wireless

Almost every electronic today from simple cell phones to a new 70” TV is made Wi-Fi ready. When setting up a new device, most people will pull up the Wi-Fi menu, connect to their network, and go. While this is usually the obvious choice, it is not always the best one. With most handheld devices it is the only choice, so there is no choice there. But where bigger electronics are concerned, using an Ethernet hardline can provide many advantages over Wi-Fi.

What Makes Wi-Fi Signals Weaker?

Wi-Fi is a popular technology for one key reason: convenience. Being able to connect any device to the Internet while in range of a Wi-Fi signal is a huge deal. Over the last few decades, wireless technology has gone from nothing but pagers to every electronic coming with wireless functionality. Not being limited by the accessibility and distance of a cable was a major game-changer for a multitude of technologies, but that does not mean Wi-Fi’s potential is limitless.

All Wi-Fi signals have to be generated by some sort of machine, such as a modem/router or wireless access point. These signals get weaker as users get further away from their source. How quickly this occurs also depends on what is in-between a user and the signal source. Lighter materials like glass and wood do little to block Wi-Fi signals. Denser mat

The ability to just click a button and connect to WiFi on almost any modern device is hard to pass up. On the other hand, ethernet is still around after years of WiFi so surely it has its advantages. The truth is that both options have ups and downs. Your priorities as a user will be the ultimate deciding factor for determining which is better.

Wired Connections - Ethernet

Ethernet is older and better tested than WiFi, maintaining a number of benefits. Physical connections are faster and provide greater reliability, control, and security.

• A signal with a cable to guide it will always be faster than the wireless equivalent, making tasks like file sharing quicker.
• Ethernet signals are much less prone to becoming unstable and/or dropping.
• It is easier to control who is connected to a network, ensuring a network will not be bogged down by too many users.
• Wired networks cannot be seen by anyone with a wireless device, making hacking much harder.

Being older may make ethernet more of a tamed animal, but its age does show with a few disadvantages.

• All machines must be physically connected to the same wired network to communicate.
• Connections will be limited by the length of the cables being used.
• Cables tangle and can be tricky to manage.
• Some devices (cell phones, tablets, etc.) do not have ethernet ports as an