Hey there

Does anyone know how I can find out what is the maximum number of Mbs my Macbook can handle when it comes to internet speed? I am a lady, not really familiar with this, but would my Macbook (purchased this year, not a Macbook pro, basic model) be able to handle a 120 Mbs internet speed without purchasing any external router?

I thank the individual who will help me out with this

Cheers
Beatrix

Yes, it can handle a 120MB internet connection using a wired connection. Easily.

On Wireless, expect around 5-6MB/s, which translates to approx 40-50MB.

The Macbook most likely has an N standard wireless network interface. That put's the theoretical maximums 300Mbps and beyond. If you surf via a public WiFi spot , the expected throughput will be between 10-25Mbps.

At home, if you choose to connect wirelessly, you will achieve slightly higher figures but will need to purchase a wireless router. Your Macbook connects to the router and the router connects to the Internet. Cablecom has an all in one Cable Modem/WLAN router. Other people connect the Router to their DSL / Cable modem.

Not so sure where you get 120Mbps internet, but I have yet to see a wireless interface on a laptop get anywhere near that kind of throughput, so please do not expect to see those kinds of speed. If all you have is the Macbook, consider buying a slower Internet package, otherwise you will be overpaying for what you can use.

Dear Beatrix,

I'm sure that you have all necessary inside your Mac. Actually, for home and most of the office Internet application, the bottleneck is speed which is limited by provider. Usually you can reach maximum 20-30 Mb/s (download) using any kind of connections (wireless types b/g or n, or wired EthernetTP-100 or 1000).
You can check the speed using e.g. http://www.speedtest.net

A Macbook and out of the box Cablecom Wireless Router seem to give me download around 55-70Mbit/sec and 7-8 Mbit/sec upload.

What do you need 120 Mbit/sec for?

Shes not technical, so bear that in mind when asking your questions.

The short answer is that the MacBook itself will be able to receive and transfer data as fast as your network/internet connection can provide it. If you consider the internet connection as something like:

internet -> ISP (the company, e.g. CableCom that provides your internet service) -> modem in your house -> your MacBook -> data processed and on your screen

Then by far the slowest part of that chain will be the ISP -> modem link. All the other components will be able to run far faster. As technology improves, each of these steps gets faster, but the relative difference remains because they are all getting faster. Even a 5+ year old computer and home network should be fast enough to deal with data from today's fastest home internet connections, so it is likely that your MacBook will be fast enough for you for the foreseeable future. I have a 2008 MacBook base model, and it has no trouble keeping up with the speed that CableCom can get data to my flat, so a 2011 model should be more than good enough.