Ethernet or not?

[jz0309]

Ethernet is solid and undiminished to 300'. WiFi performance varies with the square of the distance. WiFi works good in my small house, my iPhone is on it most of the time. But when I lived in my big house in NY, it was pathetic.

And there is this thing called a mesh network, I live in a 3000+ sqft 2 story home and have GREAT wifi in the entire house, every corner AND the backyard… technology is progressing in all areas, not just M1 macs…

 

[deeddawg]

Answer the following questions and you should then know what to do.

1. Where is the Internet router located in relation to where the iMac will sit?
2. If they're in different rooms, how will they connect? Is the house already wired? If so, what level of cabling?
3. What other ethernet wired devices are in the household? Do they have a NAS? Another computer they'll share data with?
4. What is their Internet speed? Gigabit? More? Less?
5. What is their typical online activity? Does it require a lot of bandwidth (how much?)

I'd suggest that if the imac will sit right next to (or on the same wall as) the router, sure get the ethernet option. If they're in different rooms and the house is already wired for ethernet with cat5e, sure go for it. Otherwise, plan for wifi. Won't hurt to buy the ethernet option but don't go into contortions trying to do a wired connection unless you find you truly need it.

 

[deeddawg]

Ethernet is solid and undiminished to 300'. WiFi performance varies with the square of the distance. WiFi works good in my small house, my iPhone is on it most of the time. But when I lived in my big house in NY, it was pathetic.

You problem with your big house in NY was an improperly deployed wireless network.

Large areas often need an access point(s), especially at the higher 5Ghz frequency.

Today's preconfigured mesh solutions make multi-AP wireless networks much easier to deploy for the general public.

 

[Wolf1701]

And there is this thing called a mesh network, I live in a 3000+ sqft 2 story home and have GREAT wifi in the entire house, every corner AND the backyard… technology is progressing in all areas, not just M1 macs…

I truly don't understand your point. This isn't a football match between tech. Wifi and ethernet are both useful but if you want top speed and reliability ethernet is still the way to go. How many wifi server farms have you seen?

I have 3 wifi mesh nodes in my house but my server and my desktop are connected with ethernet.

 

[cosmichobo]

The modem is sitting on the same desk as the computer.

 

[Allyance]

You problem with your big house in NY was an improperly deployed wireless network.

Large areas often need an access point(s), especially at the higher 5Ghz frequency.

Today's preconfigured mesh solutions make multi-AP wireless networks much easier to deploy for the general public.

I have doing network installations for many years, my last job was Project Manager on installing over 50 individual nurse call networks in a 1.5 million square foot military hospital. Never had problems with ethernet. My house in NY was built in 1843 and had extreme thick walls, so I ran ethernet to access points in areas where I wanted coverage. We didn't have mesh networks when I lived there. I worked with a small company in rural NY that tried doing wireless internet to peoples homes because of the lack broadband in many locations. Always troublesome, wet leaves on trees interfered alot. We did manage to establish a link between two towers 20 miles apart! Line of site with parabolic antennas.
I agree that mesh networks would be ideal the solution if I still lived there.

 

[MacCheetah3]

That was a week-long conversation, with me repeatedly saying “why do you care if there’s a spool of cable back there if no one can see it?

Oh, boy! I assume/hope you learned that’s a no-no question/comment.

 

[profcutter]

Oh, boy! I assume/hope you learned that’s a no-no question/comment.

Hah, the beauty of old age meant that after I put the furniture back, they forgot about it. I asked a couple days later, she mumbled, “whatever”

 

[deeddawg]

Hah, the beauty of old age meant that after I put the furniture back, they forgot about it. I asked a couple days later, she mumbled, “whatever”

Careful…

In time, we are all at that place. The only difference is where we started from.

(sure, okay boomer me but I was coding 6502 assembly before many folks parents had met… ?)

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"The modem is sitting on the same desk as the computer."

Get ethernet anyway.
It removes wifi from the picture, and that removes any "wifi-related" problems as well.

 

[profcutter]

Careful…

In time, we are all at that place. The only difference is where we started from.

(sure, okay boomer me but I was coding 6502 assembly before many folks parents had met… ?)

Hey man, I love them, believe me. Once the 80s begin, things change. This was a rare occasion when it worked in my favor. Caretaking are this point is not easy. And yeah, I suspect my kids will say the same about me.