Air or Wire?
- Thread starter Androo
- Start date
Canada-Man
My team was the Expos
I use 802.11b (original Airport card) and it is the same on the web, however, on file transfers, I only get 100 K/sec instead of 500k/sec with the ethernet cable. 802.11g (Airport Extreme) should be a lot faster and may be the same.
Please note that I do not have an Apple Airport base but a Netgear Wireless Router (I saved $250 here in Canada... and it works pretty well!) maybe Apple routers are better. Also do not forget that wireless will avoid you the trouble of installing cables all around the house, that's a big plus if you have a laptop, and don't forget to turn on protections so that your neighbours don't steal your internet!
Please note that I do not have an Apple Airport base but a Netgear Wireless Router (I saved $250 here in Canada... and it works pretty well!) maybe Apple routers are better. Also do not forget that wireless will avoid you the trouble of installing cables all around the house, that's a big plus if you have a laptop, and don't forget to turn on protections so that your neighbours don't steal your internet!
Salvo
Registered
Wires are much Quicker with High Performance Tasks.
Typical High-Speed Consumer ADSL Connection 512kbps (Peak)
10BaseT 10Mbps (Mega bits per second) Peak
802.11b 11Mbps Theoretical Peak (Dependent on RF Noise)
802.11g 54Mbps Theoretical Peak (Dependent on RF Noise)
100BaseT 100Mbps Peak
Wired networks are more stable, and more likely to constantly be at Peak Performance. Wireless networks can fluctuate significantly, and some people still claim that 802.11g can't reach the 54Mbps at all! Latency is also a Problem.
Taking that into consideration, if you're only using your LAN to connect to the Internet, even Noisy 802.11b will be much quicker than your ADSL, so it's not gonna cause any degradation of speed. If you use your LAN for data Storage, or for high-volume, low-latency transfer of data (Local File Sharing, HD Video, High Performance LAN games), Wires are definitely a much better idea.
Typical High-Speed Consumer ADSL Connection 512kbps (Peak)
10BaseT 10Mbps (Mega bits per second) Peak
802.11b 11Mbps Theoretical Peak (Dependent on RF Noise)
802.11g 54Mbps Theoretical Peak (Dependent on RF Noise)
100BaseT 100Mbps Peak
Wired networks are more stable, and more likely to constantly be at Peak Performance. Wireless networks can fluctuate significantly, and some people still claim that 802.11g can't reach the 54Mbps at all! Latency is also a Problem.
Taking that into consideration, if you're only using your LAN to connect to the Internet, even Noisy 802.11b will be much quicker than your ADSL, so it's not gonna cause any degradation of speed. If you use your LAN for data Storage, or for high-volume, low-latency transfer of data (Local File Sharing, HD Video, High Performance LAN games), Wires are definitely a much better idea.
TommyWillB
Registered
Is your question about bandwidth or latency?
scruffy
Notorious Olive Counter
Wireless is also a single collision domain - if six computers are communicating with one another, the 11 or 54 Mbps gets divided among them. If they're all communicating through an ethernet switch, each communication channel gets the full 10 or 100 (or 1000) Mbps bandwidth; up to 30, 300 or 3000 Mbps could be travelling through the switch.
And no, getting a new cable won't speed up your Internet connection - unless you are spending many hundreds of dollars a month on that connection, it's much much much slower than the ethernet connection between your computer and modem. The slowest link is not under your control, so there's nothing you can do about it.
And no, getting a new cable won't speed up your Internet connection - unless you are spending many hundreds of dollars a month on that connection, it's much much much slower than the ethernet connection between your computer and modem. The slowest link is not under your control, so there's nothing you can do about it.
ElDiabloConCaca
U.S.D.A. Prime
Just to reiterate some stuff said here: no kind of basic network upgrade will increase an internet connection. Even the slowest 802.11b network (or a 10base-T network) can deliver T1 internet speeds and more without problem. I have a 3.0mbit DSL connection (twice as fast as a T1) that is routed through an 802.11b router to a wireless laptop, and I still see an upwards of 300k/sec while surfing/downloading from the 'net. Unless you're on the backbone of the internet or have a T3 or an OC3 connection or something, even the slowest wireless network (which are usually slower than any wired network) can handle full-throttle internet at the maximum bandwidth without trouble.
Natobasso
Tech-Bot 5000
I see wireless like anything else: It has its benefits and drawbacks. It's benefit is that you don't need a wire to connect to the internet or a network. The downside for me has usually been file transfer speed from one computer to another wirelessly. It's about 1/10 as fast as the ethernet cable.
But I can work in my recliner away from my main computer desk (a nice benefit after sitting there for 12 hours straight!) and surf the internet without dragging a 15 foot ethernet cable with me.
I basically use whatever's most beneficial at the time. If I need to be mobile, I use the wireless. If I need to transfer work files, I just plug my laptop in and load the files via ethernet.
But that's just me!
But I can work in my recliner away from my main computer desk (a nice benefit after sitting there for 12 hours straight!) and surf the internet without dragging a 15 foot ethernet cable with me.
I basically use whatever's most beneficial at the time. If I need to be mobile, I use the wireless. If I need to transfer work files, I just plug my laptop in and load the files via ethernet.
But that's just me!