Late 2013 iMac will not do 300 Mpbs download internet?

[rlm45]

El Capitan Wifi 802.11ac super fast GiG will not get close to my Comcast 300 Mbps internet speed on the 5.0GHz network.

Using Xfinity Speed test measures around 190 Mbps download speeds over that network.

Ethernet attached approximately 280-290 Mbps download.

Router, modem all have the specs for this speed.

So what is the problem.

iMac is sitting right next to the router.

Comments?

 

[rlm45]

 

[Raz0rEdge]

It's good that you can get close to 300 over Ethernet, that means that Xfinity isn't lying to you about your bandwidth. However, WiFi will NEVER get anywhere near that due to all the interference issues. You getting 190 is actually very good. The fact that you are sitting right next to the router is taking away all of the interference issues.

Add a wall and other stuff between the iMac and router and you'll drop to around 100 and down from there.

WiFi is very noisy, that's just the nature of it.

If you care about pure speed, then Ethernet is the definitive answer. WiFi gives you mobility and with that there are compromises.

What I do (at work) is have a dock a that has a wired Ethernet connection, so when I'm sitting at my desk plugged into the dock, my Ethernet connection gets me fast speed, I'm also connected to the WiFi as well but it's lower in the priority list, so if I were to disconnect from the dock and move away, I stay on the WiFi and connected, but understand that I'm dealing with lower speed.

 

[krs]

I had a 1 Gbps fiber connection to the net.
Tested that at the modem and got just a bit over that advertised speed, then checked it over WiFi and got somewhat less than 200 Mbps.
As Ashwin said - limitation is WiFi - explanation is here along with theoretical and actual practical speeds
How Fast Is a Wi-Fi Network?

I ended up changing my 1 Gbps plan to the 100 Mbps fiber plan, saved some coin and in practice 100 Mbps is still plenty fast for what I do.
And when I test my speed over WiFi with the 100 Mbps plan I still get 108 to 110 MBps using Ookla speed test.
So at that speed there is no WiFi limitation to speak of even through walls. Modem and router are in the basement, Mac is on the main floor.

 

[usagora]

It's good that you can get close to 300 over Ethernet, that means that Xfinity isn't lying to you about your bandwidth. However, WiFi will NEVER get anywhere near that due to all the interference issues.

Does that just apply over a certain speed? Because I know on my 2012 iMac I get the same speed using either Ethernet or Wi-Fi (around 100 Mbps, which is what I'm paying for).

 

[rlm45]

Thanks for the thoughtful answer.

 

[krs]

Does that just apply over a certain speed? Because I know on my 2012 iMac I get the same speed using either Ethernet or Wi-Fi (around 100 Mbps, which is what I'm paying for).

WiFi speeds you get depend on the WiFi standard of the router you are using - see chart below.
The actual speed listed will vary from the numbers shown depending on distance between router and device and the amount of interference.
The speed you get on an internet connection is the lower of the WiFi speed and ISP speed (controlled by the type of ISP connection you have and your plan).
Current routers typically offer the 802.11ac standard, so the WiFi portion of the link will max out at a speed of roughly 200 Mbps.
Jonathan, in your case the limiting factor is the 100 Mbps connection from the ISP.
If you changed your plan and say opted for the 500 Mbps ISP connection, the limiting factor would be WiFi (802.11ac) and you would see around 200 Mbps as your max speed at the Mac.
That of course assumes your Mac is new enough to receive the 'ac' standard, older Macs (and routers) may only handle the "g" or "n" standard, then the maximum WiFi speed is roughly the number shown in the table.

 

[usagora]

Thanks, krs. Those figures match both the OP's setup and mine and explain the numbers we're getting.

 

[rlm45]

I must be missing something because I thought 802.11 ac had much greater speeds. The standard 802.11ac is capable of 1300 megabits per second (Mbps) which is the equivalent of 162.5 megabytes per second (MBps). This is more than 200 mbps. What am I not seeing? There is a big difference between bits and bytes.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I must be missing something because I thought 802.11 ac had much greater speeds. The standard 802.11ac is capable of 1300 megabits per second (Mbps) which is the equivalent of 162.5 megabytes per second (MBps). This is more than 200 mbps. What am I not seeing? There is a big difference between bits and bytes.

Theoretical versus actual. I wish people who share only actual speeds which have to deal with very noisy environments, interference from walls and so on which dramatically reduce the actual bandwidth. The farther you get from your router, the greater the loss, the greater the number of retries, the lesser your overall speed.

This is akin to the first generation of wireless chargers, they were literally at around 80% power loss between the charger and device. BUT, the expectation was that the wireless charger would charge a device in relative the same timeframe as a wire. Well with 80% power loss, how do you accomplish that? You dump a TON of voltage out to try to overcome the loss, and while you might charge that device in relatively the same time, you have a ridiculous problem of heat to deal with. So the first-gen chargers were burning themselves up or the devices they were charging. Over time, this technology has gotten better (and our expectations have been reset) such that the power loss is more manageable and power output is less so burning is not a problem.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I had a 1 Gbps fiber connection to the net.
Tested that at the modem and got just a bit over that advertised speed, then checked it over WiFi and got somewhat less than 200 Mbps.
As Ashwin said - limitation is WiFi - explanation is here along with theoretical and actual practical speeds
How Fast Is a Wi-Fi Network?

I ended up changing my 1 Gbps plan to the 100 Mbps fiber plan, saved some coin and in practice 100 Mbps is still plenty fast for what I do.
And when I test my speed over WiFi with the 100 Mbps plan I still get 108 to 110 MBps using Ookla speed test.
So at that speed there is no WiFi limitation to speak of even through walls. Modem and router are in the basement, Mac is on the main floor.

This is an important thing to remember, a lot of people get swept away by the marketing hoopla of ISP's and GIG this and GIG that, but your internal network in the house (over WiFi) is going significantly slower, so it's a little silly IMO to be paying for a significantly faster connection that what your network will allow you to use. Now, if you are going fully wired in the house with 1GIG to 10GIG Ethernet, then by all means go with a package that matches your network speeds and reap the benefits.