are not capable of doing that. The Transmit Rate is reported in Mb/s, thus you have a theoretical speed of 11Mb/s (Mb = Megabit, MB = MegaByte, 1B = 8b), thus the speeds you get are okay. Take a look at the router's manual and see if it is capable of using dual bands (one G, one N).