When I got my Mac mini with a built-in WiFi antennae I decided not to connect it to my network hub via Ethernet. At some point I became suspicious that my 1 Mbps ADSL Internet connection just wasn't up to par; eventually I had to do something about it. With a wired connection again I experienced a noticeable 158% speed increase. I'm not sure if I should be surprised by this, however, particularly given disgruntled reports in places such as MacInTouch concerning poor or variable Airport reception.
I ran some tests using the ADSLGuide Broadband Speed Test.
Airport speeds
Airport speed: download 547.6 Kbps; upload 15.5 Kbps
Hmmm... not good. Next step: turn off airport and re-establish wired Ethernet connection.
Ethernet speeds
Ethernet speed: download 866.1 Kbps; upload 243.3 Kbps
Well, that's about what I would expect. Most ADSL users know they don't get quite what they pay for, since a number of variables (distance from the telephone exchange, etc.) supposedly degrade the theoretical maximum speed.
Accounting for the difference
I wish I could. It has been my understanding that a 802.11g (54 Mbps—yeah, sure!) WiFi connection could readily cope with a measly 1 Mbps ADSL connection. In fact I have a Dell laptop with a Linksys "Wireless-G" (WPC54G) notebook adapter sitting next to the mini (thus similar conditions) and I can't say that I have ever noticed a difference in speed comparing WiFi to Ethernet. So I'm left with a few theories:
- The WiFi antennae in the Mac mini really is sub-standard;
- Interference? I rang tech support at a local reseller, and they suggested that when base and receiver are too close interference can occur to the detriment of the connection. My mini sits on my desk about 2 feet from my WiFi antenna. Could this be "too close"?;
- Some kind of incompatibility between Apple's Airport technology and my Linksys WAG54G Wireless-G ADSL Gateway;
- I won't mention the theories involving aliens.
Your thoughts on this would be much appreciated.
I forgot to mention my Airport connection was getting dropped altogether for no apparent reason (i.e. not because the computer had gone to sleep). If you are experiencing this problem, you might try this temporary fix to automatically restart the connection.
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I say it's the aliens. ;)
I get really strange intermittent connection with my DSL, Qwest. Power cycling my wireless router usually fixes it, but what a pain!
OK, so that's 2 votes for the aliens, 0 votes for crap technology. The Truth is Out There.
Do you have cordless phone? I have heard that they will interfers if not 5.8MHz.
I am getting download of about 54KBps max when using airporot iBook.
I am never using ehternet with internet. Do you think ethernet would deliver faster speeds on 512/128 ADSL plan than 802.11 wireless would?
I tried ethernet once and it was basically the same speed as with wireless.
Yes Bouzy I do have a cordless phone, operating in the 1880 to 1900 MHz range. But I'm not sure that's the issue. I did some more testing tonight and don't know what to make of the results (down/upstream speeds):
Mac mini Ethernet: 866/242 Kbps
Mac mini Airport: 874/232 Kbps
MacBook Ethernet: 865/242 Kbps
MacBook Airport: 865/239 Kbps
No appreciable different between connection method or machine!
So no, I don't think you would get better results using Ethernet cf. Airport. I still can't explain what (was?) affecting my Airport connection—perhaps the Mothership is no longer in orbit overhead?
Bandwidth theft?
Theft didn't occur to me. If this were the explanation then my neighbours are much cleverer than I thought! I don't broadcast my SSID, I do use WEP encryption, and I restrict access to hand-picked MAC addresses only. Short of turning it off, I beleive this is as secure as I can make my WiFi router (it doesn't do WPA). I suppose all this security would be childs play to crack for the aliens anyway...
Try turning off the encryption. I did (with a similar setup) and it seemed to make a difference, however, this is not a great long term solution.
I agree - with that amount of protection, only aliens could get in.
Damn those alien sniffers and MAC spoofers.
threegs, sorry your comment got caught in my spam filter, although I can't see why. But spam filters are just like WEP—necessary to keep away evil people just waiting to attack. They (the Evil ones) are working with the aliens; it's all a conspiracy. Paranoid? Huh! Hang on, what's with that white van outside the house? Was that a knock on my door?...