Wired vs. Wireless LAN
Wired and wireless LANs have been a hot topic for awhile. It has often been debated and a question constantly asked since both have met the consumer market. So now, the golden question, wired or wireless? Can wired and wireless LAN coexist in peace?
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Let’s start with the original internet and transfer connection, Wired LANs. There are a few good benefits with wired LANs. One of society’s primary concerns at the moment is security, especially cyber security. A good amount of our information and our life is on the internet and hopefully they are the things we want and chose to share. Now, what about the things that we don’t want to share? How do we protect that and keep it safe? Wired LAN offers that extra security. It gets rid of the fear of our information getting easily picked up and gathered randomly by air waves. Wired LAN adds an extra layer of protection for those who opt for a broadband setup. Broadbands automatically have their own firewall system in place to assist in a more secure connection. Wired LAN is also the fastest connection speed around. For faster connectivity speeds it is best to use a high quality cable. Theoretically, wired LAN has a max connection speed of 1,000 mbps which is over 5 times faster than wireless LAN’s max speed. There is also no latency or ping, caused by the wires and cables when using wired LAN.
As great as wired LANs are, there are still some small shortcomings in comparison to wireless LAN. Wired LAN can be costly in regards to the wiring system infrastructure. The wires need to be routed neatly and organized to the devices that will be using it in order to avoid a cluster of messy wires running about. Lastly, of course with being wired, your device has to stay within certain limits and all mobility is dictated by where the wires can or cannot go. The lack of freedom in mobility can be a inconvenience.
Onto the newcomer, Wireless LAN. Wireless LAN does indeed have its’ own benefits and perks with one of the biggest benefit being mobility. To have the freedom of moving anywhere and in any direction without compromising you’re connctivity to the internet or other devices as long as the device is connected to the wireless LAN. There is no reason to worry about someone getting entangled in the wires and snagging your connection because there’s no wires for that to happen to begin with! Another benefit with wireless LAN would be the number of devices that are able to connect to the network. Since there are no ports, there are no limiters based on port availability.
There are a few downsides to having a wireless LAN. Without limitations on how many devices can be connected to the wireless LAN, the more devices that are connected as well as being used, could slow down the speed of the wireless LAN. In general, wireless LAN connection speed is significantly slower than that of a wired LAN connection. Speeds can slow down even further due to interference with obstruction by walls and the distance from the wireless LAN device. Lastly, a troublesome worry would be the security of wireless LANs. With information being transferred over airwaves, it makes data and information a lot more susceptible to hackers and cyberattacks.
So which one is more superior, Wired or Wireless? Adding up the benefits and the demerits, it seems like wired wins for its quality and reliability in terms connection speeds and user experience with security protection and connection consistency. However, if it wasn’t a question of either or, the best choice would be to have both wireless and wired LAN setup in your vicinity. Sometimes, you can utilize the best of both worlds, as they actually compliment each other and bring convenience to a whole new level.
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