Most of the people today, no matter if they’re at work, at home or in a coffee shop, are using a wireless connection. Ethernet seems to be almost forgotten for some users, but should it really be that way? Does ethernet even have any advantages over Wi-Fi?

Although the Wi-Fi connection represents mobility and convenience, there is still a question about security. Is it actually a good idea to switch to a wireless infrastructure, or is a wired network the way to go?

Let’s first take a look at their advantages and disadvantages so you can easier tell which better suits your needs. 

Wired network

A wired network connection is a configuration that includes physical cables that enable data transferring between devices and computer systems by giving them a connection to the Internet. 

Wired network advantages

When they are set properly, they provide excellent stability and reliability. Even though the wireless network is improving from day to day. 

Another reason why a wired network is better is that wired signals can not be influenced by other connections. This means multiple devices can be connected to a wireless connection and they can decrease each other’s speed depending on how much of it they are using, unlike on wired connection where nothing can decrease it and disturb it.

Wired network is also faster than the wireless one. The speed cap keeps improving within every year since the gigabit routers and other new technologies appeared. Any person that is unauthorized to join the wired network is unable to connect to is because it requires an ethernet cable to be able to do that.

If you configure your network with the necessary firewalls and other security programs, it will be well protected from any suspicious and unauthorized access. As long as the network is being monitored by any suspicious activity and the ports have been set up correctly, it will not be possible to disturb it.

Wired network disadvantages

The most obvious con is inflexibility of its mobility. If you want to change the place from where you’re using the network, you would need multiple cables and switched to be able to connect your device to network again. The convenience of this really depends on you.

Another problem might be that you will have a more messy setup with all the wires around your router. 

Wireless network

A wireless network connection is a configuration that works on radio and microwave signals and is using wireless data connections between network nodes. The radio signals are allowing the devices that are connected to it to communicate with each other and giving them the Internet without them being connected with an Ethernet cable.

Wireless network advantages

The cost of having a wireless connection is quite inexpensive unless you are required to purchase additional devices like a device that increases your wireless signal or a router that provides additional Internet speed, is more secure or just adds extra reliability to your connection.

A wireless network is easier to install because it requires far fewer wires and no wires at all connected to your device. Additionally, you save some time and it will be more convenient to most people. A wireless connection enables you to be more flexible and use it no matter where you are inside the place that you are using it. 

Wireless network disadvantages

In a wireless network, more than one device can be connected to the same network, which results in slower Internet speed and it can be frustrating sometimes. 

Wireless networks are not as safe as wired networks because they are communicating through the air. Since the connection travels through the radio wave, it can be easily interrupted if the right encryption tools are not installed. 

When a wireless network is properly secured, then it is pretty much safe to use. The encryption tools are preventing unauthorized users from entering the network. 

It also lacks in speed compared to the wired network. You can see the difference more efficiently when you are transferring a bigger amount of data. If you are just browsing the web, you probably won’t experience any differences than you would if you used a wired connection. 

Which one should you choose?

If what you care about the most is performance and security, then a wired connection would be the way to go. Also if you don’t care about the mobility of your network, a wired network will serve your needs well. 

However, if you prefer mobility and do not care that much about the cost of it, then you can go with the wireless connection. 

You can also simply just have both. You can be using the ethernet cable to connect your computer or a laptop for the biggest data transfer and Wi-Fi for everything else. 

There are more in-depth comparisons of the two, but they certainly do not matter to an average person, so we are not getting into them.

WiFi vs Ethernet in gaming

All the fast-paced games today require a low ping in order to be more successful and be able to react to certain actions. Even though most people game on around 50 ping in average, lowering the ping to between 0 and 20 could increase your game performance slightly. In case you are a competitive gamer, and every millisecond matters to you, and you will be better off with a wired connection. It is most likely not going to be a game-changer, but every bit definitely helps, right?

You can test the difference in wired and wireless connection latency by using the Command Prompt. In case you don’t know how to do it here are the steps to follow:

1. Press Windows Key + R
2. Type ‘’cmd’’
3. Type ‘’ping(space), and enter the website that you want to check the ping on. For this example, we will be using our website, www.pcbonus.com.

To summarize, Ethernet should definitely show a slight improvement in your latency because the signal doesn’t have to travel through the air as WiFi does, but it is connected directly to the router.