Everything in my home that can be wired, is wired. Phone, thermostat, laptops, TV sticks, etc., are on wireless.
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Are most of you wired or using wifi?
- Thread starter Kargo
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I have an EERO Pro 6E mesh wifi network connected to a 1.2 Gb/s Internet connection. Most of my 70 odd devices connect thru wifi to the internet, of course. One node acts as the router and performs nat.
Speeds vary thoughout the house from around 900 Mb/s to 200 Mb/s depending on proximity to a node or which node I am connected to. However my desktop machine, which is near the router and wireless access, has an ethernet connection, so I connect to the network via both on my desktop. This allows the system to choose the fastest and wifi is still quite variable, despite the fact I have 4 mesh nodes. I get around 900 Mb/s for the internet connection at the desk. Changing from ethernet to wifi I note that the wifi is very variable, but never faster than the ethernet connection and 'sometimes' matching it. Why I have no clue. The desktop is not moving relative to the mesh node so it should be consistent, but it isn't.
Wifi is still not good enough for a reliable connection and the speed differences across the network drive me nuts. I am sat within 30 ft of two nodes on the network, yet I can still only get 250 Mb/s speed. And yes I have checked which node it is connected to and the node roaming is not that smart at times, and it is probably using only 1 jump to the router.
Bottom line is ethernet where I can get it, otherwise wifi by force of necessity.
Speeds vary thoughout the house from around 900 Mb/s to 200 Mb/s depending on proximity to a node or which node I am connected to. However my desktop machine, which is near the router and wireless access, has an ethernet connection, so I connect to the network via both on my desktop. This allows the system to choose the fastest and wifi is still quite variable, despite the fact I have 4 mesh nodes. I get around 900 Mb/s for the internet connection at the desk. Changing from ethernet to wifi I note that the wifi is very variable, but never faster than the ethernet connection and 'sometimes' matching it. Why I have no clue. The desktop is not moving relative to the mesh node so it should be consistent, but it isn't.
Wifi is still not good enough for a reliable connection and the speed differences across the network drive me nuts. I am sat within 30 ft of two nodes on the network, yet I can still only get 250 Mb/s speed. And yes I have checked which node it is connected to and the node roaming is not that smart at times, and it is probably using only 1 jump to the router.
Bottom line is ethernet where I can get it, otherwise wifi by force of necessity.
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Cat does 1000, It's 10,000 that you can't do. I'm wired with cat 8 but I still only get 1000 cus what's the point of paying for internet faster than that right now. CAT 6 and bone are currently only useful in interoffice networking
If I had gigabit, maybe I would bother. I don't at all (100Mb DSL - I am right near the fiber) so I just go wifi. Easy Peasy.
Getting 60mbps downloads - I don't have fancy hyper-speed broadband so that's about right for what I'm paying for.
I'm not seeing any difference in speed compared to connecting direct to router via WiFi. 👍I started at 300 baud.Wire whenever possible- especially when the connections are already right there and available. There are many reasons why but one simple one is this: a wired device will not take any bite out of your wifi pie. So other devices can have more bandwidth available to them.
Theoretical wifi speeds to the moon are almost certainly not what about anyone is going to achieve in actual homes. And the vast amount of things that people transfer could probably do fine inside of 25Mbps. Note for many basic computer functions, some of us used to use dial up at as slow as 56kbps (yes that is a k) and we got by just fine (and not still waiting for any transfer to complete
Being a newer (i.e., less than a decade) construction, the apartment building I current reside has an RJ-45 in almost every room. I did purchase and install err plugged a gigabit switch in the utility panel area. Nonetheless, the only device I have connected via Ethernet is the Xbox, and that’s just to squeeze out whatever better latency I can. Otherwise, it would be counterproductive to wire everything. I’m currently using Verizon’s 5G Home service (300/20 Mbps WAN, WiFi 6 LAN), and their gateway has two RJ-45 ports, however, they’re only Fast Ethernet. So, even connecting a faster router/AP would be pointless.
There are other options, including gigabit Fiber, but...
Exactly.
I’ve used Spectrum, CenturyLink, Cox, etc in the past and their steep prices were certainly not for reliability. So far, VZ 5G has had very few problems. For the $50 month, it’s difficult to justify switching and retesting the waters.
I assume, this indeed has a huge weight. I have eight devices connected to the network but it’s just me.
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Ethernet everywhere that is feasible in my house with a wireless access point for the laptops and other wireless devices. Did a big Ethernet install shortly after we first moved into this house (1980's bungalow) and then added to it over the years as needs arose. Currently have Cat 6 running throughout:
Installation was a bit of a job, but mostly just involved cutting drywall to mount the backplates, drilling through the floor behind the walls using a long boring drill bit, and running fishing tape and twine to pull the wires themselves (I did also invest in a snaking inspection camera to help see what was behind a wall here and there).
- 2 Ports each in of three bedrooms (only 1 of the six are currently used, but others have been used periodically)
- 4 Ports in my office (services my desktop, laptop dock, and an AiO Laser Printer/Scanner)
- 7 Ports in a home theatre area (six behind the console stand serving three gaming consoles and a TV box at its base and one port behind the wall mounted TV itself)
- 5 Ports on the living room TV wall (four base and 1 TV - 1 TV box, a gaming console, and the TV itself)
- 2 Ports in a basement common area (currently unused)
- 4 Ports over 2 walls in a basement "nook" that was previously my office and now serves as my son's gaming area (only one port in use for his PC).
- 1 more cable going direct to a WiFi access point in the living room area (didn't install a port as it would not have flush-mounted as well with the AP).
Installation was a bit of a job, but mostly just involved cutting drywall to mount the backplates, drilling through the floor behind the walls using a long boring drill bit, and running fishing tape and twine to pull the wires themselves (I did also invest in a snaking inspection camera to help see what was behind a wall here and there).
The one thing that sometimes causes issues with Powerline adapters is that they work best when the transmitter and receiver are on the same power phase in your house. When plugged into opposite phases, the connection can be very spotty or may not work at all. Not sure if this is an issue with other power systems, but it is with the 110/220 split-phase configuration we use in North America.
Wifi since I'm renting an apartment and I doubt that the owner would be thrilled about me drilling holes and laying cable .
.No Mac mini here, but everything I own with an Ethernet port is wired. I haven’t had a single problem on my side of things aside from when one switch went bad on me. I’m in a rent house though so my setup ain’t fancy. One cable to each main room with a switch at each. Lots of switches in use. Once I move that will change.
Wifi for my phones, iPads, Macbook.
For me I'm wired with my PS5, NAS and Apple TV in my office. Everywhere else is wifi because running drops to every room would be difficult.
For me I'm wired with my PS5, NAS and Apple TV in my office. Everywhere else is wifi because running drops to every room would be difficult.
And Cat 5e is what you can actually buy. But it pays to remember the distinction when rummaging through your box of old cables (or buying from dodgy sources).
I use Ethernet cables only for my Mac mini and iMac. WiFi is even disabled mostly on the Router. My Internet is only 250/250 Mbit/s. I might upgrade to 500/500 soon. This is rather rare here for DSL, normally upload is much slower than download. There is an Ethernet port directly in the wall with space for another one next to it, what would be fiber.
Normally DSL is coming from the phone line, I think those copper lines are the cause for lame upload data rates.
1 GBit isn't available yet in my house, but is announced to come soon. Maybe I'll wait for it. And if it's the same connection or fiber.
Normally DSL is coming from the phone line, I think those copper lines are the cause for lame upload data rates.
1 GBit isn't available yet in my house, but is announced to come soon. Maybe I'll wait for it. And if it's the same connection or fiber.
What are those 40Gbit Ethernet cables I bought recently? I only bought them because the price was almost the same than 1Gbit.
Edit: Amazon says Cat 8.1. What are those normally for?
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I also use wired where possible, for the same reason. Also the latency and ping are often faster over wires, even if throughput is same.
I stand corrected, should be 1.0E9. 10**9 watts and 10^9 watts are equal to 1GW.
Also incidentally, each unit of the Palo Verde Nuclear plant near Phoenix is good for 1.27GW electrical output.
When remodeling my house some 25 years ago, I had a Cat5e Ethernet cable strung between the office and the master bedroom and another between the office and family room. The Cat5e has been very reliable at 1Gbps, and am curious if the runs are short enough that it would support 2.5Gbps.