Wi-Fi 6: Wired vs. Wireless

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We all know that it makes no sense to get the latest device just because they come out with a new one every year. Sure, post-millennials tend to want a new phone every year, but most of us are well past that. However, as the competitive nature of the consumer tech industry continues to increase, the rate of change is also accelerating, as is the peer pressure to upgrade. Non-techies get new phones every year, techies get new CPU and GPUs every two years, average consumers get bigger and higher-res TVs every three years, and on it goes.

Sometimes, it does make sense to upgrade. However, a few years back, upgrading to a new modem/router using the new (at that time) DOCSIS 3.1 standard made sense, as it allowed high-speed cable data to potentially reach download speeds of up to 10 Gbps; this would greatly improve a wide variety of online experiences and abilities that have become a part lives, such as 4K video streaming, high-resolution multi-channel video conferencing, and multi-player online gaming. With the advent of 5G and all that it will enable, faster internet transfer speeds will become more than a want; for many 5G-enabled activities, those speeds will become necessary.

Before we discuss what you can expect from the next generation of internet connection, let’s first consider wired vs. wireless. As someone who usually uses wireless for net connection for notebooks, tablets, and phones and wired for my main rigs, let me categorically state that using wired is always better than wireless. I use large desktop computers as our main workstations because I want the high-speed, rapid ability to transform and transfer files (e.g., copying over a 45-minute 4K HiFi sound video from my NVME SSD PCIE4 workstation took under four minutes, while doing the same thing on my standard notebook takes just under an hour) and extreme multitasking. On these workstations/desktops, I use wired internet. Here are three main reasons why.

To read this entire article, which appeared in the December 2019 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.

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