Ethernet vs WiFi Speed Lost

Dolby

Dolby

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This is quite an interesting article

9to5mac.com

Ethernet vs WiFi: How much speed is lost? - 9to5Mac

It’s been about a decade since Apple’s MacBooks included Ethernet ports and even the base iMac has axed the wired...
9to5mac.com 9to5mac.com


“That means US consumers on average lose 58% of the speed they pay for. The UK and France were the worst two countries, with both losing over 70% of their Ethernet speed on WiFi.”
 
Not this again... Everybody knows that WiFi throughput is not on par with ethernet. The real question is whether these consumers are using adequate routers and setups for their intended WiFi throughput or whether the hassle of running cable to various points is worth the squeeze.

Personally, I only run ethernet in my home office setup because I sign out large files but for everything else WiFi is more than adequate. I don't need 1Gbps throughput to stream 4K so running cable to every Apple TV or buying an Apple TV purely because it has an ethernet port is asinine.
 
Hush9300 said:
Not this again... Everybody knows that WiFi throughput is not on par with ethernet. The real question is whether these consumers are using adequate routers and setups for their intended WiFi throughput or whether the hassle of running cable to various points is worth the squeeze.

Personally, I only run ethernet in my home office setup because I sign out large files but for everything else WiFi is more than adequate. I don't need 1Gbps throughput to stream 4K so running cable to every Apple TV or buying an Apple TV purely because it has an ethernet port is asinine.
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I'll cable in for big file transfers at home, or for a stable connection in a busy stadium (not often an issue in PE), but my domestic wifi speeds are good enough not to make a permanent ethernet connection necessary. Good enough is usually good enough.
 
Hush9300 said:
Not this again... Everybody knows that WiFi throughput is not on par with ethernet. The real question is whether these consumers are using adequate routers and setups for their intended WiFi throughput or whether the hassle of running cable to various points is worth the squeeze.

Personally, I only run ethernet in my home office setup because I sign out large files but for everything else WiFi is more than adequate. I don't need 1Gbps throughput to stream 4K so running cable to every Apple TV or buying an Apple TV purely because it has an ethernet port is asinine.
Click to expand...

Also the part they are missing is the “average” wireless throughput and not really the top end.

You can go do the same with cars and you’ll have the same results.

And similarly you’ll find it’s irrelevant and even with the wired connection those very same people would never have used those speeds anyway, so what was the point of asking the question?

It’s a bit like saying here use this Lamborghini because it’s super awesome and ultra fast, but what the person actually needs are the four doors and the boot space of their Polo.

Also the argument of getting what they paid for is someone irrelevant. Very few people use their local networks for anything more than connecting to the internet these days, so the real question should be are they internet speed limited by their wireless connection, rather than comparing it with gigabit Ethernet.

The article is also sparse on actual speed details and seems to make the massive assumption that everyone would have gigabit Ethernet but the odds are these kinds of people who don’t care about this stuff are all on ISP issued routers with 100Mbit Ethernet links which likely means those stats are all bullshit.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Also the part they are missing is the “average” wireless throughput and not really the top end.

You can go do the same with cars and you’ll have the same results.

And similarly you’ll find it’s irrelevant and even with the wired connection those very same people would never have used those speeds anyway, so what was the point of asking the question?

It’s a bit like saying here use this Lamborghini because it’s super awesome and ultra fast, but what the person actually needs are the four doors and the boot space of their Polo.

Also the argument of getting what they paid for is someone irrelevant. Very few people use their local networks for anything more than connecting to the internet these days, so the real question should be are they internet speed limited by their wireless connection, rather than comparing it with gigabit Ethernet.

The article is also sparse on actual speed details and seems to make the massive assumption that everyone would have gigabit Ethernet but the odds are these kinds of people who don’t care about this stuff are all on ISP issued routers with 100Mbit Ethernet links which likely means those stats are all bullshit.
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Wait a minute - you think ISPs abroad are issuing 10/100 routers ? Seriously ?

Even in South Africa the majority of ISPs have been giving Gbit for years.
 
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Dolby said:
Wait a minute - you think ISPs abroad are issuing 10/100 routers ? Seriously ?

Even in South Africa the majority of ISPs have been giving Gbit for years.
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I don’t think so, I know so.

Remember this entire article is about the AVERAGE, and on the average there are more 100MBit routers out there than Gigabit ones.

Remember there are still quite a number of people in the (first) world on dial-up…and happy with it.
 
SauRoNZA said:
I don’t think so, I know so.

Remember this entire article is about the AVERAGE, and on the average there are more 100MBit routers out there than Gigabit ones.

Remember there are still quite a number of people in the (first) world on dial-up…and happy with it.
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Funny - I’m actually very (very) directly involved in the industry and couldn’t disagree with you more.

Do you have anything to back it up?
What ISPs offer which models?
Anything at all on how you came to think this?
 
Dolby said:
Funny - I’m actually very (very) directly involved in the industry and couldn’t disagree with you more.

Do you have anything to back it up?
What ISPs offer which models?
Anything at all on how you came to think this?
Click to expand...

It’s got nothing to do with what ISP’s offer right now but everything to do with what people have and the point they don’t upgrade.

I run into this every couple of weeks when someone complains about speed when they’ve just upgraded their internet only to then find out the WAN connection is restricted to 100MBit.

You forget there are normal people out there and this forum and the people we hang out with aren’t representative in any way of the average internet user out there.

And that’s also the very reason wireless is best as very few people ever actually need Ethernet, but I’m not going to flog your dead horse again.
 
If its anything like Dolby and his apple mac threads , please don't encourage him :popcorn:
 
Dolby said:
Wait a minute - you think ISPs abroad are issuing 10/100 routers ? Seriously ?

Even in South Africa the majority of ISPs have been giving Gbit for years.
Click to expand...
Lol yeah no was usually an el cheapo TP link C20. There are zillions of them for sale on Facebook marketplace for that reason.
 
I think people are way too held up on the numbers in this kind of instance

Rather than just, a good browsing experience or not.

I'm the same with other things, though so each to their own.
 
I think I get this.

The survey team was incorrect in this situation , purposely seeking out clients on dial up with 10/100 routers to skew the figures

Sounds right
 
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Hush9300 said:
Personally, I only run ethernet in my home office setup because I sign out large files
Click to expand...

Are you not worried about security on Ethernet? WiFi is the far more secure option, I’m told
 
Look at the end of the day it’s an article about what we were discussing the other day. I thought it could be interesting.

If you’re unhappy with the results or the way the survey was done, then maybe chat to the writer ?

It’s really got nothing to do with me and I’m sorry that it upset you all
 
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