Just picked up my M5 MacBook Pro and want to consider upping my internet connection from 1 to 2 gigabytes, but cannot confirm by looking at the specs if there is anything else I need to consider before changing my internet plan. Can anyone help me with this?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: 2 GB Ethernet Connection?
MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 26.1
Check those specs more carefully, and I think you will find those speeds are 1 and 2 Giga bits/secs, not Giga Bytes/sec.
Most folks are running a Router to Internet connection speed FAR slower than the speeds their Macs are running. You generally do NOT need 2 Gb or even 1 Gb for a typical home internet connection. Delays on the internet itself limit performance.
My story:
I did a big FIOS upgrade, which increased my Internet connection speed Forty times over from 25 Mb to a 1 Gb connection, Router to Internet. Some Macs were already running 10 Gb Ethernet connections. The perceived Internet speed was no different from my old 25 Mb internet connection. I felt I was paying too much. I dropped back to 300 Mb speed (the new "slowest" available) and the difference was... completely not noticeable.
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if you have really good Wi-Fi speeds, you MIGHT be seeing near 1000 M bits/sec (1 Gbits/sec) Wi-Fi speeds on your local Home Network today. Routers and Switches allow different connections to run at completely different speeds, because the Internet Protocol all is "Store-and-Forward", so the intervening Routers and Switches adjust speeds on each link as available.
If you like, you could convert your backbone (fastest main Home Network "Trunk") to 10 GB by adding a multi-port 10 Gb Ethernet Switch. A little pricey (in the neighborhood or US$500 for a modest multi-port Switch, under US$100 per computer for adapters).
10 Gb Ethernet (with fallback to 5 or 2.5 Gb) adapters and Switches are becoming readily available. if you choose to limit yourself to only 2.5 Gb, they are even more affordable.
"The right way" to make those connections if you are starting from scratch today is to use category 6e cables from the start. But since the lengths in most homes are far shorter than the maximum, you may find existing category 5 or 5e cables suffice for all but the longest runs.
Let's talk some more about this. What do you think?
Check those specs more carefully, and I think you will find those speeds are 1 and 2 Giga bits/secs, not Giga Bytes/sec.
Most folks are running a Router to Internet connection speed FAR slower than the speeds their Macs are running. You generally do NOT need 2 Gb or even 1 Gb for a typical home internet connection. Delays on the internet itself limit performance.
My story:
I did a big FIOS upgrade, which increased my Internet connection speed Forty times over from 25 Mb to a 1 Gb connection, Router to Internet. Some Macs were already running 10 Gb Ethernet connections. The perceived Internet speed was no different from my old 25 Mb internet connection. I felt I was paying too much. I dropped back to 300 Mb speed (the new "slowest" available) and the difference was... completely not noticeable.
--------
if you have really good Wi-Fi speeds, you MIGHT be seeing near 1000 M bits/sec (1 Gbits/sec) Wi-Fi speeds on your local Home Network today. Routers and Switches allow different connections to run at completely different speeds, because the Internet Protocol all is "Store-and-Forward", so the intervening Routers and Switches adjust speeds on each link as available.
If you like, you could convert your backbone (fastest main Home Network "Trunk") to 10 GB by adding a multi-port 10 Gb Ethernet Switch. A little pricey (in the neighborhood or US$500 for a modest multi-port Switch, under US$100 per computer for adapters).
10 Gb Ethernet (with fallback to 5 or 2.5 Gb) adapters and Switches are becoming readily available. if you choose to limit yourself to only 2.5 Gb, they are even more affordable.
"The right way" to make those connections if you are starting from scratch today is to use category 6e cables from the start. But since the lengths in most homes are far shorter than the maximum, you may find existing category 5 or 5e cables suffice for all but the longest runs.
Let's talk some more about this. What do you think?
Is 2 GB Ethernet connection compatible with M5 MacBook Pro?
