Ad
News

Wizard finds connection speed

Published on May 08, 1999

Kiss Software Corp. Read more

Wizard finds connection speed

Published on May 08, 1999

Kiss Software Corp. Read more

Summit makes call to 'wire up' world

Published on December 16, 2003

More than 170 countries approved an ambitious call to extend the Internet and the benefits of information technology to the poorest corners of the world Friday, but dodged some of the difficulties of doing so. Read more

Win-XP Search Assistant silently downloads files

Published on April 12, 2002

A little over a week ago, while searching for a file on a Windows-XP machine, I was surprised to see the Search Assistant attempting to activate my Internet connection, Thomas Greene writes. Read more

Last Reviews & Articles

Stalker: Clear Sky--Is Your System Ready?

Published on September 30, 2008

Thinking about picking up the latest update to Stalker, but not sure if your graphics subsystem can handle it? Hang on as we take you through a performance tour and demonstrate how the game has been prettied up. Read more

Part 4: Avivo HD Vs. PureVideo HD

Published on September 29, 2008

The 780G chipset/Radeon HD 3200 and the MCP78S chipset/GeForce 8200 provide the first integrated graphics solutions that can accelerate Blu-ray playback. We dig deep into how well they work with high quality Blu-ray 1080p video playback. Read more

Four GeForce 9600 GT Cards Compared

Published on September 26, 2008

Manufacturers really love the first Geforce 9. The graphic chip is fast, the cards are inexpensive, and some retailers offer more than ten variations. Read more

Maxtor's Shared Storage Does NAS At Home

Published on September 25, 2008

What do you do with all the data you collect at home? Network attached storage is the solution. We test Maxtor's Shared Storage II and find that it is also suitable for use in small businesses. Read more

  Tom's Hardware UK and Ireland Forums » CPU & Components » Network Interface Cards » internet connection wi fi vs hard wire
 

internet connection wi fi vs hard wire

Advanced Search

There are 109 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here



Word :   Username :  
 
Bottom
Author
 Thread : internet connection wi fi vs hard wire
 
Profile: stranger
More Information

Will be connecting to internet with dsl. Which is faster?
hard wired dsl
or on board wi fi connection
Am using windows xp pro with new Asus pk5e wi fi board.

Thanks for your help. Bob

Related Product

Register or log in to remove.

Profile: Honorary Poster
More Information

I'm assuming when you say "on board wi fi connection", you mean that you will be using a router connect to the modem (RG or whatever the hell cable/dsl companies are calling it these days). If you are within 10ft of the router, then you may as well be wired. If you are in another room... wireless is generally less hassle since you don't have run wires through walls etc. (Just note that the further you are from the router, the slower your connection will be)

 

Out of curiosity, do you know what router / wifi connection you are using? Should be wireless "B", "G", or "N".

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by rgeist554 on 12-27-2007 at 04:57:40 PM
...I like you
Profile: addict
More Information

Bandwidth-wise they'll both be good. If you're doing any online gaming, Wi-Fi has a slightly higher latency, but that shouldn't be noticeable. DSL, no matter how fast, will never use all of the bandwidth of a wireless setup. If you are moving files from one PC to another, that's where you should really start considering network performance. For internet you may as well go with the most convenient setup which is Wi-Fi unless security is a priority for you (enabling WPA should fix that no problem). No cables so you can put it virtually anywhere (assuming high enough signal-strength)!


Message edited by leo2kp on 12-27-2007 at 05:24:53 PM

---------------
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose" -- Jim Elliott
Profile: nimble knuckle
More Information

I steal my neighbors wireless, and can sometimes max out his cable connection. >900kbs.

Profile: Ancient Poster
More Information

skittle wrote :

I steal my neighbors wireless, and can sometimes max out his cable connection. >900kbs.


LoL. I wonder how many times he called and complained his connection was slow. I wish I had some neighbors with free WI/FI.

Profile: nimble knuckle
More Information

One person has an open connection, with a default password on the router :p

The others I had to hack, one using WEP, the other uses WPA. The WPA password was "percussion" haha.

and OMG WEP is insecure... it took a grand total of 7 minutes to get the key.

Profile: Ancient Poster
More Information

lol. I wish I knew how to get they keys.

Profile: Honorary Poster
More Information

Quote :

One person has an open connection, with a default password on the router :p

Heh, that's common with 99% of the people that live around me.

Quote :

The others I had to hack, one using WEP, the other uses WPA. The WPA password was "percussion" haha.


Heh, just google WEP Crack. >.> Sometimes WPA can't be cracked, provided the person sets a difficult key.

One of the smartest things to do is just disable the SSID Broadcast! That and MAC Address Filtering. :D

Profile: nimble knuckle
More Information

rgeist554 wrote :

One of the smartest things to do is just disable the SSID Broadcast! That and MAC Address Filtering. :D



That doesnt really help, you only need to capture the handshake between the client and host. Getting the SSID, and mac spoofing are easy.

Profile: Ancient Poster
More Information

Getting back to the topic, I would choose wired. Same signal strength any where you go. You can have gigabit ethernet cards with wired.


---------------
Scruze my English!
Profile: nimble knuckle
More Information

If it's only one computer involved, just go wired. It's so much easier and you'll never have to worry about a dropped signal at all.

BAM!
Profile: Faithful Poster
More Information

I would also go Wired... i tested wireless in my house for a little while, although admittedly i didnt have the HIGHEST end stuff at the time, it was sh ithouse. Obviously file transfers over the network were slower on wifi but, i also had connection issues (dropouts and what not). I couldnt play FPS games either over local LAN or Internet due to the poor latency issues (i would be running around, the game would stop then i would be dead GREAT!).

Best thing i ever bought was my Dlink DGS-1216T 16port Gigabit smart switch speeds are EXCELLENT (BTW i love running cables all over the house so my gf can trip on them ;))


---------------
"The MB is 31 C and the CPU is 109 C. I think it's the CPU overheating."
Profile: stranger
More Information

rgeist554 wrote :

I'm assuming when you say "on board wi fi connection", you mean that you will be using a router connect to the modem (RG or whatever the hell cable/dsl companies are calling it these days). If you are within 10ft of the router, then you may as well be wired. If you are in another room... wireless is generally less hassle since you don't have run wires through walls etc. (Just note that the further you are from the router, the slower your connection will be)

Out of curiosity, do you know what router / wifi connection you are using? Should be wireless "B", "G", or "N".



would be running "G" and was thinking of a dsl linked to router to handle two computers?

Profile: stranger
More Information

Thanks to everyone. Think what I'll do is set up wireless for the two computers for files transfers and since I only want internet on one of the computers will hard wire dsl.

Profile: newbie
More Information

I would go wired if the router is close to PC. On my Sky Broadband set up I connect at 13Mb/s when I do a speedtest the download result is 10Mb/s wired, 8Mb/s wireless in same room and about 6Mb/s in the kitchen which is downstairs and to the back of the house.