Wireless vs Wire Debate

[emike55]

Well what is your opinion? With the new 802.11n with it's 248 Mbit max speed.

Wireless

Legacy 1997 2.4-2.5 GHz 0.7 Mbit/s 2 Mbit/s ~Depends on walls ~75 meters
802.11a 1999 5.15-5.25/5.25-5.35/5.49-5.71/5.745-5.825 GHz 21 Mbit/s 54 Mbit/s ~25 meters ~75 meters
802.11b 1999 2.4-2.5 GHz 4.5 Mbit/s 11 Mbit/s ~45 meters ~100 meters
802.11g 2003 2.4-2.5 GHz 20 Mbit/s 54 Mbit/s ~40 meters ~95 meters
802.11y March 2008 (estimated, currently at Draft 4.0) 3.65-3.7 GHz 23 Mbit/s 54 Mbit/s ~32 meters ~5000 meters
802.11n September 2008 (estimated, currently at Draft 2.0) 2.4 GHz and/or 5 GHz 74 Mbit/s 248 Mbit/s = 2x2 ant ~70 meters ~160 meters

Wired

02.3u 1995 100BASE-TX, 100BASE-T4, 100BASE-FX Fast Ethernet at 100 Mbit/s (12.5 MB/s) w/autonegotiation
802.3y 1998 100BASE-T2 100 Mbit/s (12.5 MB/s) over low quality twisted pair
802.3z 1998 1000BASE-X Gbit/s Ethernet over Fiber-Optic at 1 Gbit/s (125 MB/s)
802.3ab 1999 1000BASE-T Gbit/s Ethernet over twisted pair at 1 Gbit/s (125 MB/s)
(cat 5e, which is in most house holds if you have wired is usually used in 100Base-T networks, but can handle close to 1000BASE-T specification. Though gigabit lan is generally done with cat 6 which is less widely used in most households.)

My personal opnion is that wired is better. It is faster and more reliable, however wireless has portability on it's side and is slowly catching up in the speed department. With fiber optics though wire still holds a strong edge. I would take a wire over wireless any day of the week. So what is your opinion?

[Maximus-]

I rather wires too... even though haven't used for over 3 years :p

[jaketo]

Good idea for a debate emikey :)

Go for it ladies! Play nice!

[vengefuldeath87]

depends what you have, my desktops and xbox are all wired, and my laptop wireless, purely because it negates the usefulness of a laptop to wire it up :p

in static situations, wired is always better, but then it should be. wireless imo should only be used where wired isnt possible, or inpractacal.

[magiaaron]

Yes. I MUCH prefer wired networking to wireless. I use wireless on my laptop when I am not home and occassionally when I am just around the house. If I am in the bedroom, however, I have a router nearby, and I plug in. I prefer the speed & reliability of it.

-magiaaron

[emike55]

Even for this laptop here I often use wired connection since my switch is so close to my bed. So we have no wireless connections in my house at all. I also don't like the security riskes when it comes to wireless either. I'm sure I can easily protect the network from my n00b neighbors but I still don't feel it necessary to take that chance.

[vengefuldeath87]

ftw, no security on my wireless :p

[emike55]

Vengy = n00b heh...no mac address or anything?

[Maximus-]

I have no security in my wireless either :p

nothing at all lol

[emike55]

Maybe a more debatable topic is should you secure your wireless router or leave it open for anybody to hijack =P

[pilferer]

i have wireless in my house,

reasons are

1. my computer is a laptop and is ages away from the switch
2. my housemates computer is on the other end of the house
3. i rent so i cant wire in connections
4. i hate having wires on the floor
5. i can just pick my laptop up and go watch tv and not have to drag cables throug the house...

[Nemesis-]

Wired all the way. Simply because it's faster and more reliable.

[Kalki]

I have a mixed environment at home, somethings are wired some wireless.
Wired does have higher reliability so I like that better.

I have WEP on my wireless... Don't think more is needed.

We've had the discussion at work (I work with IT) regarding pros and cons. One of my co-workers said that you can "hack" Wireless networks but I atleast that has a passkey. Our wired doesn't so if someone gets into the building our whole network is open.

About Mimo or 802.11n, I see HUGE benefits of having multiple senders/receivers... Either you can have huge speed (use all antennas to transfer), or huge range (use antennas to modulate into another wave length) or have improved reliability (have antennas broadcast the same thing on different frequencies).

So... go 802.11n :D

[Serym]

Wired ftw.......My 2 pc's are both wired to a router.The router is wifi enabled the wife uses wifi with her laptop(wep enabled) and i use it with my mobile/cell phone when my pc isnt on....

[Maximus-]

yeah wires in the floor might be tricky. one can trip and fell :p

[Psycho]

I prefer wireless its just so much more convenient :p

[emike55]

Pssh screw convenience =P...if I get my faster better connection with a little inconvenience that would be fine with me heh. Some have some good reasons for wireless but there is no way I would go for wireless if it was possible.

[pilferer]

for 802.11n, does the pc/laptop need a different/special wifi card on it? or is the standard cards suitable...

[emike55]

802.11n requires new wifi card for your laptop/computer and a new router too and also since they just came out recently the price is a little high. A wireless n router runs about $100 on newegg.com and the cards are around $50-$100 also. 802.11n is backwards compatiable to 802.11 g etc too. So that is nice about it.

[Maximus-]

why invest in it for personal usage? in a month or so it will decrease price anyway :p

[jaketo]

I'm surprised that hardly anyone has mentioned security issues.

Actually, I'm not that surprised... :p

[pilferer]

* pilferer waits for the price decrease on cards, my router is kinda doing nothing special right now

[emike55]

I'm surprised that hardly anyone has mentioned security issues.

Actually, I'm not that surprised... :p

I already did =P..but apparently everyone else likes having open wireless routers.

[Maximus-]

it's mostly home connections... why would I be afraid some guy would use my connection when I live in the 4th floor and I'm 75% sure that nobody else around has computer :p

in a different environment I could possibly stop being lazy and enter the router setup thing :p besides just turning it on lol

[emike55]

Well one example is that most people leave their router passwords/usernames as the standard factory settings (which can easily be attained by anyone by visiting the router's manufactures website). So if somebody gains access to your connection they can hijack your router and screw with you a lot =P. Of course you have physical access so you can always stop it at anytime, but first you have to identify that somebody actually did something. So basically if you don't have a very smart router owner you can do stupid little things like block their internet connection for a few hours a day, drop their firewall, and not to mention gather IP information to all your computers and mac address...pretty useful stuff. Dropping their firewall and IP info the user would never even notice at all.

Not that I've done this or anything before ;) heheheh.

[Kalki]

I don't see why people would risk that, I don't think I'd ever run a WLAN without security... that's stupid.

I've set the router password to something else.
I've activated WEP.

That's enough and sooo easy.

[FirePenguins]

Wired here. As mentioned it's more secure, not that it really matters where I live cause the lot size is 2 acres so some one would have to be in my driveway or lawn to access the wireless. But me and my dad felt the security was better, also significantly faster for our network which is nice :) Installed our wired network about 5 years ago. It took several weekends to run all the wires through the attic, through the crawlspace under the house, and through the walls but now that they are in place we have a connection to the network in every room. Getting wireless to reach all of our rooms would have been pretty difficult and expensive. With newer technologies wireless is becoming better though.

[perelabat59]

Hi,

WEP for wireless is completely unsecure.
It takes a few minutes to find the WEP keys, even for non specialists. Everything is available on google... ;-)
So you should at least use WPA2 to secure your wireless communications. And also add some MAC access list (even if this can be also hacked).

So go for wireless but with good security.
Otherwise, choose wired connections. It will go faster but I'm not sure you can really see the difference in just surfing the internet.

[Jaszon]

speaking as someone stuck on wireless cus its free i hate it. its less reliable. i want mah wires back :<

[Matman]

It all depends on what you want to use it for. I love the ability to move around and not be wired for simple task such as surfing the web or checking email but for gaming I go wired all the way. As for security it is unbeleiveable the amount of people that don't have security on thier routers. I work for an ambulance service as a paramedic and we have a wireless printer port set up for our laptops. When we take a transfer the laptop will pickup every available wirless it finds. and I would say 3 out of 100 are secured. Alot dont even change the administrator password or the name of the router.

[billg]

In terms of cost:
If the cabling for the network are already conveniently in place, wired networks truly offers physical restrictions to network access.... and it's cheaper too.

However, this is not always the case. In a large building, the cost of cabling is by far more than having wireless cards.

In terms of convenience:
I don't think anyone can deny the convenience of having wireless network. I can use my pda basically anywhere within 20m of the router. For laptops, the ability to access the internet anywhere with a wireless access point is truly convenient.

Security:
There is a general misconception to the security wireless networks. Advanced networks, running autheticated proxies, can offer great security even without any wireless security on. The combination of wireless securities, mac address filtering and decent IP address filtering in the router can offer great security to most home users.

In terms of Speed:
Until they can get teleportations working (at cheap cost), wires are the way to go for home users and data centres alike.

[emike55]

I'm glad my topic was revived xD

I agree that wireless can be secured enough for home use with proper precautions, the problem is that wireless is normally chosen for the new user that just wants a network without having to do much work for it. New users often don't have the know how to secure their network properly. Wireless is proclaimed as the easy way out method by most. Just plug this router in and I can get access anywhere kind of thing.

[jaketo]

Indeed. Poeple start with the best intentions, realise that it's difficult to properly 'secure' their wireless network and end up leaving it wide open, but hey, at least they can connect to the internet, right? :p

I've never hidden my disdain for wireless connectivity. In theory it's great, but in practice it's slow and woefully insecure. Granted, wireless networks do offer 'convenience' in terms of mobility, but how convenient is it to have all your data stolen and your bandwidth leached?

* jaketo reaches for his Pringles tube.

[Lor20_RJ]

well as long as you properly secure ur wireless network and have a good router its alright - especially the new draft - n routers get closed to FE wired speeds so they are a real alternative.

[perelabat59]

Now, Internet operators begin to enable WPA by default on their routers. So people not concerned about this because of various reason have by default a minimum security.

Then, I'm not sure that people care about the security of their access. Until they have a real problem, they won't care about the security.
Their only matter will be the availability all around their house (so wifi).

Anyway, both solution have their pros and cons.

If we speak about security, wired connections should be secured also. But that's another topic I think...

[jaketo]

Now, Internet operators begin to enable WPA by default on their routers. So people not concerned about this because of various reason have by default a minimum security.

And when the livestock can't get their computers to connect, they play around with their routers and discover that when they disable WPA their connection starts working, so they leave it off. 'Default' does not equal 'Enforced'.

Then, I'm not sure that people care about the security of their access. Until they have a real problem, they won't care about the security. Their only matter will be the availability all around their house (so wifi).

Sadly, so very true. Any security measure on any system is intrinsically obstructive by its very nature, and 'obstructive' is fairly incompatible with 'convenient'. However, having your bank account mysteriously empty itself etc. is also fairly incompatible with 'convenient', but bizarrely most livestock don't seem to care about this.

Anyway, both solution have their pros and cons.

If we speak about security, wired connections should be secured also. But that's another topic I think...

Adequte security measures should be implemented on any and all systems with an external connection, wired or wireless.

However, wireless connectivity then has a whole host of additional issues because a wireless signal is not constrianed to a particular path i.e. a cable, and it's these additional issues that often get neglected which causes the increased security issues associated with wireless connectivity. After all, I've never heard of a wired connection being hacked by anyone armed with a Pringles tube :D

[Vieri]

I'd prefer wired over wireless because of the speed, availability, reliability and security.

For wireless security, may I suggest:

not to broadcast your SSID so that no one can see your wireless network name on the available list.
only allow assigned MAC addresses to connect to your wireless router.
use static IP instead of DHCP so even someone hacked in to your wirless network (not your wirless router), they won't have IP and can't do anything.
use the highest encryption as possible.
when you deploy a new wireless router, change the default password immediately (before putting it on network)

I've been reading news from around the world about hijacking wireless connections (commercial WiFi hot spots). It's illegal and you could get jailed.

Hope this gives you guys more hints on the wireless security.

Thanks,
Vieri

[DaNzO]

I don't know... I don't have internet im using my neighboors lmao.. Next door, Accross the road.. lol there's 3 to choose from that are unsecured so im happy =p lmao

[jaketo]

Thank you Danzo for so succinctly proving the point :)

[emike55]

Yeah, do you really want people like danzo gaining access to your LAN and using your internet ;)?

[magiaaron]

I don't know... I don't have internet im using my neighboors lmao.. Next door, Accross the road.. lol there's 3 to choose from that are unsecured so im happy =p lmao

Hahahaha Danzo! I wouldn't expect anything else from you, to be honest. :)

-magiaaron

[DaNzO]

lol people.. thank you thank you

* BOWS *

* DaNzO says why not it's FREE it's simple.. It's Not fast... It's sometimes reliable.. ¬_¬