Wi-Fi vs. Ethernet: How Better Is a Wired Connection?

Wi-Fi is obviously more convenient than wired Ethernet cables, but Ethernet still offers significant advantages. Join us as we look at the pros and cons of wired and wireless connections.

You probably won't be connecting your smartphone with an Ethernet cable anytime soon. But it's often worth running Ethernet cables to important devices when you can -- gaming and media computers (or consoles), backup devices, and set-top boxes are just a few examples. To help you decide, we'll look at the three main benefits of using Ethernet over the best Wi-Fi routers -- faster speeds, lower latency, and a reliable connection.

How much faster is Ethernet?

Ethernet is much faster than Wi-Fi—there's no getting around it. But the real-world difference is smaller than you might think. Wi-Fi has gotten noticeably faster over the past few years, thanks to new standards like 802.11ac and 802.11n, which offer top speeds of 866.7 Mb/s and 150 Mb/s, respectively. While these are maximum speeds shared by all your wireless devices (and you probably won't get those speeds in the real world), Wi-Fi is more than fast enough to handle most of our daily tasks.

On the other hand, a wired Ethernet connection can theoretically provide speeds of up to 10 Gb/s if you have Cat6 cable. The exact maximum speed of an Ethernet cable depends on the type of Ethernet cable you use. However, even the commonly used Cat5e cable supports up to 1 Gb/s. And, unlike Wi-Fi, this speed is consistent.

While all of these speeds are great, the thing to remember is that your Internet connection speed is the bottleneck for activities involving the Internet. If your Internet speed is significantly slower than whatever type of connection you're using, then increasing the speed of that connection won't do much good.

However, Ethernet affects the speed between devices on your network. For example, if you want to transfer files between two computers at home as quickly as possible, Ethernet will be faster than Wi-Fi. Your Internet connection doesn't play a role, so it all depends on the maximum speed your local network hardware can provide.

Here are just a few good examples of when local speed might matter:

1. If you have multiple devices backing up to a NAS, backup server, or shared hard drive, backing up over an Ethernet connection will be faster.
2. If you have a device that streams from a media server on your network (such as Plex or Kodi), an Ethernet connection will greatly improve the streaming quality.

If you’re curious about the difference in local file transfer speeds, try transferring a large file between two computers when both are connected to Ethernet and when both are connected to Wi-Fi. You should see a speed difference there.

How much latency reduction does Ethernet provide?

Connection speed and quality isn’t just about raw bandwidth. Latency is also an important factor. Latency, in this case, refers to the time delay it takes for traffic to get from your device to its destination. We often refer to latency as “ping” in the world of networking and online gaming.

If you care about minimizing latency—for example, if you're playing an online game and need the fastest reaction time possible—you're probably better off using a wired Ethernet connection. Yes, there will be other latency factors along the Internet path between your device and the game server, but every little bit helps.

On the other hand, if you’re just streaming videos, listening to music, or browsing the web, latency won’t matter to you.

You can test latency by running the ping command in a terminal or command prompt. Ping the router's IP address while connected via Wi-Fi and while connected via Ethernet. Compare the results to see how much latency Wi-Fi adds.

In summary, with Wi-Fi, there is more latency as the signal travels back and forth between your Wi-Fi device and your wireless router. With a wired Ethernet connection, there is much less latency.

Wireless Interference and Connection Reliability

Ethernet provides a more reliable connection than Wi-Fi. It's that simple.

Wi-Fi is more susceptible to interference than wired connections. The layout of your home, objects that block the signal, interference from electronic devices or neighboring Wi-Fi networks—all of these contribute to Wi-Fi being less reliable in general.

This interference can cause many problems:

• Signal loss: Wi-Fi will sometimes lose signal and have to reacquire it. This may not be a big deal for everyday browsing or even streaming video (buffered on your local device) because the reacquisition happens quickly. But if you play online games, it can become very annoying.
• Higher latency: Increased interference can mean higher latency, which can be a problem for all the reasons we outlined in the previous section.
• Reduced speed: More interference also means lower signal quality, resulting in lower connection speeds.

It’s hard to quantify interference because it tends to ebb and flow — especially when you’re moving around with your device. However, there are things you can do to reduce wireless interference and get the best Wi-Fi signal possible.

When does it make sense to use Ethernet?

We don’t mean to be too hard on Wi-Fi. It’s super fast, super convenient, and totally usable for most of the things we do online. On the one hand, if you have mobile devices, Wi-Fi is essential. Also, sometimes you don’t have access to Ethernet. Maybe it’s hard to run a permanent, out-of-the-way cable to where you want it. Or maybe your landlord won’t let you run the cable the way you want.

That's the real reason to use Wi-Fi: convenience. If your device needs to be moved around, or you just don't want to run cables, then Wi-Fi is the right choice.

On the other hand, if you have a desktop PC or server, Ethernet is probably a good option. If you want higher quality streaming (especially if you're doing it from a media server on your network) or if you're a gamer, then Ethernet would be the way to go. Assuming it's easy to plug in your devices with an Ethernet cable, you'll get a more stable connection.

In the end, Ethernet offers advantages like faster speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connections. Wi-Fi offers the advantage of convenience and is adequate for most purposes. So you just need to see if your equipment fits into the categories that Ethernet will have an impact on, and then decide if it will make a big enough difference to run some cables.