HT3231: Migration Assistant tips and tricks

Learn about Migration Assistant tips and tricks
Lanndis

Q: How long migrate via wireless network?

How long does it normally take to migrate all data from one Mac to another via a wireless network?

MacBook Pro

Posted on Mar 29, 2012 8:25 PM

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Q: How long migrate via wireless network?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by John Galt,Solvedanswer

    John Galt John Galt Mar 29, 2012 8:30 PM in response to Lanndis
    Level 8 (48,614 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 29, 2012 8:30 PM in response to Lanndis

    It could easily take a day, perhaps several. It depends on your wireless network, and whether you're migrating a few GB, or a few hundred.

     

    Connect them to each other with an Ethernet cable, or connect them both to a wired network. FireWire is another option if your computers are so equipped. That will bring the time down to a few hours.

  • by Lanndis,

    Lanndis Lanndis Mar 29, 2012 8:57 PM in response to Lanndis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 29, 2012 8:57 PM in response to Lanndis

    Thanks this helps a lot will plugging in an Ethernet cable after I've started the migration make a difference?

  • by John Galt,Helpful

    John Galt John Galt Mar 29, 2012 9:21 PM in response to Lanndis
    Level 8 (48,614 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 29, 2012 9:21 PM in response to Lanndis

    It may, depending on the configuration of your Network Preferences.

     

    If you're about to give up on wireless anyway, try plugging in the cable and then turn off AirPort by clicking one of the computer's WiFi Screen Shot 2012-03-30 at 12.16.32 AM.png menus and selecting "Turn Wi-Fi Off". Migration Assistant will probably pause for a moment or two, after which it will either continue at a faster rate or simply give up. In the latter case you will have to start it again.

     

    When you do leave Wi-Fi "off" to ensure it uses the wired connection.

  • by Lanndis,

    Lanndis Lanndis Mar 30, 2012 9:23 AM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 30, 2012 9:23 AM in response to John Galt

    Last night one of my computers died and even after I plugged it back in this morning, it is not making any progress, should I cancel the migration and start again? And if I do, will it start from scratch? Thanks

  • by John Galt,Helpful

    John Galt John Galt Mar 30, 2012 11:58 AM in response to Lanndis
    Level 8 (48,614 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 30, 2012 11:58 AM in response to Lanndis

    By "died" I assume you mean it simply stopped making any apparent progress?

     

    In which case yes, just cancel it and start again this time by connecting the two with either a FireWire cable or networked to one another. Turn off Wi-Fi to preclude any uncertainty, then start Migration Assistant from the beginning. It should not take more than a few hours even for a large amount of data.

  • by Lanndis,

    Lanndis Lanndis Mar 30, 2012 12:07 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 30, 2012 12:07 PM in response to John Galt

    OK, I have an Ethernet cable, will it have the same effect?

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Mar 30, 2012 12:44 PM in response to Lanndis
    Level 8 (48,614 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 30, 2012 12:44 PM in response to Lanndis

    It will work exactly the same way, just faster.

  • by Alan317,

    Alan317 Alan317 Jul 6, 2012 2:09 PM in response to Lanndis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 6, 2012 2:09 PM in response to Lanndis

    I started my migration between my MacBook pro's over wifi and got an estimated 198 hrs. To complete the transfer. So I plugged them both into power and directly into the router  via Ethernet cables and within seconds it dropped to 7 hrs. I didn't have to restart the migration, it automatically choose the fastest path and recalculated. I am using OS X so I can't speak for previous OS editions

  • by izipaul,

    izipaul izipaul Jan 12, 2015 7:59 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    Jan 12, 2015 7:59 PM in response to John Galt

    Hi John, I have an older macbook pro which has firewire, ethernet and usb.  I want to migrate all programs, etc to my newer macbook pro which has thunderbolt, usb2 and hdmi.  My internet is 2 mbs (I live in the sticks) so I'm hoping thunderbolt to firewire will work.  Will this work?

    Thanks,

    Paul