Internet Speed Conundrum

Tech Support
1

Setup:

Guest bedroom - MacBook Air M1 - using 5Ghz WiFi connection to router
Closet - Mac Mini M1 - using 1GB ethernet connection to router
(FYI, this is a rental, all walls are concrete)

I was downloading a local AI model to my laptop. It was slow. I paused OneDrive sync, download speeds improved. But I began to wonder about my setup and what would be more optimal. Here are the two scenarios I am pondering:

Scenario 1 - currently in use

Main file storage attached to laptop (clamshell mode) - gives quick access to files for manipulation (which I’ve been doing a lot of lately) but cloud sync has a WiFi leg.

Scenario 2 - not currently in use

Main file storage attached to Mac Mini - seems to introduce some lag and complications for accessing files via Finder, not so much with SSH. But probably faster cloud sync?

As a brief simple test, I did the following:

While a 7.6gb LLM model file was downloading to the laptop, I ran SpeedTest on both devices. I presumed that both would be affected by the download, however the test results really showed me how much of an issue the WiFi leg is (between laptop and router). Left side, laptop. Right side, Mac Mini.

SCR-20260607-gtpu
SCR-20260607-gtpu844×648 163 KB

So I think I’m going to move the bulk of my data files (photos and video) to the Mac Mini and leave the docs on my laptop. Sync only media files to Mac Mini and only docs to laptop. Something like that.

Am I missing anything obvious here?

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This sounds similar to what I do. Mac Mini as a server with a 24 TB DAS attached, and a Macbook Pro that I use on my desk. No ethernet anywhere, but I do have a two-point mesh network to help with wi-fi speeds a bit.

If I see that I’m going to be doing a ton of work on large files on the server over a period of time, I just rsync them over to the laptop, work on them, then rsync them back.

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Very much a +1 for me, instead of a MBP I have a MBA.

5 Eeros give me good coverage across the home and our garden with decent speeds (at least 40-50mbps, but I always get the best speeds closer to the Eero connected directly to the Internet (about 400mbps).

I’d love to have cabled Ethernet everywhere, but it’s not possible.