Wifi vs ethernet

[erbster]

Consulting the collective wisdom:

The 5GB download for Yosemite got me thinking...

My MBP uses wifi most of the time. I can however, plug in an ethernet cable, which is obviously much faster.

Is OSX clever enough to use the fastest connection available, or must I switch off wifi in order to force it to use ethernet?

 

[Slydude]

No. You don't have to make the switch manually. OS X is smarter than that. I know you use wi-fi most of the time but here is what I would do:

1. Open the System Preferences and go to the Network preference pane. If the ethernet connection is listed first you don't need to do anything skip step 2 and 3.
2. At the bottom of the pane is a little gear / cog (next to the + and - sign)
3. Choose Set service order and move the ethernet connection so that it is first in line.

What will happen from now on is the Mac will look fir the ethernet connection first. If you are "wired in" it will use that connection. If you are not "wired in" the OS tries the wireless connection next.

 

[erbster]

Thanks for that. I think that's how it's set already. Does that work if I plug an Ethernet cable in to my mbp when it's been using the Wi-Fi- does it switch to the Ethernet?

 

[Slydude]

It should. Essentially OS X will use the ethernet interface first since it is first in the list. If ethernet is not available it proceeds down the list to the first available functioning interface. Here's Apple's latest summary which includes using this feature with VPNs.