Re:Inside Apple's Thunderbolt to Ethernet Adapter
by vardump on Monday June 25, 2012 @06:54AM
(#4155941)
100M ethernet is about as fast as disks were over 12 years ago. Currently slowest mechanical laptop drives do about 500-600 Mbps, fastest SSDs about 5 Gbps.
802.11g is about 24 Mbps half-duplex in ideal conditions, so for example if you're sending 12 Mbps, you can receive at most 12 Mbps. 802.11n ups this to 30-100 Mbps range half-duplex, in rare cases a bit more.
100M ethernet is generally full-duplex, so you can send and receive very near to 100 Mbps speeds. And so is 1000M ethernet. And unlike wireless, they actually operate very close to rated speeds.
I'd say 802.11n can replace 100M ethernet in some use cases, like casual internet usage. Wifi has still a long way to go before it can truly replace cables.
802.11g is about 24 Mbps half-duplex in ideal conditions, so for example if you're sending 12 Mbps, you can receive at most 12 Mbps. 802.11n ups this to 30-100 Mbps range half-duplex, in rare cases a bit more.
100M ethernet is generally full-duplex, so you can send and receive very near to 100 Mbps speeds. And so is 1000M ethernet. And unlike wireless, they actually operate very close to rated speeds.
I'd say 802.11n can replace 100M ethernet in some use cases, like casual internet usage. Wifi has still a long way to go before it can truly replace cables.