What this 802.11ac thing we wait for?

[MiniD3]

Sorry guys
Not the most Mac literate here, (or gramma for that matter)

Still sitting on the fence waiting for new 27" iMac

Reading between the lines, this 802.11ac appears to be a better wireless option than the old one?

My wireless use will be connecting to my wireless modem that is connected to cable, doing this with the iPad as I write, old laptop died

Will I notice any difference in Internet speed if I wait for the "new" 802.11ac?

My daughter is also upgrading from a PC to a 21" iMac, but she is connected by the phone line also using a wireless modem, (no cable in her area), its called ADSL,
Would she also notice any difference in speed with the new wireless system or would she better just plugging straight in?

....Gary

 

[Bear]

Plugging straight in with an ethernet cable is always better than wireless if you can do it.

As for getting the advantage of 802.11ac, you would need the computer and the wireless base to both have that capability.

If you need a new Mac now, buy it, if not wait for the update.

 

[MiniD3]

Thank you

Much appreciated
I'm due for a new modem, this one is getting old and will check out the specs of the new one and advise the daughter about the best connection
....Gary

 

[Serban]

Hey, you already can buy the airport extreme because is wifi ac and wait for the imac upgrade. And yes you will see some improvements such as signal and speed

 

[flynz4]

Plugging straight in with an ethernet cable is always better than wireless if you can do it.

As for getting the advantage of 802.11ac, you would need the computer and the wireless base to both have that capability.

If you need a new Mac now, buy it, if not wait for the update.

Good advice.

My iMacs are all able to directly connect to hardwired ethernet... hence the wireless is typically turned off. For that reason, in my case, 802.11ac is of no use at all. If I had an iMac that was incapable of connecting via wire, then ac would be valuable.

I have upgraded my home router to 802.11ac to use with my new MBA. There is no noticeable difference with internet access... but in-house transfers seem faster.

/Jim

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Will I notice any difference in Internet speed if I wait for the "new" 802.11ac?

Only if your Internet connection is very, very fast. You could get upwards of 450Mb/s with the current iMac over wireless. If you're in the USA and not in one of the two or three places with Google Fiber, chances are good your Internet connection is <100Mb/s. If so you will not notice any difference in Internet speed.

Local traffic (e.g. if you have a NAS or if you share folders with another computer) would be improved with 802.11ac though.

 

[rabidz7]

AC wifi is a useless standard for people who are too lazy to plug in an ethernet cable.

 

[Serban]

if you were used to use wifi like me all the time, the new ac is worth it, to have a router and a device with ac available you will notice that the difference between wired speed and wifi speed is come to a zero. Even in the past was the same speed but only if your device was next to the router or at least in the same room.

for over 4 months i had 20-25mbs wifi speed from a 50mbs internet contract and now with the new time capsule and 2013 macbook air i have 42-48 mbs. The devices are not in the same room, a 30cm wall is between them

 

[monkeybagel]

Sorry guys
Not the most Mac literate here, (or gramma for that matter)

Still sitting on the fence waiting for new 27" iMac

Reading between the lines, this 802.11ac appears to be a better wireless option than the old one?

My wireless use will be connecting to my wireless modem that is connected to cable, doing this with the iPad as I write, old laptop died

Will I notice any difference in Internet speed if I wait for the "new" 802.11ac?

My daughter is also upgrading from a PC to a 21" iMac, but she is connected by the phone line also using a wireless modem, (no cable in her area), its called ADSL,
Would she also notice any difference in speed with the new wireless system or would she better just plugging straight in?

....Gary

As others have stated, your Internet speed is probably much less than the current wireless standard, 802.11n. The advantage you would see from 802.11ac would be possibly the same speed as what you have now with better range.

 

[MiniD3]

Tks guys,

Much appreciated,
I've had the modem for many years, sounding like a new modem at least,
Hopefully an update to the iMacs is near
....Gary

 

[Wreckem]

Plugging straight in with an ethernet cable is always better than wireless if you can do it.

As for getting the advantage of 802.11ac, you would need the computer and the wireless base to both have that capability.

If you need a new Mac now, buy it, if not wait for the update.

Wirless N can be better than ethernet if you don't have a GigE network.

AC can theoretically offer faster network transfer speeds than GigE. In practice it wont come close, but AC will allow for better network streaming of HD content. Streaming hd over wifi is more practical than ethernet and AC makes that a real reality.

Hopefully 10GigE ethernet takes off in the next year or two.

But that all has to do with intranetwork data transfers. OPs internet will be capped at whatever speed his internet is no matter his use of ethernet or wifi.

 

[Woodcrest64]

Wirless N can be better than ethernet if you don't have a GigE network.

AC can theoretically offer faster network transfer speeds than GigE. In practice it wont come close, but AC will allow for better network streaming of HD content. Streaming hd over wifi is more practical than ethernet and AC makes that a real reality.

Hopefully 10GigE ethernet takes off in the next year or two.

But that all has to do with intranetwork data transfers. OPs internet will be capped at whatever speed his internet is no matter his use of ethernet or wifi.

I'd live to see 10Gbps wifi for my home network . I'd love to stream everything off my NAS at that speed.