I.E. Mac Mini connects to internet via airport and then another computer connects to Mac Mini via Ethernet for internet...
Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6)
I share an Ethernet connection with multiple iOS devices over AirPort and I have never noticed a slowdown.
AirPort to Ethernet is one of the harder sharing possibilities to configure correctly.
Well what i mean is that my PC has no wireless NIC, so i have my Mac Mini in the same room which will pick up my wifi router, in turn i am using my MacMini as a gateway for my PC to connect to the internet, I have it set up and its working fine, I was just curious if it would degrade the connection speed from the mac when the PC is on the internet or vice versa.
WiFi Router------>MacMini via Airport---->PC via Ethernet on Macmini using internet sharing
May I ask how you have configured the PC to use the mini's connection?
actually i didnt have to do anything on the PC side i just had to go into the system preferences in the macmini and click sharing, then go to where it says internet sharing (might have to enter admin password), do not click the check mark yet, just select it and then on the right of the panel select the way YOUR mini connects to the internet then select how u want it to share, for example in my setting i have it that my Mini connects via Wireless Airport to the internet, then i connect an ethernet cord from the back of the mini to my NIC in the PC. once you make the proper selections check the mark on the left panel on internet sharing it should give u a warning, click ok if ur sure about it, then restart your mini, this is of course assuming that your pc is turned off at the time. once ur mini is back up and running test a web page to make sure ur still connecting to the internet, then turn on the PC and check if the internet is working. It may take a couple of attempts, i had to do it about 3 or 4 times before it worked out. but once its up and running the first time then even when u restart either one it should still work.
Hi raygray,
of course it does; saying 'it doesn't' would be defying the physical laws of this world...
But it depends what you're doing on the Net that desides IF you'll see it on the other computers or not.
And also on the speed of your internet access.
The short answer is yes. Your internet connection has a sustained advertised speed and because two PCs (your mac and the windows PC) are both getting internet service from one service provider they will indeed slow each other down as they both get their connection from the same source.
Your configuration does not impact either machine's performance, in other words how you've connected the machines up to get internet does not degrade performance on either machine.
The way you can test this is as follows.
Find out what your advertised speed is.
Visit speedtest.net on one machine while not accessing the internet on the remaining machine and write down your upload and download speed (the results are expected to vary slightly). Now that you've run speedtest on one machine do the same with the other, leaving the other machine not accessing the internet. The results each machine produce should be basically the same.
Then run the speedtest on both machines at the same time and you should find that the machines are both now running at about half the speed because they are sharing the internet as the speed is finite based on what you pay for.
Does this help?
Yes that did help indeed, thank you so very much, I was just concerned that it would be pointless to share that way if i am just going to have the same unreliability of connection being that my PC is not wifi and not an option for ethernet thru the house lol but thanks i appreciate the insight.
Glad to help, thank for acknowledgment.
I have an addendum/related question to this post. Does sharing internet consume resources on the host machine in any significant way?
I think the airport express we have in the living room is dying ("another one bites the dust.."). So while I consider perhaps buying another base station (Extreme?), I could just have the living room Mini, which is hard wired to our router, share it's connection via Wifi.
- Will this cause any noticeable reduction in overall performance on the Mini (apps, browsing, Netflix mainly)?
- Can the Mini serve up a simultaneous 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz signal (like the Extreme)
- How is the Mini's wireless range vs a dedicated base station?
Does sharing internet slow down connection overall?
