New iMac Joins MacBook Pro in Supporting 450 Mbit/sec Wi-Fi

Sorry, but I don't see the point here, considering that 100% of the Internet connections in the world are well under 200Mbps...other than for internal networks (like file transfer between two devices), what's the advantage?

You just said it. Internal networks. Transferring files between multiple computers, streaming 1080p video from your desktop to your laptop...

Especially useful if you do network backups (say to a Time Capsule or NAS) regularly.

I have a gigabit/CAT6 network in the walls of my house. Surely, this is useless since my internet connection is only 40 mbps, right? Not exactly.

Gotcha...streaming video may be a good use for this extra bandwidth...what is the necessary rate for HD streaming?

The real need for gigabit ethernet shows in back-up.

Sorry, but I don't see the point here, considering that 100% of the Internet connections in the world are well under 200Mbps...other than for internal networks (like file transfer between two devices), what's the advantage?

All my photos live on a NAS, therefore a speedy WiFi connection is a must. I use a Canon 5d mark II, and the raw files from it are ~30 MB each, which must be loaded on my computer for correction. After a day of shooting, i can have 16 - 20 GB of pictures that have to be uploaded to the NAS over wifi

Anything less than 5Ghz 802.11 n does not cut it for many users.

Sorry, but I don't see the point here, considering that 100% of the Internet connections in the world are well under 200Mbps...other than for internal networks (like file transfer between two devices), what's the advantage?

Progress?

Besides, a lot of wireless bandwidth is lost due to interference and overhead ... the more theoretical bandwidth you can get, the better overall real-world performance.

Thanks! Could you give details on the actual throughput? The link speed is the maximum theoretical throughput which is never achieved. When tested at release it was much slower than a lot of other models - I'm wondering if this dramatically increases transfer speeds?

There is the distinct possibility of no real world improvements - some 3x3 models just released perform no better than the best 2x2 implementations.

I did some tests:

First I copied a file from my TimeMachine drive connected to the APE:



I got a steady 14MB/s, as you can see in the screenshot.

Then I did the same test with the Ethernet Cable connected:



And, of course, it was faster, but not twice as fast as one would expect...

Then, I disabled "wide channels" (necessary for the 450 rate as described in this thread) and my link speed dropped to 216 (I was expecting 300, it must be some kinda noise or interference...)



The interesting thing is that it's not just slower, but much more inconstant than the other two, with speed varying from 6 to 10 MB/s more or less...

I hope that's useful! :)

Would you take an AirPort Extreme over a Cisco E4200 or the TRENDnet TEW-692GR (I think yet to be released)?

The largest problem with this for me is that even the iPhone 4 and iPad do not support WiFi 802.11n at 5 Ghz. Kinda sucks having a network that my iOS devices cannot join.

The iPad does support 5Ghz, and I believe the current Airport line are dual-radio APs, so you can run those at both 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz.

The largest problem with this for me is that even the iPhone 4 and iPad do not support WiFi 802.11n at 5 Ghz. Kinda sucks having a network that my iOS devices cannot join.

Anyone know if the current Mac Pro line has support for this? Or where to look in system to tell?

Was wondering this as well?
How do you check your system for this?

Gotcha...streaming video may be a good use for this extra bandwidth...what is the necessary rate for HD streaming?

Depends totally on the bitrate of your video. A high-quality Blu-Ray can be 50Mb/s but rips are usually less. The ones I download are around 5Mb/s (720p). The stuff that iTunes sells is even lower quality. Remember that this 450Mb/s is the theoretical maximum. In real world, the bandwidth is much less, especially if there are lots of obstacles (i.e. walls and other materials).

In real world I've seen wireless N getting speeds of 8-10MB/s (64-80Mb/s) so maybe this will increase that to 12-15MB/s.