![Adapter For Wired Internet Mac Adapter For Wired Internet Mac](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125466876/101872510.jpg)
Easily connect your Mac computer to an Ethernet network with the Apple USB Ethernet Adapter. Small and light, it connects to the USB 2.0 port of your Mac and provides an RJ-45 connector that supports 10/100BASE-T performance.
You probably won’t be connecting an Ethernet cable to your smartphone any time soon. But it’s usually worth running Ethernet cables to the devices that matter, if you can—gaming and media PCs (or consoles), backup devices, and set-top boxes being just a few examples. To help you make the decision, we’re going to take a look at the three main advantages of using Ethernet over Wi-Fi—faster speeds, lower latency, and reliable connections. How Much Faster Is Ethernet? RELATED: Ethernet is just plain faster than Wi-Fi—there’s no getting around that fact. But the real-world differences are smaller than you might think., thanks to new standards like 802.11ac and 802.11n, which offer maximum speeds of 866.7 Mb/s and 150 Mb/s, respectively.
Even though this is a maximum speed for all your wireless devices to share (and you likely won’t get those speeds in the real world), Wi-Fi has become good enough to handle most of our daily tasks. On the other hand, a wired Ethernet connection can theoretically offer up to 10 Gb/s, if you have a Cat6 cable. The exact maximum speed of your Ethernet cable depends on the type of Ethernet cable you’re using. However, even the Cat5e cable in common use supports up to 1 Gb/s. And, unlike with Wi-Fi, that speed is consistent. RELATED: While all that speed is great, the thing to keep in mind is that the is the bottleneck for activities involving the Internet.
If your Internet speed is significantly lower than whatever type of connection you’re using, upping the speed of that connection won’t matter much. Ethernet will, however, affect the speed between devices on your network. For example, if you want to transfer files as fast as possible between two computers in the house, Ethernet will be faster than Wi-Fi. Your Internet connection isn’t involved in this, so it’s all up to the maximum speeds your local network hardware can provide. Here are just a couple of good examples of when this local speed might be important:. If you have multiple devices that back up to a NAS, backup server, or shared hard drive, backups will go faster over an Ethernet connection. If you have devices that stream from a media server on your network (like Plex or Kodi), an Ethernet connection will give you a considerable boost in streaming quality.
If you’re curious about the difference in local file transfer speed, try transferring a large file between two computers while they’re both connected to Ethernet and while they’re both connected to Wi-Fi. You should see a speed difference there. How Much Less Latency Does Ethernet Offer? RELATED: Connection speed and quality isn’t just about raw bandwidth. In this case, latency is the delay in how long it takes for traffic to get from from a device to its destination. We often refer to latency as “ping” in the networking and online gaming worlds.
If reducing latency as much as possible is your concern—for example, if you’re playing online games and need reaction time to be as quick as possible—you’re probably better off with a wired Ethernet connection. Yes, there will be other latency that factors in along the Internet path between your device and the gaming server, but every little bit helps. On the other hand, if you’re just streaming videos, listening to music, or browsing the web, latency won’t matter much to you. RELATED: You can test latency by running the command at your terminal or Command Prompt. Ping your —both while connected over Wi-Fi and while connected over Ethernet. Compare the results to see how much latency the Wi-Fi is adding.
In summary, with Wi-Fi, there’s a bit more of a delay when signals travel back and forth between a Wi-Fi device and your wireless router. With a wired Ethernet connection, there’s much less latency. Wireless Interference and Connection Reliability Ethernet offers a more reliable connection than Wi-Fi. It’s just that simple. RELATED: Wi-Fi is subject to a lot more interference than a wired connection. The layout of your home, objects blocking the signal, interference from electrical devices or —all these things contribute to Wi-Fi being generally less reliable. This interference can cause a number of problems:.
Dropped signals: Occasionally, Wi-Fi will lose the signal and have to reacquire it. This may not be a big deal for daily browsing or even streaming video (which gets buffered on the local device), because the re-acquisition happens quickly. But if you play online games, it can get pretty irritating.
Higher latency: Increased interference can mean higher latency, which can be a problem for all the reasons we outlined in the previous section. Lowered speeds: More interference also means lower signal quality, which results in lower connection speeds. RELATED: It’s tough to quantify interference, because it tends to ebb and flow–especially if you’re moving around with your device. However, there are. When Does It Make Sense to Use Ethernet?
We don’t mean to come down too hard on Wi-Fi. It’s pretty speedy, super convenient, and perfectly serviceable for most of what we do on our networks. For one thing, Wi-Fi is essential if you’ve got mobile devices. Also, there are times you just can’t use Ethernet. Maybe it’s too difficult to run a permanent, out-of-the-way cable to the location you want.
Or maybe your landlord won’t allow you to run cables the way you want to. And that’s the real reason to use Wi-Fi: convenience. If a device needs to move around or you just don’t want to run a cable to it, Wi-Fi is the right choice.
On the other hand, if you have a desktop PC or server that sits in a single place, Ethernet may be a good option. If you want better quality streaming (especially if you’re doing it from a media server on your network) or if you’re a gamer, Ethernet will be the way to go. Assuming it’s easy enough to plug the devices in with an Ethernet cable, you’ll get a more consistently solid connection. In the end, Ethernet offers the advantages of better speed, lower latency, and more reliable connections. Wi-Fi offers the advantage of convenience and being good enough for most uses. So, you’ll just have to see if any of your devices fit into the categories where Ethernet will make a difference, and then decide whether it will make a big enough difference to run some cable.
With different networking options available—ethernet, Wi-Fi, iPhone tethering, etc.—you may find yourself in a situation where you want your Mac to automatically select one type of connection over another. A Macworld reader finds themselves in that exact situation.
I’d like to connect to my grandma’s Wi-Fi connection so that I can use her printer. However, her internet connection is as slow as molasses, so I want to simultaneously use my iPhone’s tethering capability (via USB or Bluetooth, of course) to browse the internet. MacOS does let you prioritize network connections, so you can pick which adapter gets used first when your system tries to connect to local network and internet-connected resources. Open the Network system preference pane. Click the settings (gear) icon at the bottom of the adapter list. Select Set Service Order. Drag the items around in your preferred order.
IDG You can drag your available network connections into the order you want macOS to use them. In the case of the reader's question, the iPhone tethering item should be placed above the Wi-Fi item. This should retain the ability to access locally available resources, like the printer. In this situation, to achieve the best possible speed without any monkeying around, disable Wi-Fi fully unless the printer is needed. You can use the Wi-Fi system menu and choose Turn Wi-Fi Off until you need to print. Or, you can create a location via the Network preference:.
Click the Location pop-up menu at the top of the pane. Choose Edit Locations. Click + to add a location. Choose that new location from the Location menu. Make changes, such as disabling Wi-Fi (select Wi-Fi in adapters list, click the gear, and choose Make Service Inactive). Click Apply.
Repeat for as many different kinds of network setups you want. You might name one “Cell Only” and another “Grandma Plus Cell.” You can easily switch between locations from the Locations menu available throughout the system. Ask Mac 911 We’ve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently along with answers and links to columns: to see if your question is covered. If not, we’re always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours to including screen captures as appropriate. Mac 911 can’t reply to—nor publish an answer to—every question, and we don’t provide direct troubleshooting advice.