Is there a way to speed up USB 2.0?

[DobaKung]

Hi,

I'm wondering that the USB 2.0 have a transfer speed at 480 MB/s but why mine can only transfers at around 30-40 MB/s? The devices I'm using are supported the USB 2.0 (High speed) and one even support 3.0! Is there anything wrong with my Mac or is there a way to speed it up?

Thanks in advances,
Nathan.

PS. I'm using a late 2008 Aluminum Unibody MacBook model.

 

[Puonti]

USB 2.0's theoretical maximum transfer speed is 480 megabits per second (Mbit/s), which translates to 60 megabytes per second (MB/s). It sounds like you're seeing real world performance on par with the standard.

 

[DobaKung]

USB 2.0's theoretical maximum transfer speed is 480 megabits per second (Mbit/s), which translates to 60 megabytes per second (MB/s). It sounds like you're seeing real world performance on par with the standard.

So, this is the fastest speed I can get?

 

[Giuly]

Unless you use something else than USB (in your case Gigabit Ethernet), yes.

 

[Julien]

Hi,

I'm wondering that the USB 2.0 have a transfer speed at 480 MB/s but why mine can only transfers at around 30-40 MB/s? The devices I'm using are supported the USB 2.0 (High speed) and one even support 3.0! Is there anything wrong with my Mac or is there a way to speed it up?

Thanks in advances,
Nathan.

PS. I'm using a late 2008 Aluminum Unibody MacBook model.

Also just to be sure you aren't confusing MB with Mb. 40MB is 320Mb and would be an excellent real world speed for a USB 2.0 connection.

 

[thedeske]

So, this is the fastest speed I can get?

That's about right.

 

[DobaKung]

A little confusing...

MB = Megabytes
Mb = Megabits

Am I right?

 

[Julien]

A little confusing...

MB = Megabytes
Mb = Megabits

Am I right?

Yes, but in your OP you said USB 2.0 speed is 480MBps but it's 60MBps (480Mbps) and you were getting 30-40MBps which is 240Mbps- 320Mbps. If you measured 30-40MBps then you are getting very good real world USB 2.0 speed.

 

[Menel]

A little confusing...

MB = Megabytes
Mb = Megabits

Am I right?

Except when MB = Mebibytes

----------

Hi,

I'm wondering that the USB 2.0 have a transfer speed at 480 MB/s but why mine can only transfers at around 30-40 MB/s? The devices I'm using are supported the USB 2.0 (High speed) and one even support 3.0! Is there anything wrong with my Mac or is there a way to speed it up?

Thanks in advances,
Nathan.

PS. I'm using a late 2008 Aluminum Unibody MacBook model.

lower case b = bits. Upper case B is Bytes. 8 bits in a byte.

USB2 spec is 480mbps.

Its most likely going to use 8b/10b encoding, so you lose 20% right away, down to 384mbps.

384mbps is 45.7 MB/s max.

 

[takeshi74]

The devices I'm using are supported the USB 2.0 (High speed) and one even support 3.0!

It doesn't matter if the device is USB 3. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If your Mac is USB 2 then that's the best you'll get. You also need to consider that there is overhead so you won't get the theoretical max USB 2 speed to begin with.

Is there anything wrong with my Mac or is there a way to speed it up?

Doesn't sound like anything is wrong unless you're getting 30-40Mb. As stated above, 30-40MB is great for USB 2.