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wireless or ethernet?

richard.mac

richard.mac

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 2, 2007
6,292
5
51.50024, -0.12662
i mostly use my MBP on my desk near a router and connect to the internets via wireless aka Airport. i mainly do this to reduce the number of wires connected to my MBP so to reduce clutter.

although i never have any problems with wireless ive been thinking maybe i should use an ethernet cord to optimise the number of packets sent in and out. now im using 802.11g which has a faster thruput than my 5Mb/s line so it wont speed up my connection but im thinking it may give me a more stable connection in terms of data.

am i missing out on anything just using wireless over ethernet?
 
thanks. yeah same for me wireless is fine and i used ethernet to set up the modem/router.

but im looking to see if anyone has any knowledgeable information on if ethernet is more stable and optimal over time like you will get a download speed closer to your line speed for more of the time or watching streaming video will me more stable after skimming or pausing.
 
Wired:

390657766.png


Wireless:

390657262.png


negligible download difference i would say. upload is only 14kb/s faster which is also pretty much negligible for me. ping is faster though but would that really make a difference for me? i dont online game.
 
Ping only makes a difference in online gaming (the most in FPS genre)

For you, staying on wireless makes more sense than moving to ethernet.
 
Personally I find wireless to be flaky at times and prefer to stay wired at home when convenient, ie when I'm gaming. Can't say it's faster or not though..
 
i used to have it wireless but one day the internet really bogged down and i was doing a ton of work online and resorted to hooking it up. best decision ever, of course i needed to fix my moms computer because she had it wired and blachha blahh blahh her wireless sucked, now its better.

anyway,
wired


wireless


i know these are not recent but i have done a bunch of these tests, i mean a lot and those are the highest for each category

also, on torrents, i know it is about how many connections you have and such but, if im downloading something that pretty well seeded, ill stay at 1.5 too 2 mb /s
i downloaded gran torino, from a private site along with being a direct dvd rip (private screening cd i guess), in no time, i went to the bathroom to drop off the kids and it was done.

also, i want to try getting a gigabit router and modem or switching lskdjflks, ya i really don't know much about it, but it would be cool. o and im using cat 6 cables for everything even though its not needed, got them from monoprice real cheap, like ten cent difference between normal.
 
wired is always better-for everything- wireless is more convenient. Physical connection is always gonna be better.
 
ok a few different opinions now. im on ethernet atm and to be honest my connection feels snappier like with video buffering and stuff. may just be a placebo effect though!
 
hhmmm TBH i much prefer ethernet.

we wired up our house a few months ago with a gigabit switch connected to the AP, everything but my dad's ibook runs off it (my MBP, iMac, PC, older iMac and soon to be MacMini will all be plugged in via ethernet). for me the main reason is that i often stream HD video to my laptop/from my laptop to other computers, or i do video converting on the iMac (its faster) and then transfer it to the external HD's on my MBP..

really it depends what you think, i dont think you would notice much from it apart from the snappyness of the pages loading.. file transfers would definately see an increase though :)
 
Small trade-offs for both. I am on wireless 99%of the time.

Picture4-2.jpg


Wireless:


Wired:


To China just for fun.

Wireless:


Wired:
 
Hey OP, sorry but I was running an errand. These speedtest.net tests are the only indicators for me, b/c at the rate of speed for my downloads and uploads seem to be pretty close in relation to wireless and wired, and I normally have a MBAir and a MBP operating on my wireless/n Belkin router (I've secured it with a WPA password after I heard a neighbor bragging that he was using someone's free WiFi) and my Mac Pro is ethernet connected. I strongly recommend a good wireless N router if you decide to use the wireless option heavily. Good luck... (PM me anytime):cool:
 
802.11n wireless should actually be faster than standard ethernet, however theres the reliability issues to be wary of, if your wireless signal randomly dies halfway through getting a multikill on Halo CE or Unreal it can be really annoying.
 
kastenbrust said:
802.11n wireless should actually be faster than standard ethernet, however theres the reliability issues to be wary of, if your wireless signal randomly dies halfway through getting a multikill on Halo CE or Unreal it can be really annoying.
Click to expand...

Good to know...:cool:

I downloaded a couple of movies of about the same length and size on my MBAir (wireless) and my Mac Pro (wired) and the MBAir won by a minute or two; that's as scientific as I can get for non-government work... LOL :p
 
kastenbrust said:
802.11n wireless should actually be faster than standard ethernet, however theres the reliability issues to be wary of, if your wireless signal randomly dies halfway through getting a multikill on Halo CE or Unreal it can be really annoying.
Click to expand...
standard ethernet as in 100mbps?? id say that the ethernet would be faster no matter what. wireless is always very slow.
 
DoFoT9 said:
standard ethernet as in 100mbps?? id say that the ethernet would be faster no matter what. wireless is always very slow.
Click to expand...

My router is Airport extreme 100mbit Ethernet edition and my setup looks like this:

iMac <---ethernet--->
_____________________AirPort Extreme <---USB---> hard drive
MacBook <---wifi N--->

Transfering data to HD is slower on MacBook due to wireless connection, MUCH slower with small files (i.e mail messages). The speed maxes out at 5-7 MB/sec with average of about 3-4 MB/sec, while a mere 100 Mbit Ethernet give me 8-12 MB/sec speeds and is significantly faster with tons of small files.

So yea, wireless still can't beat even a 100 mbit ethernet.
 
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