Thinking About Switching To An Ethernet Connection

[joshl_1995]

Hello Daniweb Community,
I have recently been thinking about switching from a Wi-Fi connection to a direct connection over ethernet, however when I tried an ethernet connection from my router to my PS4, I calculated the average download speed after about 5 Wi-Fi connection tests and 5 ethernet connection tests and it averaged around the same. So there was no major difference, so what benefits would I have with a ethernet connection? I use my PS4 to listen to Spotify and sometimes it will drop or lag a bit, as well as when I have more than one person on my network it will lag a little more.

So I was planning on getting a long enough cable to reach my lounge and plug it into a network switch then into my PS3, PS4 and Foxtel. However I don't want to go through all this trouble if there is no major difference.

So what are the benefits if the download speed if averaging around the same, the only thing that changed a decent bit was the upload speed.

[rubberman]

Most routers have 100mbps ethernet links, so if your WiFi is 802.11n, it will have close to that speed. The advantages of a wired connection are these:

1. More reliable and stable data stream.
2. No radio interference (w/ accompanying speed degradation) from neighbors' access points (AP).
3. If someone connects to your AP/router with a slower connection type, such as 802.11b, then you won't be impacted.
4. Less chance of being "hacked" by a drive-by road warrior.

[CimmerianX]

Remember, you are limited by your ISP's bandwidth. IF you have a 20 Mbps down connection, that is slower than current wifi and definately slower than 100 or 1000 Mbps of an ethernet connection. There would be no difference when using the PS4 on internet traffic. You would see a difference inside the network when you get device to device communications like when you send files from PC to PC, but won't matter for the PS4.

[joshl_1995]

So what exactly are you both saying it's worth "ethernetting" my network?
FYI. The router I'm using is the Netgear DGN2200 and my ISP is Optus

[BinaryDigit]

If you need to transfer files from pc to pc (for example, your PC to a backup server), and want always good signal, I'd recommend connecting via ethernet. Although it might not be "faster" when downloading from the internet, just having a solid connection is worth it in itself.

[Slavi]

You should get on to Click Here and test your connection. If you get 60-70 mbps/down and 10mbps up, won't really require you to change it. But try it once with wifi, try it then again with an ethernet cable and comapre the results. Pretty sure you can judge by yourself on it whether it would be worth it or not

[joshl_1995]

I'll get onto that later but what my main concern is will it be easier for gaming, like with lag because sometimes at once there could be 3 or 4 consoles connecting to the internet along with about 3 or 4 mobile devices along with a smart TV and a bluray player all connected to WiFi at the same time. So I'd like to know if and Ethernet connection to my TV, PS3 and PS4 could allow them the best connection.

So when all these other devices are connected at once, my devices that are connected to the internet via Ethernet will have better internet, meaning less dropouts and faster speeds over the devices using the WiFi connection.

I hope this makes sense.

[CimmerianX]

The lag will not come from your internal network. The lag is produced when your traffic hops around the internet through other comanies' routers. Traffic to your gateway will almost always be <10ms. It's only when your traffic leaves your network, do you get longer delays.

If you are looking for better gaming... you'll have to get a house closer to where the game servers are located.

[joshl_1995]

Ok so even using an ethernet connection, the lag will still occur?

[rubberman]

The more WiFi connection on your local network, the slower things get. A hard-wired connection will be the most stable, internet lags and such notwithstanding. Those you cannot control, but on the LAN side, you can have some control.

[Michael_37]

Something else to consider when discussing the benefits of ethernet over wifi is interference. WIFI has the potential to be interfered with by other wireless devices, including other wireless routers. The more router traffic on the same channel, the less stable your wireless connection will become. For this reason, it is beneficial to use a wired, ethernet, connection where ever possible, as ethernet does not have the same interference issues (although, it is possible to receive interference on ethernet if it is placed too close to anything that generates and electrical field)

[joshl_1995]

Sorry for the late reply, I've been busy.

Well what my main concern is, will it give me the best connection over other connected devices. Like if there is a lot of other devices connected will I get the same speeds as if my eg. PS4 was the only connected device.

At the moment there is sometimes connection dropouts and I think it could be because there are a lot more devices connected at times, like maybe Three tablets, One or Two laptops, One smart-TV, One Blu-ray player and sometimes two or three gaming consoles (PS3 / PS4).

So what I was planning to do is buy a long enought ethernet cable (probably close to 10 meters) go from the router into my lounge and plug it into a network switch behind my cabinet then from the switch I'll have an ethernet cable going into my TV, Foxtel, PS3 and PS4 and maybe have a spare one for anyone who brings their console around.

[Michael_37]

As stated by CimmerianX, the real limitation is likely going to be your ISP's bandwidth. Unless your internet speed is greater than 100 Mbps, your network will never be the bottleneck. The real benefit of ethernet is that you can get faster connections between computers/devices on your own network, and there is far less issue with interference, whereas on WIFI you will often deal with the potential for interference (I once had a cordless phone that would cause issues with my WIFI). Think of it like the difference between a landline phone and a cell phone; comparatively, the cell phone will have MANY more dropped calls and lower call quality (outside of that which is caused by hardware) than the landline.

[joshl_1995]

Well I think what I might do is just trial it for a while to see the difference, thanks everyone.

[joshl_1995]

Well I've hooked my PS4 up via Ethernet and it has gained an average of 4mbps more download. So yeah much better even to the point where on the weekend (when there are more consoles running) the internet cut out on the one using WiFi while mine remained connected. So yep Ethernet is the way to go. Just going off what I'm experiencing.