Wired LAN Vs. Wireless LAN What is the best?

[x2crazy4shadyx 0]

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

1064336339[/snapback]

Okay. Wireless lan will lag and glich and freeze up my friend has it and we tryed playing on wireless G. Even in online games with wireless you will get major lag spikes and you think its the server but its wireless bad connection packets loss. Wired is the best way for now. If you go wired get a CAT 6 cables. They allow more flow of packets or something.

[the empty calorie 0]

Personallyv I don't trust wireless ethernet. Insecure connections, as well as not having the best support for non-commercial operating systems. So for hte most part, for me, wireless is not an option. Plus, I've already ivested a lot of money in wired equipment. I have a 5,000 foot spool of CAT-5 cable, cable ends and cable crimpers, a big box of 100Base-T cards, and in the case of my laptop, I made a 50 foot cable so I can walk around and move with it all I need. When my dad bought his laptop and brought it home, the first thing it did was logged into the neighbours' wireless router. I'm sure if I had a wireless card that was supported, I could skip out on paying for my connection and snag one of the neighbours in my apartment building (but i prefer to have a stable connection). But anyways, I'll be sticking to wires for a long time. I know how to make them, route them through the walls and under houses, and I've never minded doing it. Why stop now? Besides, I hate coffee anyways, so I don't need anything wireless.

[James_K 0]

A notable problem with wireless devices is that they still need a power source.
Most generally consider Wi-Fi to be wireless Ethernet, but it is far more than that.

Wired networks, such as Ethernet, are for communications between fixed locations. Wireless networks, such as Wi-Fi, are for communications between devices. The distinction is lost for fixed-location devices, but device mobility is the primary benefit of wireless.

The air is free, but to operate wireless networks one still needs a wired connection to a computer or the wired network, a source of power, and radios. Estimating the cost of a wired network is easy. It is the sum of the cost of the network cable, junctions, and connecting wires; the cable and junction installation; the network interfaces; and the long-term maintenance of the installed wiring plant.

The costs of wireless networks are more difficult to estimate. They include the cost of wiring to access points, access point equipment, wireless interfaces, and long-term wireless troubleshooting and maintenance.

The other notable problem of wireless devices is they still need a power source. Wired network nodes can draw power from the local alternating-current receptacle, but mobile wireless devices depend on batteries or some alternative power source. Of course, you can always plug the wireless device into a local power source, but then you lose the mobility advantage and incur the cost of installing power connections at the device. To some extent, the recent Power over Ethernet (PoE) standard IEEE 802.3af came into being to help resolve this problem by transporting electrical power on the wired Ethernet network so it is available to wireless access points. It is still too early to see much acceptance for this standard, but it is likely to be popular once products for it penetrate the market. However, PoE still does not address the issue of powering the wireless device itself.

Signal loss and fading

In the early twenty-first century, wireless networks still suffer from mysterious dead spots-areas where there is no reception. They are mysterious because even very careful planning cannot remove all dead spots, and sometimes live spots just move or, in the language of radio, fade. The spontaneous loss of communications for no apparent reason is probably one of the most irritating aspects of wireless networks. Often, the signal mysteriously returns even before one can investigate the cause of its loss. This occurs with cellular telephones, with Wi-Fi devices, and with all other wireless local area network (LAN) technologies.

Fading can be because of interference from other radio signals present in the same part of the spectrum as well as because of moving equipment. Sometimes, a live spot exists only as a result of a multipath effect when the signal reflects from some stationary object. Wi-Fi may fade in areas where microwave kitchen appliances are in use or where a cordless telephone is operating at 2.4 gigahertz.

Dead spots may occur within buildings depending on their materials of construction. In the line of sight between the access point and the wireless device, each time the radio wave passes through a solid the signal attenuates. Denser materials attenuate more than less dense materials. Metals, particularly steel, used in building construction may absorb or attenuate most of a radio signal, creating a dead spot in its radio shadow. Moving the access point or the device by a small amount, perhaps only a few millimeters, may eliminate the dead spot.

Finally, there are sunspots! The sun emits a broad spectrum of electromagnetic waves at all frequencies, which generally constitutes noise. Once in a while, the surface of the sun experiences flares or dark spots that emit very strong electromagnetic waves that interfere with radio transmissions. These things simply do not occur with wired communications.

Multipath distortion

Radio waves move from an omnidirectional antenna in all directions. When these radio waves strike a very dense object such as metal or stone, they reflect, much as light reflects from a mirror or other shiny surface. Even when there is a clear path between the transmitting and receiving antennas, some of the signal reflected from other paths will arrive at the receiving antenna. This phenomenon is multipath distortion, and it can affect the received signal, because the longer path will cause the signal to arrive out of phase with the signal from the direct path. The effect of multipath distortion can range from nothing to the cancellation of the signal, depending on the paths and the resulting delays. In some cases, the multipath effect can even boost the received signal. This occurs when both paths arrive at the same time-in phase-such as when multiple transmitting antennas are used.

http://www.findarticles.com/?noadc=1
Edited March 13, 2006 by szupie (see edit history)

[demolaynyc 0]

I'm hoping to get a router soon for my two computers. They're both desktops and They will be both used for gaming. I'm planning on getting a wired router combined with a wireless so in case i get a laptop, i don't have to worry about plugging in anything. Correct me if i'm wrong but I believe that wired LAN would be more suitable for desktop pc's especially if they're going to be used for online gaming because connections are faster. Wireless LAN would be more suitable for laptops mainly used for internet surfing and instant messaging and emails. So, if i put the two together I think it'd be a good combination wouldn't it?

[Nick Erwin 0]

Well for me, i like wireless but i would rather go with wired becasue its faster and dose not quit when you try to stream a online video or something.

[coolumflyers 0]

well in my household we have a wired and unwired network running, we have 2 desktop pcs and at least 2 laptops on the network aswell, I have up to 6 pc running on the same network. really it depends on the situation.

[springbok 0]

this is a difficult question to answer. There are a few things that have to be looked at.- speed of connection required- level of security required- expertise of person installing and maintaining the network- mobility requirementthese are but a few. different scenarios will make better use of each types pros and be affected more by the cons. E.g. if you have a laptop with installed wireless network then wireless is the first choice. If high security is requirement then wired is the better option. if the Person installing the network is knowledgable with wireless networking, installation and security then both are good options. What you require and what you are willing to sacrifice will be the determining factors in the choice of network.

[cherri 0]

I would not allow computer to computer via wireless lan or wireless since If one computer has a virus it can easyely spread I have wireless internet, it's easyer, because you don't have to put cables trough walls, a laptop can easely be moved, and it's been working fine with me, iv'e got the g, our router does b and g(that can be usefull)So I would go wireless unless you have linux, then use cable(it doesn't work to easily and with cable it's done in 1...2...3 )I hope that helped I am looking forward to n because this is a very big house with BRICk walls I am in the room next to the router and have good signall strength....3/5... so if I move ferther a room.... 1/5 -0/5, so I am after n

[Captain Jerry 0]

This forum reminds me of a question/problem I had the last time I tried to go wireless...

 

Everything set up just fine, and I was able to connect just fine, but I couldn't get past the message that said "Windows Not Found" or "Windows could not be located" or something like that.

 

Does anybody have a clue as to what was wrong?

 

[roggle 0]

Problem with wireless is its unreliability tho....not that important with things like file transfers or surfing but when it comes to playing games, the lag spikes are a real downer so then you will want a wired solution.For example, even a wet dog can affect your signal strength and even the latest technologies have to take a little time to detect the disturbance and adjust to filter it out.Let's just hope that one day...WiMax will be a reality among all cities...So no more wires!

[jbitkill 0]

Wired: If your PCs are close together/worrying bout WiFi Security and higher speeds, the Ethernet (Wired)Wireless: If you own a laptop/PC with WiFi and you move around the house, use Wireless with WPAMixed: If you own a PC near a router, use Ethernet for this connection, for others that are portable, use Wireless with WPA.xxxx-jozh-xxxx

[tns2230 0]

It must be Wired LAN because that can go up to 100mbps while wireless can go up to 54mbps (on average)

[iGuest 3]

wired vs wirelessWired LAN Vs. Wireless LAN

if you have a laptop then you might want to use wireless you should use wired LAN for desktops cause they usually stay in one spot ,also usually desktops don't have a wireless Card ,if you have like 6 people connected to your network (wired)) you might want to go with wireless cause it can get really slow if you get wireless and have a wireless router put it in the middle of your house ,apartment ,dormitory room..Whatever chances are good for a beter signal unless you have a huge home, find out the optimal area for a good signal ,if you have like Hugh's net or something and plan on taking advantage of every LAN line you have make sure your using the proper equipment and good wires. I'm sorry if this doesn't make sence...I tried

[ashish17 0]

I think wired lan is better and provides the specified range with good results like no disturbance,voice quality,and wireless has the advantage that it is portable and easy to use but sometimes its not able to work due to some netwpok problems.

[Quatrux 4]

Well, if it's available use Wired Lan as most of here suggested :(At home I have Wireless and Wired Lan in my room, so whenever I am in my room I turn off wireless on the laptop and put the wire into my laptop and work, it's much faster to copy something from our Lan Home server, and to connect to my brothers computer than doing the same through wireless connection and I avoid using more waves in my room :DBut whenever I am in the kitchen, I use wireless, even on the bed I used wireless, because I don't want to move the utp cable from the table.. The only problem is that I need to turn off wireless connection every time on my laptop with the famous Fn F9 key combination, because usually even though the wire is inserted into laptop, you still can be using Wireless ;]So mainly a wired Lan is better for speed and reliability, playing games on wireless might get slower sometimes, it depends on the connection.. When using wireless in the university, they don't let to use Skype to often or any other P2P network like torrents, so thats way sometimes in the University I also just unplug some unused computer Internet cable and plug it into the laptop, it's also faster, because sometimes the wireless connection in the university might get slower or disappear for a minute, it's very inconvenient when you're connected to Oracle repository and etc.