[SOLVED] Any advantage to Ethernet > Wifi if Ping / Speeds test the same?

[markzer0]

A friend told me it was far preferable to use my home Wifi via wired/Ethernet instead of Wifi, so I switched my setup to run Ethernet cables from my router to my laptops' native Ethernet ports (and disabled Wifi).

Speeds measured via Speedtest are nearly identical on the new Ethernet setup vs previous Wifi:

• Ping: 8-10ms
• Download ~450 Mbps
• Upload ~23 Mbps

I want to know whether there are nonetheless major performance advantages to sticking with this Ethernet setup (since it's messier / cables everywhere). My Wifi connection drops maybe 1-2 times / week (which sometimes results in work loss / video reconnections)... I assume Ethernet should improve that? Anything else? Or if the Ping / Speeds measured are basically identical, should I really not notice much performance-wise?

 

[boju]

Network cable is reliable, there's no interference wifi is susceptible to. If you want no mess then run cables through the walls.

 

[Ralston18]

Ethernet should be faster and more stable. WiFi being quite subject to interference.

If the network speed and performance did not improve then it is very likely that something else is restricting performance - maybe even below what WiFi could have been.

More information needed.

What Cat level Ethernet cables did you purchase and where did you purchase the cables?

 

[bill001g]

Not sure how you got 450mbps on wifi that is a very high number. If you are very close to the router that might explain it.

Ethernet is going to be faster if you have a faster internet connection. It can easily run 1gbit up and down simultaneously and if there was some magic ISP that offered 10gbit ethernet can do that too which wifi never will.

As mentioned it is the interference that is the huge difference. It depends on the application. Most things the interference causes variations in the latency/ping ie JITTER. This might if it is very bad reduce the speeds but for most things you will not even notice the interference.

BUT a lot of people on this forum play online games. That is the one application that is extremely affected by interference. Games use the time between packets to help sync the game client and the server.

So if you do not play online games especially shooter type games there likely is not going to be a huge difference between wifi and ethernet.

 

[markzer0]

Ethernet should be faster and more stable. WiFi being quite subject to interference.

If the network speed and performance did not improve then it is very likely that something else is restricting performance - maybe even below what WiFi could have been.

More information needed.

What Cat level Ethernet cables did you purchase and where did you purchase the cables?

I bought these CAT-7 cables from Amazon. My brief research suggested that CAT-7 was sufficient, and those were decently-reviewed (though I don't trust Amazon reviews all that much). If there's a 'gold standard' i should look for re: specs or retailer I should buy from, I'm all ears.

 

[USAFRet]

I bought these CAT-7 cables from Amazon. My brief research suggested that CAT-7 was sufficient, and those were decently-reviewed (though I don't trust Amazon reviews all that much). If there's a 'gold standard' i should look for re: specs or retailer I should buy from, I'm all ears.

That was the absolute wrong cable to buy.

"Cat7" - not needed.
"flat" - substandard.
"32AWG" - too thin.

That cable is NOT ethernet standard.
Its one saving grace is that it looks good.


This would have been a better choice:
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Flexboot-Cat5e-Ethernet-Patch/dp/B00KWS7IN2