I'm a technoidiot. Can I hook this up to my father's hard wiresd 7 year old Mac desk top. His computer is slowing down. will this improve speed? ?
357358
Hi Margaret, the Mac Mini is a separate computer altogether, you can't just hook it up to another computer because it is one...Hope that answers your questions. Thanks
357359
This is a computer itself. You cannot 'hook it up' to another computer in that way. it would not work. However you could buy this computer, and I could even upgrade the RAM for you and make it faster and it would probably be better than his older computer. Also you can use it with any DVI monitor, and USB keyboard/mouse.
357360
Hello Margaret, honestly I don't know, but I doubt you can do that. This Mac mini needs to be connected to an external display. Thanks forYou're quit and great luck!
357361
No. This is a hard wired, stand alone desktop itself. You can replace your fathers old one. Or better yet, just upgrade your fathers and clean it up.
357362
Hello and Good Afternoon Margaret P., please bare in mind this mac mini is a stand alone computer similar in nature to your existing and would increase speed on your older computer. I do believe however it can be connected to each for communication purposes, such data exchange etc. Thanks and have a nice day.
357363
Margaret, I'm sorry, but I don't think that will work. This Mac mini needs a display to work properly. Great luck!
1227618
I have not used it for that purpose before. The standard connection it comes with is a USB 3.0 cable which is faster than firewire. If you have a USB 3.0 connection on your computer than great, if not it will still connect via a USB 2.0 connection but will not have the faster performance.
1040827
Any storage you attach to a wi fi router will be very slow, especially compared to wired links. There are several reasons for this but the most important one is a router is designed to make sure no one link/channel sucks up the entire bandwidth that is available. If you had a "business" router you could establish rules that would let you work around this but consumer models are made to be "user friendly". You *might* be able to tweak the "game" settings to allow greater throughput but then you would have to set up your storage programs to use certain ports. IMO you are better off using wired LANs (and/or one of the four Ethernet ports on the router) for heavy duty storage transfers. However, this unit will do just fine if all you need are routine backups (especially at night) and nominal file access by a few users. I have 1TB attached through the USB port and another 2TB attached via wireless and while transfers are slow they are acceptable for home use. Note that USB is going to be the slowest of all choices with a router, behind wi fi (a bit faster) and ethernet (very fast).
1458605
See answer from V. Caarlson. I think the computer needs to be reasonably up to date and fast. I use a new Macbook and it works well.
1322711
yes. you just plug into an available USB port and now you have an ethernet port ! my ethernet ports were damaged by lightening so I use this adapter now and it works fine on both iMac and MacBook Pro.
881460
I don't know that you can find a firewire to Thunderbolt adapter going from new tech drive to old tech computer.. as said already.. it normally goes the other way around.
135574
I don't think so. I bought the adapter because I had an iMac with only USB2. I suspect that on a point to point basis (i.e. no intervening hub) that it will be difficult to tell the difference between the two technologies. Certainly, I doubt it would justify the extra expense.Anon,Andrew
841907
The short answer is no. Your speed will most definitely be limited by the slow 5400rpm disk. It will not take full advantage of the Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 bandwidth. I'll be getting a Thunderbolt drive with SSD.
284243
I tried this Cable splitter and it didn't work for me. I have not found a splitter that will do that. And if your like me, your looking to get the best speed for both units. What I finally did to boost my speed was I got some ZyXEL Powerline Wall-Plug Adapters. Your cable line goes into one of the Adapters and then you have two other Adapters, one for your workstation and one for your Apple TV. The Adapters are not cheap, but if you want the speed you are paying for then maybe it is worth it. I hope that helped you.
1988798
Cleoo,You have to understand there are many people who do not know or understand how to use many computer devices. I can't answer the question for you because I don't run or have access to a MAC, sorry about that. My neighbor has one and I can try to see if they have time and test it on their computer and let you know. Regards,Charlie
44916
I am using it in my early 2006 Mac Pro and it is running it at full speed. Not sure why it is running slower for you.
1284119
If you have an eSATA port on your PC or your Mac (usually available through an PCI-e expansion card) you can transfer data at just shy of 6gbps. Once considered a professional peripheral connection, they've all but disappeared with the advent of USB 3 and Thunderbolt connections.
168505
it may work but I don't think that mac has the right PCIe slot so if it even boots up it will be way slower than the rated specs
710962
Yes. In the product description the manufacturer says that it is backwards compatible with most USB peripherals. That means it supports older hardware running on older usb technology. The manufacturer also explains that the power through-put is higher too. So, while not testing it, I think you will be fine. Plus you will have a cable capable of transferring data at really high speeds.
1484931
if your dial up modem can attach to the lan port on the cpu it should work. i would think your speed is going to be very slow !!
53732
I'm not tech savy at all. If you have used a PC I.e managed a PC cleaned it up, set it up maintained it. You will be just fine on a Mac. It's very straight forward in my opinion
1968569
Sorry, don't know. My unit is off and stached away. I tried 2 different units, and it works as long as you don't move your computer. Move it by a couple of feet and latency increase and speed drops in spite of a full bar signal. I don't recommend it.