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Use Wired Network or Wireless N Network?
- Thread starter BryanLyle
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Considering the Apple TV only has 100 Mbps ethernet, Wireless-N may be faster depending on the reception.
I've never seen throughput over about 54Mb with a 2 node 11n network. It is always the host software that holds you back, unless, of course, you are using a shared media. If it is a switched 100Mb network, you MIGHT get higher throughput and you MIGHT get lower latency.
In my specific case, I tried syncing my PC to the AppleTV over both paths (switched 100 and 11n with a unique SSID) and the copper path synced in about half the time. Alas, there are probably a thousand variables here, so your performance may vary.
In my specific case, I tried syncing my PC to the AppleTV over both paths (switched 100 and 11n with a unique SSID) and the copper path synced in about half the time. Alas, there are probably a thousand variables here, so your performance may vary.
yes i was prettuy dissapointed with that...even tho videos couldnt posibly have a 100mbps bit rate..of could they
haha ahwell at least it still worksim thinking that the wireless would be faster, but the connected might be more consistent.
Wired never meets theoretical upper specs, but wireless never comes close. I've never been able to achieve wired speed with anything wireless, and beyond speed, wired is always more stable and reliable. Microwaving some leftover chinese? no problem. Neighbors have a little nerdy hacker kid? no problem. walls made of some sort of superdense concrete? no problem.
I use gigabit now and get about 2.5x the throughput i got with 100, but in your situation I'd definitely go for wired. 11n might be slightly faster in some instances, but the reliability (and probably still a speed advantage) of wired wins out.
I use gigabit now and get about 2.5x the throughput i got with 100, but in your situation I'd definitely go for wired. 11n might be slightly faster in some instances, but the reliability (and probably still a speed advantage) of wired wins out.
If you have the 160 GB 
tv, and have a large number of videos to sync, then for the first sync, I'd use wired, then switch to wireless. (Unless, of course, it is trivially easy to plug it in to wired. I'm assuming that for wired you'll have to do some work, whereas wireless would be easy.)
And 802.11(whatever) generally gets about 1/3 its 'rated' speed as an absolute maximum. 802.11n's 300 Mbps, in reality, can just barely keep up with 100 Mbps Ethernet. It doesn't exceed it, though, in any circumstances. (Even a computer-to-computer 300 Mbps connection would be slightly slower than a crossover Ethernet at 100 Mbps.) And, of course, if you have anything other than an absolutely perfect signal, you will get even worse.
But for streaming, it doesn't matter at all, 802.11g's theoretical max 54 Mbps (realistic 20 Mbps,) is plenty fast for streaming video, the highest bitrate of which thetv supports is a measly 5 Mbps. It only matters for syncing, so for the first big sync, I'd use wired, then for the 'update' syncs, I'd just stick with wireless.
tv, and have a large number of videos to sync, then for the first sync, I'd use wired, then switch to wireless. (Unless, of course, it is trivially easy to plug it in to wired. I'm assuming that for wired you'll have to do some work, whereas wireless would be easy.)And 802.11(whatever) generally gets about 1/3 its 'rated' speed as an absolute maximum. 802.11n's 300 Mbps, in reality, can just barely keep up with 100 Mbps Ethernet. It doesn't exceed it, though, in any circumstances. (Even a computer-to-computer 300 Mbps connection would be slightly slower than a crossover Ethernet at 100 Mbps.) And, of course, if you have anything other than an absolutely perfect signal, you will get even worse.
But for streaming, it doesn't matter at all, 802.11g's theoretical max 54 Mbps (realistic 20 Mbps,) is plenty fast for streaming video, the highest bitrate of which the
tv supports is a measly 5 Mbps. It only matters for syncing, so for the first big sync, I'd use wired, then for the 'update' syncs, I'd just stick with wireless.So I have a side question semi-related. Up on one of Apple's Info Docs they indicate you can only stream over 802.11g or n. My question is does streaming not work over wired ethernet? Another reason why I'm confused is because my house is hard wired (did it before wireless came out) and I thought my TV would run better over the wired connection versus my 802.11g. And even though I haven't setup a whole lot of stuff on the box yet it looks like when I setup a new source it says it's gonna stream to it. Is streaming available on ethernet and is the Apple docs wrong?
Here's the article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305270
TV would run better over the wired connection versus my 802.11g. And even though I haven't setup a whole lot of stuff on the box yet it looks like when I setup a new source it says it's gonna stream to it. Is streaming available on ethernet and is the Apple docs wrong?Here's the article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305270
My guess is that they mean that streaming is supported over g or n BUT NOT OVER 802.11B. It is just a data rate thing. It will certainly work over 100Mb wired Ethernet as well as switched 10Mb, but maybe not if you have a ancient (in computer years) shared 10Mb hub with other active things on it.