Depends on the speed of your connection between internet and router. If that is slow a fast router does nothing. Also I find slow connections painful but many don't mind them. Wont slow email noticeably. Will slow video and gaming and probably music. I notice with browsing many dont. I'm pretty impatient.
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Depends on the speed of your connection between internet and router.
Is there a way to check it?
I'd say most high-speed internet connections these days are faster than 802.11b, so I'd recommend 802.11g at least. Also, if you connect to other devices in your home via WiFi, the 802.11b would slow those connections down a lot.
I have 802.11n laptops and an Apple Time Capsule that's also that speed. That makes Time Machine backups via WiFi much faster.
plug your computer in directly bypassing router than do a speed test. Maybe search for speakeasy san francisco a lot of people use that.
Tommy a lot of people have 2 Mips or less. especially if they have DSL rather than cable.
plug your computer in directly bypassing router
You mean dig out the cable from the bottom of the mystery closet and connect it to the modem?
than do a speed test. Maybe search for speakeasy san francisco a lot of people use that.
Speakeasy san francisco is...a program?
I'm serious when I say I don't really know anything about this.
Also, I have no idea where the cable is that would connect the laptop to the modem (I lied; there is no mystery closet). That's why I got a laptop, so I don't have to deal with cables and shit.
Well, huh. I don't want to buy a new router if I don't need one, but it seems like an 802.11b router would be silly with an 802.11n laptop.
Replace the router.
Speakeasy has a website with a speed test.
Five years old could be still be 802.11g, I think. What's the model of the router? Realistically you'd be fine for Internet usage with g. If it is b, you should definitely upgrade to n, there's no reason not to.
Compared to the cost of the MBP, though, a new 802.11n router is pretty small potatoes so maybe just buy a new one and don't worry about figuring out the old one.
Teppy, do you have a method for regular backups? Do you need one? The Apple Time Capsule is an 802.11n router that has a built-in hard drive, which allows you to use Time Machine to automatically do backups while you're connected.
The cheapest one is 1TB at $299.