Network connections

Hi,

Quick question. I am downloading some large files and I have plugged an ethernet cable into my MBP (gigabit). Is OSX clever enough to use that connection in preference to the wifi connection.

Related question: is the sequence of items in the network pane of system preferences an indicator of which is used in preference to another?

Thanks

This has nothing to do with the OS smarts per say but routing in general. If you plug in two interfaces (wired and WiFi) onto the same network, it's a crapshoot as to which one gets used for a particular transaction.

This decision isn't based on the amount of data that needs to be transffered..

If you have the option of having both Wired and WiFi, then just plug in the Wired all the time until you are the move and you can go WiFi then..do not have both plugged in/enabled..

So, I have been doing the right thing hitherto and turning off wifi when I want to be sure of using Ethernet. Thanks for the advice.

Absolutely..in contrast to what most people think, having both connections on at the same time doesn't double your bandwidth.. it actually ends up slowing things down..

Well, I always knew it wouldn't be *faster* but you would think a grown up os could choose the connection most likely to be fastest :/

erbster said:

So, I have been doing the right thing hitherto and turning off wifi when I want to be sure of using Ethernet. Thanks for the advice.

Click to expand...

I sometimes forget to turn off wi-fi when I want to be sure I am using ethernet, Not a major issue since I am in a wired connection 90% of the time but still annoying.

My solution was to set the service order in network preferences so that the ethernet connection was listed first with wireless connections second. The option is part of the Network preference lane. If you click the gear next to the + and - signs for adding connections. This way the Mac looks for wired ethernet first. Others that I never use are inactive.

Ah-ha! I wondered about that. My mbp is already set like that. Excellent!