[ad]There are two ways to connect a computer to a network: wired or wireless. Sometimes this will determine the kind of router you purchase, but fortunately today most offer both options.
A wired connection requires an Ethernet cable be run between the router and your computer. In a wireless connection, you use hardware in your computer to communicate with the router without that cable.
Both have advantages and disadvantages so to help you pick the right one for you, here are 5 things to consider when deciding on a network connection.
1. Ease of Set-Up
Wired connections are easier to set up. With most modern computers you can simply plug in the cable and get on the Net. Wireless requires configuring the router and at least one extra step on the computer’s side: searching for the correct network to connect to. If you live in an apartment building in the city and go to connect to your network, you’ll probably see a dozen or more different possibilities.
2. Reliability and Speed
Everybody who has used both wired and cordless home telephones knows how much more likely the cordless varieties are to pick up interference and experience problems of quality. The same can be true for wireless Internet. While hardware has improved over the years, other electrical devices can still potentially interfere with your Internet, in some cases causing disconnections and delays. And like cordless phones, problems increase as you get farther away from the router. There are devices to fix such problems, but they can be costly and may require some trial and error.
3. Speed
Wired is almost always faster than wireless, and never slower. This is due to the reliability issues mentioned above and to the technology itself, which simply hasn’t caught up to Ethernet-level quality.
4. Convenience
Clearly wireless is more convenient on a day-to-day basis. Once it’s been set up, you can access the Internet from any computer in the vicinity of the router. If you can run Ethernet cables throughout your house you can achieve a similar level of convenience while keeping the reliability and speed, but it’s a huge undertaking and may not even be possible if, for example, you rent an apartment.
5. Security
This is arguably the most important of these points and the one too few give much thought.
A wired network is fully contained. In order to connect to it, you must have physical access to the router. On the other hand, a wireless network is not contained. Your neighbors, people on the street, or those in the restaurant next door can all potentially find your network on their computers. There are two reasons this should concern you.
[ad#r]First, you don’t want people you don’t know using your Internet connection. It’ll be slower to you and any questionable actions they take online will be traced back to you, not to them.
Second, it’s not difficult for a hacker to intercept data sent through an unsecured network. All of the banking, purchasing, and communication you do online could potentially be maliciously saved to a computer. You can imagine the possibilities for identity theft, credit card fraud, and so on.
This was contributed by the guys at BroadbandCompare.com.au where you can buy cheap broadband and find detailed buying guides to help you choose the right plan.
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I give favor to wired connection that wireless. Since, I’m always at home and find the ease of using my laptop only at home too, then I think, thumbs up for a wired connection, it’s more reliable and faster to use.
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Bjorn….just my thoughts on the topic….I 100% agree that wired internet is faster. I can’t tell you how many times during hotel stays for my corporate job, how slooowwww the wireless internet turns out to be with so many people accessing to 1 network from 1 location. BUT, with that said, wireless internet is becoming more preferable simply because of convenience. More and more locations are signing on to wireless and installing wireless routers and WiFi hotspots. Airlines are going WiFi and you don’t know how cool it is to sign to the internet from 39,000 feet in the sky until you tried it. And it is fast from that high up too! Having a wireless card tied to a cell phone company is also a plus and the service much faster than it used to be. This way, you can get online with much improved faster internet anywhere you get a cell signal.
So I just wanted to point out having wired internet is still a “bit” faster. But wireless is catching up with the speed and the convenience alone makes it a better choice.
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Totally agree there Doug! Speed is one thing, convenience is another. Me personally, I prefer convenience over speed!
Speed is the most important factor is todays world!! So I am still using an Wired broadband connection when a lot of people are option for wireless networks..
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I love the idea of wireless networks but I have never had very much success with them. I am a huge gamer so the only real way to be is wired. Maybe someday they will get wireless to be closer to wired.
I think I too give a thumbs up to the Wired networks than wireless since I find wired is quite more faster than wireless as well and then if you do most of your things at your home then it is better to have a wired connection since it saves you a lot of money
Atleast in the place where I live, Mobile broadband is offering more speed than wired one for the same price. Its all about demand, once the infrastructure is in place, wireless networks will operate at much higher speed.
Flexibility is one of my choice. In my place, connecting with wireless is easier than wire. All I need just find a best hotspot that provide wireless connection and then I’m on internet already.
I currently have a wireless router, but utilize both wired and wireless. My desktop is always connected to the router via a wired connection, while my laptop utilizes the wireless connection.
I haven’t had a problem with the wireless connection, but I do notice a speed increase when using the wired connection from the desktop.
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While being connected is quicker, I just love the portability of wireless.
I go for wired internet, because of its reliability and stable connection.
I tried wireless and i must say that the speed is jumping up and down.
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According to me wired network is much better than wireless.because it is easy and more reliable.
To all those who have said that wireless connection is slow or whatever, your wrong. Maybe you just don’t have the right type of equipment to make it better. Wireless routers and even adapters for computers have the capability of 300 megabits per second while a wired connection has the limit of 100 megabits per second. Sure it doesn’t really make that much of a difference when it’s right there, but a wireless router with the capabilities of 300 megabits per second will send a lot more data at one time using wireless than wired. Especially if you think about 100 megabits vs. 300 megabits. Also some wireless routers have dual band which makes it a lot faster for those adapters that can use it. It also is a lot more convenient for people who would like to move around a lot in their home. Sure some people have problems, but then again, you shouldn’t be using a wireless connection if you don’t know what you are doing. A lot of clients have worked with have had their wireless network completely open. It’s a shame that a lot of people own a computer, yet don’t know or want to know the simple stuff that comes with it. One thing everyone always needs to know is to use WPA2 on wireless. It’s the most secured type of wireless connection to date.
I totatly agree with Donald Dolan. I used to u=have problems with the wireless network and was almost switching to wired. Until I changed my security to WPA2 thats when i enjoyed both the speed and the security.
In my opinion, I think that the problems comes when getting the right type of router with duo band which is expensive. To get the best out of this one needs to invest in the setup to make it secure and fast.
Of course, your mileage may vary: Other factors affect performance–actual data throughput is less than the theoretical maximum speeds when you run into factors like packet overhead and the retransmission of lost or damaged packets.