Is WiFi viable for MacOS upgrades?

[jaybar]

Hi

i have a new iMac 24. My power brick has an Ethernet connection, but my ethernet cable is not long enough for optimal position of the brick. Can I use WiFi or will the update run very slowly?

 

[David G.]

Perfectly fine. I'd take a wild guess and say greater than 99% of MacOS updates across the country are done with wifi.

 

[za9ra22]

I did all my setup and updating on a domestic wifi, with no issues of any kind at all.

 

[SsSsSsSsSnake]

Always so far never a problem in 11 years

 

[velocityg4]

You might have a problem if you're still on 802.11b or have really poor reception. If you've got a good, modern router and a good signal. You shouldn't notice much if any difference from wired.

 

[russell_314]

Hi

i have a new iMac 24. My power brick has an Ethernet connection, but my ethernet cable is not long enough for optimal position of the brick. Can I use WiFi or will the update run very slowly?

Unless you have fiber the WiFi is probably not the limiting factor in your internet speed. Most MacBooks are updated by WiFi so you'll be fine.

 

[jaybar]

I have a Verizon Gateway 1100 router. Not the newest but OK.

 

[mdgm]

You probably already use WiFi for iOS upgrades. If those work fine for you then I don't see why Mac upgrades over WiFi wouldn't also work well.

Ethernet is still more reliable than WiFi, but that doesn't mean you can't use WiFi.

 

[Fishrrman]

Get a longer ethernet cable (category 6).
They're cheap.
Use it when you need it.
Put it away in a safe place when you don't.

 

[4sallypat]

I have a Verizon Gateway 1100 router. Not the newest but OK.

Upgrade to an AX router (WiFi 6) to take advantage of the AX modem inside your iMac.

Your old Verizon router is a slower AC band router.

I use wired ethernet on all my Macs (except for iPad and rMB) as I want GB speeds consistently...

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I have a Verizon Gateway 1100 router. Not the newest but OK.

How much is a long enough LAN cable sold in your neighborhood?
I have LAN cables of various lengths in my house. Not a big issue of expense, when a 100m roll is 20$ and RJ45 jacks is 5$ per 100.

 

[svish]

Using WiFi for update is totally alright.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Another thing to consider is the speed of the server.

You may have Gigabit fiber to your home... and an ultra-fast AX wireless router or wired Ethernet... but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll get 1,000mb/s from the Akamai servers or whatever.