Ethernet or USB 2, Which is faster?

Just purchased a new laser printer -- which is the
faster way to connect/print?

If you have gigabit ethernet (e.g. on 15" PowerBook) then you can have speeds of 1000 Mbps (theoretical max), USB2 is slower and maxes out at 480 Mbps,but beware fast ethernet (found on older systems) maxes out at 100 Mbps.

Complex print jobs are not limited too much by the speed of the printer connection, but rather by the speed of the processing that the printer must do prior to printing. Simple print jobs require so little data to be sent that the connection speed is not significant. Modern USB2 laser printers are the least expensive choice for a local printer, but ethernet (100Base-T) is more convenient for workgroup printing or for expensive shared printers.

bd

Ewen is correct, and since most printers do not support gigabit ethernet, USB 2 will be faster for most printers. It will probably only matter if you are doing high-resolution color graphics, which is the only time I use it.

Incidentally, if you are printing over a wireless connection, the ethernet will slow down to the speed of the wireless, about half the speed of 100base-T.

...but ethernet (100Base-T) is more convenient for workgroup
printing or for expensive shared printers.

It really depends on the situation, and we don't get much info here, but for many networked printer I have encountered the printer setup is integration into the network via gigabit ethernet print servers. My guess though is that we are being asked to compare USB2 to fast ethernet, and the speed of these can be important when trying to spool large print jobs, which is why they may be asking.