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Mac Pro wifi vs ethernet

-BigMac-

-BigMac-

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 15, 2011
2,492
2,859
Melbourne, Australia
Hi guys,
got a 100mbs cable internet connection at home.
this is connected via netgear cg3100 modem.

when connected via wi-fi (5 meters away) i get a connection of about 20-25mbs.

for lols i connected it directly through ethernet.

82mbs.

so thats a 75% speed loss at 5 meters......

i realise this is not a Mac Pro issue, but couldnt find a thread anywhere on a 'wifi connection speed drop' anywhere on the site. and since its a mac pro, might aswell try here.

What's a common speed drop for wifi at 5m range?
is the netgear cg3100 the problem??

Thanks a lot guys, this will make a world of difference to me, as im sure it would to a lot of you :)
 
That's not entirely uncommon. Wifi suffers speed drops due to distance and number of devices connected (even idle devices).

You can try switching to 5.4 ghz which might help a bit, but really if you care about speed, ethernet is the only way to go.
 
goMac said:
That's not entirely uncommon. Wifi suffers speed drops due to distance and number of devices connected (even idle devices).

You can try switching to 5.4 ghz which might help a bit, but really if you care about speed, ethernet is the only way to go.
Click to expand...

does the cg3100 have 5ghs? had a little browse through wifi settings but there doesnt seem to be a dual band setting anywhere
 
blueroom said:
Possibly, but wired will still reign superior.
Click to expand...

i wish wired was permanently possible, the cable is connected to our foxtel (tv cable) int he living room, as its the only cable connection we have atm.. they said a new installation would be very costly..

my rooms only 5 meters away, 75% drop seems outrageous. surely 5ghs could help this couldnt it?
 
You can lay a Gigabit Ethernet cable from the router to your Mac, as it has four Gigabit Ethernet ports (the yellow ones):
CG3000_diagram87-4732.jpg
 
simsaladimbamba said:
You can lay a Gigabit Ethernet cable from the router to your Mac, as it has four Gigabit Ethernet ports (the yellow ones):
Click to expand...

yea thats what i have it connected to atm.. but to have the cable layed out through living room/hall way seems unnecessarily complicated for a modem which should be outputting a much higher rate through wifi.. apart from this is there anything which COULD speed up the wifi?
 
You're seeing a real world example of why WIFI is crap and not a replacement for ethernet, no matter how many hundred megabit is claimed on the box.

Wifi has to deal with interference and shared bandwidth.


If you have the option for gigabit ethernet, it is much faster - and in your case it looks like even 100 meg is faster than wifi (though I am surprised to see that).

Is that on wireless N 5ghz or 2.4ghz? 5ghz is faster (and gets less interference) if you're right on top of the AP, but bandwidth drops off very fast with range/obstacles.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
What WiFi card do you use in the Mac Pro?
Click to expand...

stock card, 2010 mac pro quad 2. Mac Pro 5,1

----------
throAU said:
You're seeing a real world example of why WIFI is crap and not a replacement for ethernet, no matter how many hundred megabit is claimed on the box.

Wifi has to deal with interference and shared bandwidth.


If you have the option for gigabit ethernet, it is much faster - and in your case it looks like even 100 meg is faster than wifi (though I am surprised to see that).

Is that on wireless N 5ghz or 2.4ghz? 5ghz is faster (and gets less interference) if you're right on top of the AP, but bandwidth drops off very fast with range/obstacles.
Click to expand...


i well and truly am.. and its annoying.
its currently on the 2.4ghz, although it is setup for 'n' networking.

14wbmvp.jpg


how do i enforce 5ghz?
 
-BigMac- said:
that seems like a great solution!! any reason it works better on newer homes?
Click to expand...

Not really sure why, not an electrician. Maybe it was the type of wiring or just the age/condition of the wiring or the distance of the run (the older houses I tried it were pretty big). It's just a pattern I have noticed.
 
@OP: Also make sure the router is on its latest firmware.

Maybe that'll give you an n-only setting.
 
And remember you don't need to stick with that router. They are not expensive. A Cisco E3000 flashed with the third-party Toastman firmware would do the job and you would also look into the threads here discussing *external* wifi and bluetooth antennas for Mac Pros.

I still think you should look into the possibility of getting a professional to fit ethernet cable through the wall to serve the Mac Pro directly form the router.
 
Try the power line ethernet, its what I use to bring the network across the house and down one floor. I then hook a wireless router and create a new network for the small wireless devices.
 
flatfoot said:
@OP: Also make sure the router is on its latest firmware.

Maybe that'll give you an n-only setting.
Click to expand...

i cant seem to find a place to download new firmware, thought it updates automatically with cable?

DanielCoffey said:
And remember you don't need to stick with that router. They are not expensive. A Cisco E3000 flashed with the third-party Toastman firmware would do the job and you would also look into the threads here discussing *external* wifi and bluetooth antennas for Mac Pros.

I still think you should look into the possibility of getting a professional to fit ethernet cable through the wall to serve the Mac Pro directly form the router.
Click to expand...

Is cisco good for modems? also, who do you call to get an ethernet cable fixed through a wall?

GermanyChris said:
Try the power line ethernet, its what I use to bring the network across the house and down one floor. I then hook a wireless router and create a new network for the small wireless devices.
Click to expand...

would an airport express do this also?
 
Just FYI:

Wireless "N" has both 2.4 and 5ghz varieties.

Most PC / Non-apple hardware doesn't seem to support 5ghz, despite being "N" compliant (they only do N 2.4).

In my experience, 5ghz is pretty crap anyway, unless you're within 10 feet and have no walls between you and the AP - or there is a lot of interference/other APs around on 2.4ghz. 2.4ghz goes through walls FAR better.


edit:
I see you've got a netgear AP. I had one (a netgear wireless ADSL router) before my old Airport Express - the airport express gave me far better range (like, 3-4 bars where with the netgear AP i previously had 1 in the same location) and performance. YMMV of course....

Also: if you download netstumbler (or istumbler) - you'll be able to see how many wireless APs are around and what channel they are on. If you're on the same channel as a heap of others, change it and your performance will be better.

around my old house there were 11 APs on the default channel 1. I moved to channel 6 (aussie channels are 1, 6, and 11) and got way better performance.
 
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