Do you prefer Wireless or Wired?

[Sharon]

I recently had to part ways with Time Warner Cable (now Spectrum) because I could not get a consistent connection via wifi. There were nights where I would be in a middle of a course for school and after clicking on the next button I would get the 'Cannot Be Displayed' page due to no longer being connected to the internet. Supposedly I was supposed to get 100mb/s but based on the random speed tests I would do I was getting more like 20-30mb/s which I would have been ok with the slower speeds as I don't do anything that really required THAT much bandwidth it was just the fact that the internet kept dropping out that bothered me. I now have 45mb/s with AT&T which is fine with me because the internet has been consistent. The only times I really notice how slow it is, is when I'm downloading an update on my Xbox One or PS4 so I have those systems wired. For the most part I use the wireless (WI-FI).

What about you? When accessing the internet what device(s) do you use and do you prefer wired or wireless?

 

[Gus]

My wifi works great and I use the company you just left. Most internet connected things in my house use wifi and they never drop the signal.

 

[Sharon]

My wifi works great and I use the company you just left. Most internet connected things in my house use wifi and they never drop the signal.

I'm glad it's not an issue for you because it was most certainly frustrating for me. I had to call them 3x before they agreed to send out a technician. When he came out he couldn't find anything wrong with our equipment and of course he wasn't able to replicate the problem. The night it happened again I decided to sign up with AT&T.

 

[Tucker933]

If your issue was with the wifi, it wasn't your service provider's issue unless they provided you the router, in which case you should just grab your own. Though the most common issue with wifi is frequency management, which is the user's responsibility to maintain.

 

[Sharon]

If your issue was with the wifi, it wasn't your service provider's issue unless they provided you the router, in which case you should just grab your own. Though the most common issue with wifi is frequency management, which is the user's responsibility to maintain.

Yes they provided the wireless router. There shouldn't be an issue because the main computer I used for my school work which was fairly close to the router (just annoyingly too far to be able to hook up via ethernet). They said there wasn't anything wrong with the router and he even looked in our settings to see and he claimed that he reset some stuff that should help the connection issue. We took a gamble with AT&T thinking that it may be just positioning or something as there could some sort of interference going on somewhere but thankfully it is no longer an issue.

@Tucker933 do you mostly use wifi yourself? Or do you have devices hooked up directly via ethernet?

 

[John]

If your issue was with the wifi, it wasn't your service provider's issue unless they provided you the router, in which case you should just grab your own. Though the most common issue with wifi is frequency management, which is the user's responsibility to maintain.

Yep. You'd be shocked how much a new router can help your wi-fi. I used to have AT&T and my wi-fi would go out consistently, but when I bought a new router, I was fine. Don't ever use the router an ISP gives you. They're always bottom of the market ones that are often times used.

I normally just use wireless. The internet here is pretty crappy, since I'm in the middle of nowhere. I only have a wired connection on my desktop (which I rarely use) and my TV. I can't tell a noticeable difference between the two whenever I use my laptop, so I just use wireless.

 

[Tucker933]

@Tucker933 do you mostly use wifi yourself? Or do you have devices hooked up directly via ethernet?

I run my PC on Ethernet because it's more reliable, but generally use my phone and laptop on the wifi.

The channel width for wifi takes up quite a bit of the 2.4GHz spectrum, so interference is quite common unless you're running on 5GHz. The problem is higher frequencies are more easily impeded, so you don't get the same range out of it, and 5GHz is generally only with the AC standard, which most devices don't support.

tl;dr you're most likely dealing with 2.4GHz wifi, which is extremely prone to interference, so frequency management is something you should look into if you have issues again.

 

[Sharon]

Thanks for the advice @Tucker933 - I think you're right about the 5GHz is pretty reliable. My Macbook, iPhone, and iPad all are able to connect through that I'm not sure about our gaming consoles but only because we keep those wired anyway. We keep the desktop computer in my office and it's on the opposite side of the house of where the router is so it would be difficult to make that a wired connection.

 

[Page]

WIFI on my laptop and phone and whatnot and my desktop on wired. Wired is more faster and it doesn't drop at all WIFI does if I tend to over load i.

One day I will need to get another router with more ports and higher speed

 

[Cosmic]

Wired! I don't like my stuff running out of battery 😱

 

[MrSteve]

Wifi is good with a decent router, but you cant beat wired!

 

[Jamie Hennings]

Hello,

I preferred to use wired network because I have many advantages from it.

1. Very reliable communication, at any time.
2. Its operation is not impacted by other devices or its surroundings (i.e. neighbors).
3. High speed—multiple simultaneous users on the same network do not impact speed.
4. High protection against outside (cyber) attacks.
5. Relatively low price

 

[TDK]

Wired is so much more reliable, especially for gaming/streaming.

 

[Cosmic]

Wired! That way the connection works and it doesn't run out of battery 😀