Wired vs. Wireless speed question.

often mrunderstood · 2nd December 2004, 11:11 AM

I have a Linksys WRT54GS
and was wondering what kind of performance hit (if any) I will take when I move from my current wired config to wireless?

I play some games on the internet, sometimes with both machines simultaneously. Will it be better to leave one machine wired and the other wireless? I would prefer to clean up my cables altogether (both wireless), but may reconsider if there is a significant loss of performance.

Thanks!
Sean

DaveW · 2nd December 2004, 11:14 AM

In my experience, the wireless speed should be plenty for online gaming. Give it a shot and move back to wired if your experience differs from mine

BobK · 2nd December 2004, 04:42 PM

Wireless is considerably faster than most cable modems.

iain · 3rd December 2004, 04:08 AM

Wireless is a lot slower than wired, for three reasons.

1. The wired speed you have in your home network is probably 100Mb/sec. Wireless will be between 11 and 56 (probably 11).

2. Wireless speed drops off a lot faster. With wired, you can be pretty confident of getting 60% of the headline speed. My 11Mb wireless connection often drops to 1 or 2Mb.

3. Wireless is a shared (non-switched) environment so if there are multiple computers using wireless, they all share the bandwidth.

Having said all that, since the ADSL or cable modem speed is probably 512kb/sec or 1Mb/sec, assuming you only have one wireless device it's very unlikely that going to wireless will have any impact on online gaming.,

2nd December 2004, 11:11 AM	#1
often mrunderstood Thinker Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 182	Wired vs. Wireless speed question. I have a Linksys WRT54GS and was wondering what kind of performance hit (if any) I will take when I move from my current wired config to wireless? I play some games on the internet, sometimes with both machines simultaneously. Will it be better to leave one machine wired and the other wireless? I would prefer to clean up my cables altogether (both wireless), but may reconsider if there is a significant loss of performance. Thanks! Sean

2nd December 2004, 11:14 AM	#2
DaveW Critical Thinker Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 340	In my experience, the wireless speed should be plenty for online gaming. Give it a shot and move back to wired if your experience differs from mine
DaveW Critical Thinker Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 340

2nd December 2004, 04:42 PM	#3
BobK Muse Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: State of confusion Posts: 913	Wireless is considerably faster than most cable modems.
	__________________ A mind is like a parachute. It works best when open.

3rd December 2004, 04:08 AM	#4
iain Graduate Poster Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,293	Wireless is a lot slower than wired, for three reasons. 1. The wired speed you have in your home network is probably 100Mb/sec. Wireless will be between 11 and 56 (probably 11). 2. Wireless speed drops off a lot faster. With wired, you can be pretty confident of getting 60% of the headline speed. My 11Mb wireless connection often drops to 1 or 2Mb. 3. Wireless is a shared (non-switched) environment so if there are multiple computers using wireless, they all share the bandwidth. Having said all that, since the ADSL or cable modem speed is probably 512kb/sec or 1Mb/sec, assuming you only have one wireless device it's very unlikely that going to wireless will have any impact on online gaming.,
iain Graduate Poster Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,293	__________________ "Mathematicians have discovered a new whole number between 27 and 28." - On the Hour