fast network facilities?

MuGeN

MuGeN

MuGeN

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Mooching... in your house
i've never really been in the know when it comes to networks, but i've had enough of my crappy wireless and am going to wire up the house...

firstly, does my macbook have the ability to work with a "gigabit" network? and secondly, do i need a different router (just got the standard sky one) and special cables to do it?

would be nice to stream to the ps3 without any stop/starts, to remote desktop to my windows pc, and last but not least, to have a solid internet connection (i'm sure its the wireless not anything external)

any ideas?
 
MacBook does have a gigabit port.
You need a router/switch/hub with gigabit ports, which a lot might not have.
IIRC 'cat5e' cables are recommended - they're very cheap.
 
ahh, there might be a problem then since sky don't let you use your own router :(

i have heard rumor of ways to extract your username and password from the standard router but tbh i wouldn't know where to start... anyone done this? easy thing to do?
 
MuGeN said:
i've never really been in the know when it comes to networks, but i've had enough of my crappy wireless and am going to wire up the house...

firstly, does my macbook have the ability to work with a "gigabit" network? and secondly, do i need a different router (just got the standard sky one) and special cables to do it?

would be nice to stream to the ps3 without any stop/starts, to remote desktop to my windows pc, and last but not least, to have a solid internet connection (i'm sure its the wireless not anything external)

any ideas?
Click to expand...

If your laptop is fairly new then it'll have a gigabit port, you'd need to check on the specs though.

You'll need a switch (or router) that can handle gigabit as well as gigabit CAT5E or CAT6E cables
 
MuGeN said:
ahh, there might be a problem then since sky don't let you use your own router :(

i have heard rumor of ways to extract your username and password from the standard router but tbh i wouldn't know where to start... anyone done this? easy thing to do?
Click to expand...

Google your router, it's not too hard.
 
As it's highly unlikely that you have an internet link which is faster than 50mb/s let alone of the scale of a gigabit network connection it would seem to make sense to grab a gigabit switch.

Then connect everything to that including the router. This means that Mac to PS3 or Wintel box connection will be gigabit (assuming each device supports it) and switch to router to 100mb/s which is still faster than router to internet so it doesn't matter that that link isn't gigabit.

This should be cheaper and easier than trying to get a router with gigabit ports and getting it to work with your broadband connection.
 
ahh ok sound :)

any router recommendatoins? i hear what you're saying memyselfandi about a switch but dont really want another gadget to plug in, a decent router will do me fine now i can get the userpass :)

Linksys are the best aren't they? which gigabit one would be the one to have?
 
memyselfandi said:
As it's highly unlikely that you have an internet link which is faster than 50mb/s let alone of the scale of a gigabit network connection it would seem to make sense to grab a gigabit switch.

Then connect everything to that including the router. This means that Mac to PS3 or Wintel box connection will be gigabit (assuming each device supports it) and switch to router to 100mb/s which is still faster than router to internet so it doesn't matter that that link isn't gigabit.

This should be cheaper and easier than trying to get a router with gigabit ports and getting it to work with your broadband connection.
Click to expand...

+ 1

This is what I have done. Decent ADSL routers with gigabit switch built in were expensive when I looked so I just got a cisco/linksysy 5 port gigabit switch and plugged all my gigabit devices into there. (PS3, MBP, HP workstation, Gigabit NAS).


rp2000
 
Have a look for a 2Wire Gateway 2700HGV-B.

Had mine for 12 months, and it's been rock solid. Very stable at low SNR's, and very configurable. I didn't need wireless, although it has that too. Very nice build quality and it runs as it should; set and forget.

Mine has been factory unlocked (usually a BT business issue router) :)

EDIT: Should explain, I use this 2wire as my ADSL modem, however, my Wi-Fi is served by an Apple Time Capsule in another room.

2wire ---CAT 6--> Time Capsule
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm using a Linksys WRT600N (later released as the WRT610N here in the UK).
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/UK/en/products/WRT610N

It's got gigabit ethernet which all my PC's use (really quick for file transfers!), and two wireless bands.

My MacBook Pro connects at 300Mbps on the 5Ghz frequency (802.11n), whilst my iPhone 3G and other old wireless devices connect at 54Mbps on the 2.4Ghz frequency (802.11b/g). Whereas most N routers (inc the Apple ones) can only use one band at a time, meaning that making the network compatible for the iPhone (can only do 2.4Ghz) would reduce the speed the MBP can get (it would have to use 2.4Ghz too).

It doesn't have an integrated ADSL modem, which can also be good...... as when I was on PlusNet I just plugged a Draytek Vigor into it's WAN port. Then when changing to Be/O2 all I needed to do was swop the modem with their free included one. (It's actually a 585v7 ADSL router but I put it into bridging mode).
 
Westyfield2 said:
I'm using a Linksys WRT600N (later released as the WRT610N here in the UK).
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/UK/en/products/WRT610N

It's got gigabit ethernet which all my PC's use (really quick for file transfers!), and two wireless bands.

My MacBook Pro connects at 300Mbps on the 5Ghz frequency (802.11n), whilst my iPhone 3G and other old wireless devices connect at 54Mbps on the 2.4Ghz frequency (802.11b/g). Whereas most N routers (inc the Apple ones) can only use one band at a time, meaning that making the network compatible for the iPhone (can only do 2.4Ghz) would reduce the speed the MBP can get (it would have to use 2.4Ghz too).

It doesn't have an integrated ADSL modem, which can also be good...... as when I was on PlusNet I just plugged a Draytek Vigor into it's WAN port. Then when changing to Be/O2 all I needed to do was swop the modem with their free included one. (It's actually a 585v7 ADSL router but I put it into bridging mode).
Click to expand...
Actually, it is possible to configure dual wireless bands, on a Time Capsule / AirPort Extreme Base Station

http://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/dualbandnet/
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1442667&tstart=0
 
EVH said:
Actually, it is possible to configure dual wireless bands, on a Time Capsule / AirPort Extreme Base Station

http://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/dualbandnet/
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1442667&tstart=0
Click to expand...


They're just using two devices for wireless - the Apple Airport for the n 5GHz network and the Linksys for the g network. I've done the same at home with my Airport express 5GHz n for my iMac and my Sky router at g speeds for my iPhone and everything else
 
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