Adaptor for Thunderbolt or Firewire ports - WIFI

[PeteMacMan]

Hi all

I’ve just added a new internal 1TB SSD to my iMac 2011 i5 with 16GB of RAM. It now works like a dream, but I’m still looking for tweaks that are not too expensive. Recently, I purchased a USB wifi dongle for less than £10 and it has doubled/tripled my wifi speeds, which shows that the internal wifi is struggling.

However, I’m wondering if there is an adapter available that would allow me to connect to either my Thunderbolt or Firewire ports in order to maximize my wifi speeds, as I am currently using a USB 2.0 port. Can these ports be used for such connectivity?

In the meantime, it would be nice to know what you use the Firewire (FW) and Thunderbolt (TB) ports for. I have never touched them before!

And if you can upgrade ie find adaptors for Thunderbolt to upgrade to a thunderbolt 4 connection (currently 2 on an imac 11?) Any benefit?


Thanks for any input.

 

[chabig]

I don't think Firewire or Thunderbolt wifi adapters exist, because they wouldn't be cost effective. Your USB port supports up to 480Mbps. Firewire supports up to 800Mbps. I doubt your wifi would be any faster. As for Thunderbolt, your machine doesn't have it so that isn't even an option. The port that you think it Thunderbolt is a mini DisplayPort, for connecting to external monitors.

 

[PeteMacMan]

I've got 1Gig so wanted to obviously test the limits..while other tech is pushing near this the MAC is well off - 120 average on internal wifi / 300 on new dongle.

Are ok, they have the thunderbolt symobol and are called such on references ive seen on the web- two thinderbolt 2 ports.. but these are mini displays?

 

[chabig]

Are ok, they have the thunderbolt symobol and are called such on references ive seen on the web- two thinderbolt 2 ports.. but these are mini displays?

I think I made a mistake. When I checked my reference I accidentally looked at the 2010 iMac. But the 2011 iMac does have Thunderbolt. Sorry for the mistake.

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

support.apple.com

 

[chabig]

By the way, 300Mbps is really fast. Aside from file downloads, there aren't very many things you can do with the internet that will benefit from anything faster.

 

[eyoungren]

Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapters are cheap, about $8 or so on eBay/Amazon.



The company I works for has loads of these because our work Macs are 2015 MBPs. The adapters are Gigabit.

Also, the Moshi USB to Ethernet adapter also works. Also Gigabit:



Ethernet port is on the other side. The USB port you see is a passthrough so you don't lose the USB port when you plug the adapter in.

I am primarily using the Moshi for wired Ethernet on my work Mac because the two Thunderbolt ports the MBP has are occupied.

 

[velocityg4]

Setup a mesh WiFi network. Plug the iMac by Ethernet to one of the units.