WiFi vs. Wired

Here’s an analysis you might want to take a look at comparing wireless and wired networks:

Wi-Fi is still useful. Wi-Fi allows you to get a smartphone, tablet, or laptop on your network from anywhere, moving around — that’s obvious. But Wi-Fi also allows you to connect devices to your network without running an Ethernet cable, so it can just be useful even when you don’t want to bother running an Ethernet cable from your router to a device in another room in your house.

That’s the real reason to use Wi-Fi: convenience. If a device needs to move around or you just don’t want to run a cable to it, Wi-Fi is the right choice.

On the other hand, if you have a desktop PC or server that sits in a single place, or if you have a game console or set-top box that stays by your TV, Ethernet is still a good option. Assuming it’s easy enough to plug the devices in with an Ethernet cable, you’ll get a more consistently solid connection. Yes, Ethernet is better.

But it’s not necessarily that much better, and most people may be happy staying with Wi-Fi and forgetting about running Ethernet cables. It’s up to you — testing your connection speeds and latency with the speed test and ping tools above can help you make a more informed decision.

Back when we did our major home renovation a few years back I had CAT6 run throughout the new part of the house. I just did a quick Internet speed comparison two PCs in the house. A PC with a wired connection clocked in at 30 Mbps while a PC with a wireless connection (it’s in the old section of the house) got 20 Mbps. That’s actually better than I expected for wireless. Of course, if multiple devices were accessing the Internet wirelessly at the same time it would probably be less than that due to the nature of wireless. Fortunately, all of my Internet-connected televisions use my wired network.

I probably should check my routers and switches, though. I don’t know that I have gigabit Ethernet throughout.

Update

I just finished installing a new Roku 3 where my Roku 2 used to be, moving the Roku 2 to where I used to have a first generation Roku. Since I was still using a first generation Roku, Roku made me an offer I could not refuse to get a current technology device.

Now the old Roku was using my wireless network to connect. It’s located in the old part of the house and I had found powerline networking was too darned slow. I retried it with the Roku 2. Still too slow. At this point I’d say the problems I’d been having were about 50-50 connecting wirelessly and the old Roku itself. Meanwhile, the Roku three is blindingly fast (at least by comparison) and even provides a slightly clearer picture which I did not expect. Setting it up was incredibly easy. It identified the channels I’d set up on the Roku 2 (presumably from Roku’s site) and installed them automatically on the Roku 3. I then cycled through the channels I use most frequently (NetFlix, Amazon, Hulu+, Acorn, PBS, Tubit, and WeatherUnderground) and went through their individual set up routines. The whole process of installing, checking, and reconfiguring both devices took me less than a half hour.

6 comments… add one
  • Andy Link

    Unfortunately I am almost completely wifi with the exception of our NAS. I’d love to run cables, but it wouldn’t be easy and we’re renting. Even so, I have not had many issues with performance – streaming HD content to two TV’s, gaming on my laptop, plus portable devices all at the same time hasn’t, so far, been a problem.

  • TastyBits Link

    I have the cable modem and a WiFi router in the front, and I use a powerline adapter to run another WiFi router in the back room.

    My desktop is wired into the front router, and my stepson’s laptop, XBoxes, and Playstation use the front WiFi. The Tivo is wired into the router in the back room, and my wife use the WiFi in the front or back depending on where she is.

    I should have wired the house after Katrina, but I would still need WiFi for all my wife’s Apple crap.

  • My experience with powerline networking in my home hasn’t really been satisfactory. That may be due to the wiring in the older part of my house (c. 1937). We replaced a lot of the old wiring when we added the addition but not all of it.

  • TastyBits Link

    The back room router is used for the Tivo to download scheduling and my wife to play on her iPod and iPad. I can schedule TV, and she does not complain. For me, it works 100%. These things are supposed to be secure, but I do not trust any of them. For my desktop, I treat everything as compromised.

    I have a WD TV Live Hub Media Center wired into the back router. Transferring ripped DVD is not fast, but once they are stored, it is not a problem. Now, my wife wants Netflix, but I am reluctant to get it.

    We have old wiring, and the powerline has to go through the breaker box. My Tivo box has built-in networking over coax cables (MoCA), but I am not sure if it would be any better. The coax goes through a 4-way splitter, but it may be on a different line.

    (I have two main cable lines running to my house, and the house is split between the two. I was having internet problems, and the cable guy decided there were too many connections on one line. He also replaced the existing cable and all the splitters. When I asked him how much this was going to cost me, he said, “nothing”, and the service call was free. My experience with Cox has been mostly good.)

  • TastyBits Link

    You could set up a repeater to forward your WiFi signal, or you could make a directional antenna. Depending upon your configuration, you could have the modem in the wired part of your house, and then, you could run the WiFi as forward as possible.

    I originally only had one WiFi router for the whole house, but it was only reliable in the area it was connected. In the other area, the microwave and cordless phone would cause the connection to degrade or drop.

  • Andy Link

    We have two Roku 3’s and love them.

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