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USB2 or Firewire-to-Gigibit Ethernet adapter?

M

MacVault

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 10, 2002
1,144
59
Planet Earth
Anyone know of a USB2 or Firewire-to-Gigibit Ethernet adapter? My iBook has only 10/100Mbps ethernet. Since the iBook NIC is not upgradable I'd like to get as close to Gigabit as possible.
 
Alright, I'll bite....whats your need for gigabit? If you are talking a one time transfer, you can network using firewire (with either target disk mode or TCP/IP)
 
Gotta be...

Has to be a LAN party...but I don't know of any game requiring a gigabit ethernet connection that would run even remotely well on an iBook.

And I am pretty sure the adapter you are looking for does not exist. Sorry.
 
What?! You guys make it sound like I should have no need for Gigabit. Ha! It's not a one-time transfer and I never play games. What I want to do is upgrade my home network to Gigabit and have a NAS for file storage for movies, pictures, etc. Now isn't this a good use for Gigabit? I can upgrade my desktops with a Gigabit card, but the only hope for my iBook is a USB or Firewire adapter.

Here's a mention of such a thing... http://www.asix.com.tw/gig-usb_ax88178.htm, but I haven't come across any finished product. The closest I've seen is a USB2-to-10/100Mbps Ethernet Adapter from DLink.
 
too bad your ibook doesn't have a pc card slot cause there's plenty of pc card>gig-e adapters around. uhh...what about one of those 108mbps routers with a 108mbps usb wifi adapter? that's about as close as you'll get to gig-e, assuming the actual throughput is any improvement over fast-e...
 
Couldn't you still update your network to Gig-E and just the iBook would access it slower than the other computers?
 
Not sure what to tell you.

You will just have to tolerate the "slow" 100Mbps with your iBook and go on with life or you could always upgrade to a powerbook ;)
 
Can someone do the maths... is a USB2 port even fast enough to support full gigabit ethernet? If I'm right, then USB2 tops out at 480 Mbps, far below 1000 Mbps. A manufacturer might not bother mking such an adapter if it immediately cripples the benefits of gigabit ethernet?
 
dops7107 said:
Can someone do the maths... is a USB2 port even fast enough to support full gigabit ethernet? If I'm right, then USB2 tops out at 480 Mbps, far below 1000 Mbps. A manufacturer might not bother mking such an adapter if it immediately cripples the benefits of gigabit ethernet?
Click to expand...

Yea, I realize Gigabit is 1000 and USB2 or FW is 480/400. But for an old iBook that can't be upgraded to gigabit 400-480Mbps is much better than 100Mbps.

And I do see chip makers that are making chips/spec specifically for USB2-to-Gigabit Ethernet adapters (http://www.asix.com.tw/gig-usb_ax88178.htm). I just haven't seen any that are finished products ready to use.
 
MacVault said:
Anyone know of a USB2 or Firewire-to-Gigibit Ethernet adapter? My iBook has only 10/100Mbps ethernet. Since the iBook NIC is not upgradable I'd like to get as close to Gigabit as possible.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't know of any product. USB-2-Eths are usually of the 100Mbs variety. However, you could easily do a TCP/IP over FW to your desktop and route the traffic their it appropriately.
 
USB 2 to "Gigabit" Ethernet

You can get a Belkin USB 2 to Gigabit ethernet adapter on www.play.com :D

"Wired Gigabit USB Network Adapter"

Although quite how it can provide the full 1000mbps it claims is beyond me as USB 2 is max'd at 480mbps :confused:

Still a shedload faster than the old school 100mbps you get with some old laptops.
 
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