WiFi or Cable connection to router?
- Thread starter peterbbb
- Start date
Unless you have gigabit ethernet, which not all routers have and not all network cards, then it's quite possible that your WiFi will be faster. Especially if you're using a Wireless N router.
But more stable? Sounds like a dodgy network card to me.
But more stable? Sounds like a dodgy network card to me.
That or you could be getting interference with other wireless signals (ie wireless mice/keyboards). They could be causing problems with your wifi which you won't see on a hard-wire. What's your packet loss on both?
most wifi/ethernet routers I have owned and use were "10/100" 's
this meant that wireless bandwidth was 10Mb/sec maximum, ane hard wired was 100Mb/sec.
so hardwired runs faster because there is no air or background radio interference (such as wireless phones or running microwave ovens) to fight through.
this meant that wireless bandwidth was 10Mb/sec maximum, ane hard wired was 100Mb/sec.
so hardwired runs faster because there is no air or background radio interference (such as wireless phones or running microwave ovens) to fight through.
Cabled connections are always better unless something is amiss.
1-Try a different cable
2-Update your network card drivers (Driver booster works well for me, easy)
Report back results.
Might be a bit of a nit pick, but can I just point out that "Mb/sec" normally means "megabytes per second". A 10/100 network is 100 BITS per second. That's around 12.5Mb/sec at best, but unless your network cable is under 1m in length it's unlikely you'd hit that.
Either way, unless the OP is on Virgin Media, his internet connection is unlikely to be even a quatre of that.
Wired all the time
Wifi has its uses - but Gigabit beats Wifi every time.
Wifi has its uses - but Gigabit beats Wifi every time.
That's pretty average for a rural BT connection.
What PC are you using? Because if it's a store-bought machine like an HP or Dell then it's quite possible that they've put a 10 bit network card in it. That's one of the usual pieces of hardware that those companies cheap out on.
To be perfectly honest, unless you're streaming or trasnfering files to other hardware on the network, gigabit ethernet is pretty pointless.
Most people are probably connecting one PC to one router, so as long as their connection to the router is at least equal to their internet speed the additional bandwidth is waisted.
Personally, I a 156mbps Virgin Media internet connection, and a 300mbps Wireless N WiFi connection (averages around 200mbps), so wires are currently completely pointless for me. I'd gain nothing from it except the hassle of trailing cables around the place.
Speed is important, but not quite as important as quality. IE jitter and packet loss is what causes lag and stutter moreso than speed.
A good quality test is a VOIP test. Voice over internet needs the least packet loss and jitter to provide good communication.
http://www.voipqualitytest.com/
If you try that over wifi then again wired you should be able to compare results. Wifi almost always has a lower ping rate and higher packet loss.
Only depending on wireless tech. Wireless N, if within a good range, can give a cat5 cable a pretty good run for it's money.
Your wired connection is less prone to outside interference than your wireless signal. Also with wireless it is expected that you will lose packets it is built into the 802.11abgn standard. Things like walls, other wireless devices (including cordless landlines) and solar flares affect your wireless connection. Usually the only way wireless connections are "faster" is when using the wireless 'N' standard which supports single channel speeds of around 300 Mb/s.
Your wired connection is most likely a 10 /100 connection perhaps even a gigabit connection. This means that it can support more sustained data than the wireless. Also since it is operating on direct electrical current to carry the signal there is less chance for interference unless you are running your cat5 cable past a huge radiation source or large magnets.
Personally I am a Network Security Admin, and I almost never use wi-fi for anything because it is not secure and compared to wired, it is not reliable. The convenience doesn't make up for these two flaws.
FALSE, please for the love of all things holy if you don't know what your talking about don't talk, your only a detriment to others learning.
The 10/100 you see on your router is refers ONLY to the hardwired ports, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the wireless speeds. Wireless speeds are defined by the 802.11 standard and are not listed by speed. They are a, b, g n, and ac.
The 10/100 indicates that this machine is able to auto negotiate lower speeds for devices that may not have been upgraded since 10Base-T was the common standard for networking. Now most home routers do 100BASE-TX and some high end devices for home can do 1000BASE-T, or 10/100/1000. These are all wired speeds, and once again no number in the 10/100/1000 sequence has anything to do with the wireless speed.
Cabled internet is more stable, and generally faster since it doesn't have to worry as much about losing packets. And it sounds like you may be using '802.11b/or g' for your wireless access since that is much slower than what you would experience with a wired connection. If you want to use wireless how far are you from the router, are there any walls between you and the router. And as silly as it sounds is there any metals especially non-ferrous metal (aluminum, etc.) in the walls as that can block RF signals. These are all things to consider when
In conclusion:
- Wired internet is preferable to wireless in almost all cases except when convenience is key.
- Wireless generally only goes 150 feet before it is unusable.
- Wireless is more prone to packet loss because there is no physical link
- Wired internet has a range of ~300 meters, which means it can reach most parts of your house if planned right, and the cables can be ran.
- Please at least research what you are talking about before you start telling other people something totally false. Some people genuinely want to learn something in this case about wired / wireless networking, and on the internet no one knows who is a professional and who isn't so you could profoundly influence someone's view on a topic by asserting what you are saying is true even when it is completely ridiculous.
Cheers.
There are currently 12 machines on my LAN, I only use wifi for my phone, chromecast, chromebook and the air. Everything else is cabled where possible - but some of the other laptops use wifi when I'm lazy.
Transfer rates on wireless are quite random, the only one that maintains consistently high speeds to the apple router is the air, and even then when I want to game on that I plug it in.
There is just no comparison.