Wired LAN Vs. Wireless LAN What is the best?

[christophertinker 0]

I am not sure what is best Wired LANWireless "Post me any of your thoughts about WIRED V WIRELSS#I need to know!!!!!!

[akijikan 0]

Wired LAN is faster and much more secure, since you're not broadcasting anything through the air. That means anyone who wants on your network needs a lin connection, they can't just park in your driveway and get on it.

 

Wireless LAN is near painless to set up though. No wiring needed and you can have a network up and running in no time. It's also not that hard to make it fairly secure through use of passcodes and such.

 

If you want to secure a wireless connection here are some steps you can take. They are from this website, visit it to see what I shortened with elipsies.

 

[quote name='http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/) Don't use TCP/IP for File and Printer sharing!

Access Points are usually installed on your LAN, behind any router or firewall you may be using.  If someone successfully connects to your Access Point...

 

2) Follow secure file-sharing practices

This means...

 

3) Enable WEP Encryption

802.11b's WEP encryption has had a lot of bad press lately about its weaknesses. But a weak lock is better than no lock at all...

 

4) Use WEP for data and Authentication

Some products allow you to separately set the Authentication method to "Shared Key" or "Open System"...

 

5) Use non-obvious WEP keys and periodically change them

While the limitations that some wireless client utilities have don't help...

 

6) Secure your wireless router / Access Point (AP)

Your router or Access Point should require a password to access its Admin...

 

7) Disallow router/ AP administration via wireless

Unfortunately, this feature is usually only present in "Enterprise-grade" APs...

 

8) Use MAC address based Access and Association control

Previously available only on "Enterprise-grade" products...

 

9) Don't send the ESSID

ORiNOCO and Apple call the ability to stop their products from sending out the...

 

10) Don't accept "ANY" ESSID

ORiNOCO and Apple's "closed network" feature also won't accept connections from clients using the default "ANY" ESSID....

 

11) Use VPN

Of course, if you really don't want to take chances with your data...

 

 

I didn't mean to submit the above reply, I still had more to go so here it is:

 

Typically your speeds on a wired network are going to be much quicker. Most ethernet cards today are 10/100 Mbit/sec and 1000 Mbit/sec is becoming increasingly common (especially in corporate fields).

 

Wireless has two standards and a third that is going to be introduced soon.

 

802.11b is 11 Mbit/sec

802.11g is 54 Mbit/sec

 

There are also some "Pre-N" products (referring to 802.11n) that are labeled as such because the maker is almost certain that the MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology deployed by them is going to be used in the 802.11n standard. The current "Pre-N" products do deliver better speeds than their b and g counterparts while maintaining compatibility with them. Pre-N products are also often capable of further range. PC world tested a belkin router and card that could communicate over 50 feet. Much better than b or g. However when the 802.11n specifications are finalized, they likely won't be compatible with these "Pre-N" products that manufacters are developing outside industry standards.

 

One other thing that should be noted about wireless is that the weaker the signal you have (be it becaouse of distance or walls, etc) the slower overall rate of transfer you'll achieve.

 

So after all that information, to answer your question about which is better, like most things it depends on what you need.

 

Wireless is good if you're mainly interested in sharing a broadband connection in your house. The fastest home-consumer broadband options commonly top out at 8 Mbit/sec and are usually operating under that. That speed is within the capabilities of wireless connections.

 

However, if you are going to move a lot of data from computuer to computer, you are going to feel limited by wireless. Even though 802.11g is max of 54 Mbit/sec, you usually see transfers around 20 Mbit/sec average. If you're moving gigabytes of data between computers, a 1000 Mbit/sec wired LAN is going to serve your purpose much better than wireless.

 

Those who are security freaks should also stick to wired. While you can secure a wireless network, there have been cases of some wireless security measures being broken.

 

Hope that answers your question!

[salempc 0]

I have extensively experienced both types of connections. My school worked around a policy that said every stundent must have a laptop, and wireless connection to the school network. We had that ORiNOCO thingy, and it was pretty fast, 11Mbit/sec is pretty fast for me, and was pretty cool to play LAN games in class (good ol' days -- CS in Spanish and FIFA 01 in Maths )I believe they were trying to reduce paper consumption and it did well -- 1 laptop = 5846029 books and notebooks ;)At home I have a wired LAN, pretty fast also, I really dont know the speeds (I believe it goes around 100Mbit/sec), but it works as well as school did. No problems with either of those.What I wanted to say is that it doesn't matter if you got 1000Mbit on one and double on the other, there is a certain speed that will allow the necessary flow speed, and anything beyond that is cool just for showing off the numbers.

[akijikan 0]

I agree with you in general, but I'm thinking when I'm sending a file from a harddrive on one computer, to a harddrive on another computer, the higher max speed of my connection, the faster the transfer. Am I wrong?

[HTML_Guru 0]

I'm gonna have to say Wired Lan, just due to the sheer amount of trouble with disconnections I've had with wireless lan. Also, the range seems shorts; although, that may vary upon providers and such.

[Hercco 0]

Now this is a bit unfair comparison. Wired communication has been around for decades, in fact over hundred years if you consider it started from telegraphs. Wireless communication is still very young technology and it is very rapidly developing. If both options were equally available, they would cost just as much, cabling wouldn't cause problems and the network devices were equally priced then of course I'd build a wired ethernet network. However often wireless is lot easier and more suitable. And sometimes pulling wires is not even possible, like in old museum buildings for example.I use a WLAN Internet connection. The network is free access network, meaning that anyone within the range can connect to the network freely. The connection to outside Internet requires logging in (it is done with a proxy server). Gladly for at least the test perioid everyone from out university can connect to the Internet without charge so essentially I'm using a free 10Mbps internet for free. I see the future of Internet access in this kind of wireless networks. Mobile devices are getting more and more popular, Nokia communicator already supports WLAN and I'm sure cheaper phones will follow. There will be different types of wireless network available... On cities, there will be WLAN and WiMAX available. In more rural areas UMTS and possibly WiMAX. The devices, computers PDAs, cell phones would be able to connect to any of these and roam from network to another.

[iGuest 3]

HmmI think I'd rather have a wired connection... For desktops anyway...I'd never want a wired LAN for a laptop...I'd want to move around way too much for that <.<I'd use my laptop in a million and one different places just within my homeUnfortunately, I don't have a laptopWe have a wired LAN right now thoughIt's pretty fast, I like it...I hate the fact that when the host computer goes off it kills my internet though O_o

[unimatrix 0]

Depends on what your doing. If your at home and have several computers spread out in the house, say one in the den/office, another in the basement, another in the kids room, then a wireless lan might be the best solution. Certainly the easiest to set up.In a small office, I always advise clients to work with wired networks. It is faster, but mainly the reason is security. It is much harder for someone to get into a wired network that a wireless network because they have to have a remote connetion or be in the building.If your operating wirelessly and things are not configured securely or your in a building where signals can leak, you might get leeches or at worst some one might be able to get an easy in to your systems and sensitive information, like customer information.For that same reason, if your in an apartment, I generally recommend wired because it is more secure and distances are fairly close. In my world of renderfarms, we have to use wired optical connections because we are transferring Gigabytes of data on large video projects anymore.

[prodigy-designs 0]

One factor that you should consider is if you are going to leave your computer stationary, or if you have a notebook which you will be moving around with and using throughout your home. I have a wired LAN because for one reason, it is cheaper and also because I bought my router several years ago when the wireless routers were pretty expensive. I have heard some people say that if their telephone runs on 802.11g and your wireless router also does that you can get kicked off the internet when the phone rings. I don't know if this is a true statement or not, but it may also be something you should look into. I remember being on 56k dialup and it was pretty annoying getting kicked off whenever the phone would ring! If you have a notebook with a wireless ethernet card built into it, the wireless internet is a great thing to have. It allows mobility and I havent noticed any performance difference when I am at school on their wireless LAN, or at home on my wired network. If you decide to purchase a wireless router, make sure that you set all of your passwords and have good security because of course, a wireless network is easier to breach. I do see wireless internet becomming more dominant in the future, but do some research before making your choice.

[Sarah81 0]

I am not sure what is best

 

Wired LAN

Wireless "

Post me any of your thoughts about WIRED V WIRELSS

#

 

I need to know!!!!!!  

1064331295[/snapback]

I'm using my university's wireless network because my on-campus apt., which was built in the 1970s, doesn't have the wired connection (big surprise there, right? Hehe).

 

Personally, I would prefer wired because, when I had that in my dorm (same school), it was more stable than the wireless connection. And connection speeds were a little higher.

 

But, having access to wireless in my apt. is better than having to take my laptop to the university center or some other building on campus just to check my e-mail.

[ruben1405241511 0]

I love Wireless in combination with a laptop, it is a completely new experience of using the internet, when you sit outside in the sun, chatting to friends... The security thing is the following: If you are considering it for private use or for a small unimportant business, then you don't have to care that much about security: I used to live on the countryside, I did not even have a WEP key set up, because no one would make the effort to drive out to our house and monitor my computer (we would see them from 500meters away anyway ^^). And if you are living in the city, I would guess that a WEP key is enough to scare off a normal user. Even though it is quite easy to crack when you monitor the connection for weak packages with the right equipment, but it is not a thing everyone could do. If your neighbour hates you and is your business concurrence, you might want to think over it again, because he would just set his WLAN reception to listen and after a day of your extensive internet usage, he could see your WEP key.But I have to say: I've tried this kind of stuff with my iBook / Airport Extreme card and it didn't work at all (my equipment was not ideal).First of all I would recommend you looking if one of your neighbours left his connection unsecured ^^ then you can thank him for free internet access.

[matt2501 0]

My wireless is good enough for me, If you are prepared to spend the time getting it working properly before using it, it is much better than wired any day

[x2crazy4shadyx 0]

Your thinking about using wireless for gaming wow.......

[iGuest 3]

i would go with wireless because why would you buy another modem. it is a question of common sense.

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

Wireless is the wave of the future!!!!!!Ok, thats just random corny nonesense, however, I would still say go wireless. The speeds are more then fast enough now with the newer tech, and security is fine as long as you are careful like ruben was saying, just WEP it up and use a good strong key and you'll be fine unless someone really has it out for you, in which case you are pretty well done regardless.Oh and yea, if you are in an urban setting theres likely unprotected wireless around you to steal at your leisure (officially this is illegal, but it is there...) I know in my apartment building I can see at least 10 networks at any given time, usually 14 or 15. Of those, at least 7 have no WEP protection so on the rare occasion my net goes down, I just need to hop through them until I hit one thats not using my service provider and bam, access granted. Officially I've only had to use my buddy next door so far, whose permission I have... but its just as easy to use any if they aren't WEP'd.