50 replies to this topic

[ThinkTank]

So I got a new PC with wireless capability. My wife has relegated us to the back bedroom, which is on the far side of the house from where the modem and router is set up. I get a "fair" to "good" connection and it seems like it may be slow for gaming, but web pages pop up fairly quickly. I have run some speed tests and they are not good, but I get a lot of variation from really slow to decently fast. In all tests though, my upload and download speeds are much lower that what my ISP supposedly averages. Should I get a new router (mine is pretty old and pretty basic) or just run a 50 foot cable through the attic and into the new computer room? Which would be better, as in better for gaming?

[Vulpesveritas]

Wire.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16812119442

CAT 7 is your friend for long ethernet cables, but you'll get a much more stable and faster connection with a wired connection.

[FACEman Peck]

I have wireless, and have the same positioning issue you do, and my ping is horrid, 120+ for a Chicago server when I'm on the Colorado Plains.

Get a REALLY long wire, it will be worth it. Trust me.

[ThinkTank]

I was afraid you were going to say that...now I have to crawl around in the attic in the Texas heat. Thanks!

[Ghost]

Oh yes, cable hands down. You won't regret it.

[LordDeathStrike]

Vulpesveritas, on 22 June 2012 - 09:52 PM, said:

Wire.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16812119442

CAT 7 is your friend for long ethernet cables, but you'll get a much more stable and faster connection with a wired connection.

lies and falsehoods.

i have 3 antena in the lcd of my laptop, and a dual channel 300 mb/s router, i have no issues on wireless to 150+ feet away.

early wireless may have had issues with speed and packets, but these days wireless > wired. in most of the usa the new 4g lte > cable internet speeds and quality, and its wireless too, expect within 5-10 years for your broadband to be delivered wirelessly since the infrastructure is so much easies to build and maintain then wires. (just need towers and recievers in the homes, beautifull aint it.)

ThinkTank, on 22 June 2012 - 09:55 PM, said:

I was afraid you were going to say that...now I have to crawl around in the attic in the Texas heat. Thanks!

as long as you have a good antenna on the pc/laptop and a quality router wifi with a password to keep the neighbors off it (they really connect that far now) is far superior to running cat cable, and no mouse will ever chew through your wifi.


$20 wifi = crap if you arent in the same room, cordless phones will likely interfere with it.
$80 wifi = multi band simultaneous long range connections with great signal stregnth, no issues with other devices, no running cables in places you wont be able to make sure rodents dont eat through them.

and since everything is comeing with wifi these days, hell my 3d tv has wifi for updates, so does my ps3, my 360, my laptop, theres wifi fridges, stoves, home security systems that do things like turn your lights on and off, all on wifi. get the good wifi router and ditch the cat cable rat nest.

Edited by LordDeathStrike, 22 June 2012 - 10:03 PM.

[Jubub]

Cord.

[Darqe]

Call your cable company. You might be shocked at how cheap (or even free) it will be for them to come and drop a plug in the wall right next to your computer.

I guarantee you the first time a dog/kid/wife trips on the cord AND yanks your computer off of the desk at the same time, you will wish you had done so.

[Elkarlo]

You can simple Ping your router.
cmd
then Ipconfig look up your Internal IP adress then "Ping 192.168.***.1 -t" (*** is most likely to be looked up) then you see your internal delay.
I would suggest to let it run around 20 secound and break it with "ctrl+c".
Then should you have a good average.
Ethernet Cat 5 Cable gives 50 Yards without problems, specs gives Cat5e (Cat6) 150 Yards. Personally i would use a Cat5e/cat6 Cable they are shielded and not too expensiv.
Normal Wireless ping is around 20-50ms Wired Ping with 50 Yards araound 1 ms

[Vulpesveritas]

LordDeathStrike, on 22 June 2012 - 09:59 PM, said:

lies and falsehoods.

i have 3 antena in the lcd of my laptop, and a dual channel 300 mb/s router, i have no issues on wireless to 150+ feet away.

I have a similar setup, and Cables still get you faster speeds. The fact is that wired connections have a more direct signal path and fewer things to screw them up vs a wireless signal. Plus, you are limited to 60mb/s on a USB 2.0 connection, even in communicating with the router. http://en.wikipedia....rsal_Serial_Bus
Not to mention, which is a better deal, a $15 foot cable, or a $50 wireless adapter to do the same thing?

LordDeathStrike, on 22 June 2012 - 09:59 PM, said:

early wireless may have had issues with speed and packets, but these days wireless > wired. in most of the usa the new 4g lte > cable internet speeds and quality, and its wireless too, expect within 5-10 years for your broadband to be delivered wirelessly since the infrastructure is so much easies to build and maintain then wires. (just need towers and recievers in the homes, beautifull aint it.)

And so many more things can go wrong, and no, wireless is still not better today.

LordDeathStrike, on 22 June 2012 - 09:59 PM, said:

as long as you have a good antenna on the pc/laptop and a quality router wifi with a password to keep the neighbors off it (they really connect that far now) is far superior to running cat cable, and no mouse will ever chew through your wifi.


$20 wifi = crap if you arent in the same room, cordless phones will likely interfere with it.
$80 wifi = multi band simultaneous long range connections with great signal stregnth, no issues with other devices, no running cables in places you wont be able to make sure rodents dont eat through them.

Sorry, but still no, you will still get a more reliable signal on a wire as there aren't things that can get in the way of that signal. That's simple physics. A wire transmits data across a set path, which cannot be interrupted anywhere near as easily by reflective and absorptive surfaces.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 22 June 2012 - 10:07 PM.

[ThinkTank]

Elkarlo, on 22 June 2012 - 10:06 PM, said:

You can simple Ping your router.
cmd
then Ipconfig look up your Internal IP adress then "Ping 192.168.***.1 -t" (*** is most likely to be looked up) then you see your internal delay.
I would suggest to let it run around 20 secound and break it with "ctrl+c".
Then should you have a good average.
Ethernet Cat 5 Cable gives 50 Yards without problems, specs gives Cat5e (Cat6) 150 Yards. Personally i would use a Cat5e/cat6 Cable they are shielded and not too expensiv.
Normal Wireless ping is around 20-50ms Wired Ping with 50 Yards araound 1 ms

you are losing me, dude. Talk to me about computers the way you would explain it to someone that is drooling. (well, I'm almost that bad, but not quite)

[Danikov]

Both. Wirde will always beat wifi for price, performance, and being easily/cheap to replace if anything ever goes wrong. Whatever attic work you end up doing will be worth it.

However, every device and its dog can use wifi these days, so it's great for getting your laptop, tablet, eBook, smartphone, console and whatever else online if and when you or guests need to.

[chumppi]

Really long cord.

[LordDeathStrike]

Vulpesveritas, on 22 June 2012 - 10:07 PM, said:

I have a similar setup, and Cables still get you faster speeds. The fact is that wired connections have a more direct signal path and fewer things to screw them up vs a wireless signal. Plus, you are limited to 60mb/s on a USB 2.0 connection, even in communicating with the router. http://en.wikipedia....rsal_Serial_Bus
Not to mention, which is a better deal, a $15 foot cable, or a $50 wireless adapter to do the same thing?



And so many more things can go wrong, and no, wireless is still not better today.


Sorry, but still no, you will still get a more reliable signal on a wire as there aren't things that can get in the way of that signal. That's simple physics. A wire transmits data across a set path, which cannot be interrupted anywhere near as easily by reflective and absorptive surfaces.

i get the same ping/performance off my **** if i plug in to my 100/1000 port to my router and laptop with a 6 foot cat cable as i do sitting outside in the gazeebo 100+ feet from the router getting full bars wifi because of my antena/routers wifi capabilities. im still on 6 meg dsl in north dakota either way, but you can bet im not burrying a f*ckin cable out to the gazeebo.

op said nothing about useing a usb 2.0 wifi dongle. if useing a dongle go for usb 3.0, its so much faster.

Edited by LordDeathStrike, 22 June 2012 - 10:15 PM.

[Vulpesveritas]

LordDeathStrike, on 22 June 2012 - 10:14 PM, said:

i get the same ping/performance off my **** if i plug in to my 100/1000 port to my router and laptop with a 6 foot cat cable as i do sitting outside in the gazeebo 100+ feet from the router getting full bars wifi because of my antena/routers wifi capabilities. im still on 6 meg dsl in north dakota either way, but you can bet im not burrying a f*ckin cable out to the gazeebo.

Then you must not have a large number of reflective or absorptive surfaces between your router and your gazebo. Not to mention your low data rate is part of why you don't notice a difference.
Not to mention, he's hooking up a computer that isn't leaving a single room, unlike your mobility preferences his computer isn't moving anywhere anytime soon by how I read that.

LordDeathStrike, on 22 June 2012 - 10:14 PM, said:

op said nothing about useing a usb 2.0 wifi dongle. if useing a dongle go for usb 3.0, its so much faster.

Yeah... where can you get a USB 3.0 based wifi connector again? I haven't seen many yet with decent antennae. Or any on newegg for that matter.

And for the record, I use this; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16833381014

Each of those antennae are about 9 inches long.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 22 June 2012 - 10:21 PM.

[Elkarlo]

Elkarlo, on 22 June 2012 - 10:06 PM, said:

Normal Wireless ping is around 20-50ms Wired Ping with 50 Yards around 1 ms

Have to correct myself, i got a new Setup by myself with high DB antenna's
Wireless ping with a good Setup: 2ms close proximity 10 ms farther Away.
Never pinged it, simply because it breaks several times the Day in with from 9mb/s to 3mb/s.

Personally i would still say: Wired is far better or you need 5ghz equipment. Because of Physics

To make it Short: Wired Cable can easily go your 50 Feet. It is layed out for 150 Yards.
And with normal equipment distances over 100 Yards have seldom problems.
I live in Germany and a 20 Meter Cable Cat5e is Stock useage here.
Will use no Power, gives less Elektronic Smock, gives no Problem with other 2,4ghz equipment etc...
And the Ping is below 1ms. Good Wireless will have a ping of 2-15 ms on your distanz. Old Wireless 20-50ms.
And a good 9Db Antenne cost 15 Bucks, and you need several of them... the Cost you for ONE wire.

Edited by Elkarlo, 22 June 2012 - 10:25 PM.

[JestersHK]

Run the cable, you can run it a variety of ways. Easiest way is to go up the wall from your modem and into the attic and then down the cold air return and run it along the basement ceiling if its not finished. Then punch back up through the floor and you are all set. Depending on your flooring and how your base boards are setup you can also tuck Cat5/6/7 under the baseboards and carpet as it is very thin. Good luck.

JestersHK

[LordDread]

ThinkTank, on 22 June 2012 - 10:10 PM, said:

you are losing me, dude. Talk to me about computers the way you would explain it to someone that is drooling. (well, I'm almost that bad, but not quite)

Lol run cable, avoid power cables in the roof (both running the cat over them, and chewing on them ) use cat 5e or better, wait till heat has gone , then run cables

[ThinkTank]

Vulpesveritas, on 22 June 2012 - 10:16 PM, said:

Then you must not have a large number of reflective or absorptive surfaces between your router and your gazebo.
Not to mention, he's hooking up a computer that isn't leaving a single room, unlike your mobility preferences his computer isn't moving anywhere anytime soon by how I read that.


And for the record, I use this; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16833381014

JestersHK, on 22 June 2012 - 10:18 PM, said:

Run the cable, you can run it a variety of ways. Easiest way is to go up the wall from your modem and into the attic and then down the cold air return and run it along the basement ceiling if its not finished. Then punch back up through the floor and you are all set. Depending on your flooring and how your base boards are setup you can also tuck Cat5/6/7 under the baseboards and carpet as it is very thin. Good luck.

JestersHK

There are approximately 4 walls, 2 windows, two doors in the diagonal across my house from the router to the computer. The floors are all hard wood/tile.

I wish I had a basement, that would make installation a breeze. If I had a basement, that's where my mech cockpit would be getting put together. If I ran it around the baseboards, I would probably need about 600 feet of cable, but that would be totally easy from one room to the next.

Darqe, on 22 June 2012 - 10:05 PM, said:

Call your cable company. You might be shocked at how cheap (or even free) it will be for them to come and drop a plug in the wall right next to your computer.

I guarantee you the first time a dog/kid/wife trips on the cord AND yanks your computer off of the desk at the same time, you will wish you had done so.

I am going to do this first. They can fix the cut wire that leads into this room while they are here so I can have TV as well. This might turn out ok after all.

Edited by ThinkTank, 22 June 2012 - 10:30 PM.

[Vulpesveritas]

ThinkTank, on 22 June 2012 - 10:24 PM, said:

There are approximately 4 walls, 2 windows, two doors in the diagonal across my house from the router to the computer. The floors are all hard wood/tile.

I wish I had a basement, that would make installation a breeze. If I had a basement, that's where my mech cockpit would be getting put together. If I ran it around the baseboards, I would probably need about 600 feet of cable, but that would be totally easy from one room to the next.

Yeah, gonna be a wire then if you have decent walling in your house, and especially if there is a bathroom between there. .