Why to Use Ethernet Cables Instead of Wi-Fi - DIY High Speed Home Network - Popular Mechanics

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How to Ditch Wi-Fi for a High-Speed, Ethernet-Wired Home

To take advantage of your high speed Internet fully, you should hook your networked home appliances using Ethernet cables, not via more convenient but slower Wi-Fi connections. Here's how to wire your house so that your desktop, HDTV, Xbox, printer and Blu-Ray player get real high-speed Internet.

Published in the November 2009 issue.

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At some point in its history, the humble RJ-45 Ethernet connector got a bad rap. Wi-Fi routers entranced us all with their promise of easy setup and constant connectivity, while wired Ethernet connections required a mystical knowledge closely guarded by corporate IT professionals. Now, we’ve got nothing against Wi-Fi—for devices such as smartphones and laptops that put a premium on portability, it’s the natural solution. But it turns out that nothing beats a hard-wired connection for setup simplicity, reliability and speed.

Advanced Wi-Fi gear has a top-end bandwidth of 600 megabits per second (in practice, many Wi-Fi setups operate far more slowly), whereas wired connections can shuttle data around at up to 1000 Mbps, or 1 gigabit per second, consistently—great for bandwidth-hogging HD video streaming. Plus, wired Ethernet gear requires no passwords, encryption or complex alphanumeric keys to set up—all the equipment is plug-and-play.

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