Despite the numerous arguments waged over the pros and cons of wired versus wireless internet connections, the answer is actually quite simple: They both work well, and your unique situation is what will determine which connection will work best for your home or business. But before you decide, it’s important to know the facts.
Wired connections will give you more reliability and have less potential for interference, but wireless connections will give you greater flexibility and the ability to easily add devices to your network. There are factors you have to consider for both types of networks, such as:
- What devices are you planning to use?
- How many devices are you planning to connect to the network?
- How big of a range will your network span?
- Will you be streaming content that will require lots of bandwidth?
- What is the potential for interference that could interrupt your network connection?
They’re all important factors to consider. Wired networks will give you a dedicated connection going directly from the modem and router to a device. It won’t get hindered by potential interferences that wireless networks face. Devices like smart TVs, game consoles and desktop computers could benefit from a wired connection. Using a wireless network with these devices could be the reason why your streaming content doesn’t load as fast as it should. A dedicated wired connection to that device may increase how quickly your content loads.
There’s no doubt that the flexibility of wireless can’t be beat, but the signal strength can weaken over large distances, or if you’re operating a lot of devices at the same time. And while it’s easy to add as many devices as you’d like to your wireless network, keep in mind that every time you add a new one, you’re increasing the potential of interference from other devices on your wireless network. They’re all using the same connection.
Wired connections will also require you to run cables to each device, which can become burdensome. But, wireless networks also face their own struggles — they can sometimes operate on the same signals as microwaves. This can sometimes cause interruptions in the broadcast of your wireless signal.
Security is another factor. While cyber criminals can potentially hack both types of connections, a wired network’s dedicated connection is usually more secure than the broadcasted signal from a wireless router.
As you can see, like any technology, both forms of connections have pluses and minuses. Both platforms allow you to quickly and easily set up your network and get online — it just depends on what you’d like to do and how you want to use your WK&T connection.
Wired vs. wireless
Wired
Pros
- Dedicated connection to each device
- More secure
- Less potential for interference
Cons
- Wires running throughout your home or business
- Less flexibility and less mobility for devices
- More difficulty adding new devices
Wireless
Pros
- Greater flexibility and mobility
- Easily add devices
- Ease of use
Cons
- Signal strength lessens over large areas and with more devices
- Less secure
- More potential for interference
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Belkin NetCam Wi-Fi Camera with Night Vision
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