The most radical solution to WiFi problems: what to consider before wiring your home

Internet access and speed at home depend on the type of connection. Although the providers (Personal, Movistar, Telecentro or Iplan) are in charge of bringing the cable service to a particular router, each user can create your home network through the wire or expand it wirelessly (Wi-Fi), each with its own peculiarities and costs.

The wired ethernet connections they are faster, more reliable and have lower latency than wireless connections. If performance is a priority, in cases where a PC is used to work, for example, a cable connection will always be the ideal option; though new Wi-Fi standards have narrowed the performance gap significantly.

Obviously, wireless connection is more convenient compared to Ethernet cables, but the differences between the two forms of connectivity are less than meets the eye.

Your home Wi-Fi connection has gained speed in recent years, thanks to new standards such as 802.11ac and 802.11n, which offer maximum speeds of 866.7 Mb/s and 150 Mb/s, respectively. Although this is a maximum speed to share with all your wireless devices, Wi-Fi has become good enough to handle most of our daily activities.

A wired Ethernet connection, on the other hand, can theoretically offer up to 10 Gb/s, if you have a Cat6 cable, the most used to take advantage of the maximum speed of the internet service. Even common Cat5e cable supports up to 1 Gb/s. And, unlike wi, that speed is constant.

It’s also important to note that the speed of a wired connection can also be affected by factors such as the quality of the cable and the distance between the router and the device.

On the other hand, connection speed and quality isn’t just about raw bandwidth, whether it’s for the 100, 300, or 500 Megabyte plans.

latency it is also an important factor. This is the delay in the time it takes for traffic to get from a device to its destination. We often refer to latency as “ping” and online gaming. To reduce this variable as much as possible, for example if you are playing online games, it is advisable to do this Have a wired Ethernet connection.

On the other hand, if you only need a connection to stream broadcasts, for example via Twitch, or listen to music or surf the web; in all these cases the latency will not affect the experience.

You can test the latency by running the ping command in the terminal or command prompt. To do this, you will need to ping your home router’s IP address, both while connected via Wi-Fi and while connected via Ethernet.

If the ping is 11ms, for example, it will mean that the time it takes, for example, to load a website, will be 11ms. If the ping is high, the connection will be unstable and of low quality.

Scope

Another important difference is the range of the connection. The Wi-Fi signal can cover a much larger area than the wired signal, more so if extenders or boosters are used on the mains, meaning it can reach where the wire has no place. This is especially useful in homes and offices with limited space or difficult to wire.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that the wireless signal can be interrupted by physical obstacles such as concrete walls, some appliances (refrigerators or washing machines), and furniture, which can affect its range and performance. It is the so-called “sources of interference” or “wireless barriers”, the enemies of Wi-Fi that make it work worse.

Safety

In terms of security, a wired connection is generally more secure than WiFi. This is because the cable signal is less likely to be intercepted by a third party, as it is transmitted over a physical cable.

However, it is important to note that the security of a wired connection can also be compromised if the cable is damaged or if the router is physically accessed. On the other hand, the security of a WiFi connection can be improved by using strong passwords and signal encryption.

Cost

Wired connection is usually more expensive than WiFi. This is because installation of cables and additional equipment, such as routers and modems, is required. For example, a 30-meter network cable can be obtained from 3,000 pesos, while a Wi-Fi signal booster costs from 12,000 pesos.

It’s important to note that the cost of a cable connection can vary greatly depending on your location and Internet service provider. Secondly, Wi-Fi may be cheaper in the long run, as it requires no cable installation and can be shared among multiple devices.

SL