Use wireless or ethernet?

[lugdunum]

I have my X32 on my desk, right next to our cable modem and router so I access the web via the built-in wireless or can use the ethernet cable that I had been using on my old A21m.
Is there any reason to use one or the other, if I have a choice? Does wireless access use more CPU than a cable connection?
Just to get rid of one more cable from the mess under my desk migh be the best reason to stick with just the wireless!
Advice?

[jdhurst]

For general purpose use, wireless is fine. I do that all the time. If you need to share very large files with another PC on the same subnet, wired is much, much faster. ... JD Hurst

[DavidNZ]

I also use wireless all of the time at home as well, but my reason were more practical: my home office does not have a phone jack, and the nearest is in the hallway. Hence, when we got broadband, a wireless route was also necessary (the other option being running a CAT5 through the wall or on the floor!).

[amgdoc]

I have my X32 on my desk, right next to our cable modem and router so I access the web via the built-in wireless or can use the ethernet cable that I had been using on my old A21m.
Is there any reason to use one or the other, if I have a choice? Does wireless access use more CPU than a cable connection?
Just to get rid of one more cable from the mess under my desk migh be the best reason to stick with just the wireless!
Advice?

if you are near the router, might as well go with wired. keep the wireless router just in case you want to move around the house. also, it might be wise not to connect notebook to cable modem directly, use the router; routers usually have a nice firewall to help protect you from nasty net bugs.

if wires are becoming an issue, did you try tying the wires with a twisty-tie together. it helps a little.

[ragefury32]

Depends on which card, how your network is setup, and what you need to do. In general, if you have a MiniPCI card with a bus mastering interface/DMA engine (which I believe the is in the Atheros/Aironet cards) your CPU utilization will be quite low. For low traffic streaming (say, MP3s, VNC or ssh) 802.11(whatever), is not a bad idea. Average maximum speed is around 800Kbytes/sec max, half-duplex, with some noticable latency.

However, for large block file transfers (my rule of thumb: anything over 50MBytes) or complex file streaming (say, playing back a DVD-Rip 3ivX video file) I would use the wired Ethernet, preferrably GigE over MegE, since it's dual duplex, low latency (switched) and has much better transfer throughout. MegE usually max out at 10MBytes/sec (I usually get ~11MBytes/sec with the onboard Intel Pro100VE). As for GigE, usually it's the maximum output of the laptop Hard drive, which can be as much as 40 MBytes/sec peaked.

Just remember. The further the distance from the access point and "dirtier" the wireless spectrum in the area, the worse off your transfer rate and latency will tend to be.

[bhtooefr]

Wireless, here.

If I didn't use wireless, I'd have to deal with a flaky network jack, because IBM didn't design the old X2x network jacks for a high number of insertions, it seems.

[red bioroid]

My reasons for either is different: it's the risk vs rewards when it comes to security

1. For wireless, it's the convenience of taking it many places outside the home but I won't trust the access points I'm connecting to.

2. For wired, because the data doesn't float in the air like wireless but terminates somewhere due to the wire. I prefer wired if all else are equal; if I am physically there to chose.

[aceyx]

If you're right next to the router, you should go wired.

There's a minimum distance for radio waves to work properly, otherwise you get reflections and such. Meaning, a sketchy connection.

As far as the cabling issue goes, I took a PVC pipe, and cut it into a trench. Screwed that sucker on the back of my desk and set all the wires in there. Now, I don't worry about catching my foot on anything.


Wireless will use more power, but not that much more processor over wired connections (nominal differences).

As far as wired being "more secure" than wireless . . . y'all drank Kool-Aid when you were little didn'tcha?

[bhtooefr]

Well, on a wired connection, I can see the cable in front of me, and know if anyone's cut my cable to sniff the connection.

On a wireless connection, anyone can sniff it. It then becomes a war between how much encryption you can get, and how easily "they" can break the encryption.

[aceyx]

Packet sniffing can be done anywhere between your computer and the host, not just the junction between your computer and the router.

Not exactly sure why you think physical hardware matters, since it's all software-based anyway.

[red bioroid]

Would you trust your stock trade to a wireless connection; the risk that one digit gets lost in the air? I get a better assurance from a wired connection. Wired makes me feel more assured but that's probably a myth\fact issue since I have no way to test for that.

[dr_st]

Not exactly sure why you think physical hardware matters, since it's all software-based anyway.

How do you sniff a packet that goes through a cable? You must connect to the cable somehow. How can someone connect to a cable that inside your house?

How do you sniff a packet that's sent out in the open and covers a range of several dozen (hundred?) meters? Using any radio equipment.

That's the difference.

Would you trust your stock trade to a wireless connection; the risk that one digit gets lost in the air?

Haha. "A digit lost in the air". That's hilarious. Do you know how many digits of data get lossed in the air all the time? That's why there is a complex mechanism of error detection, acknowledgements and retransmissions that goes on without you even knowing it. If it wasn't the case, communication would be impossible at all with wireless.

Or wired, for that matter. Do you know how Ethernet works? Basically everyone shouts into the cable whenever they want, and there is a collision detection mechanism. Whenever one detects a collision, he shuts up for a random (constantly increasing) period of time and tries again, until he believes that everything went through correctly.

When our teacher taught us the basics of Ethernet transmission (and retransmission) he said something along the lines of "When you think about it, it's a miracle this thing even works, but not only it works, it works GREAT." And that is the truth.

Now, back to the original question - If I'm on the same desk as the router all the time and can connect physically, why wouldn't I do it? Not due to security, but due to the simple fact that connection is much faster and a bit more reliable (no suddent disconnects).

Now, the fact is that I'm now typing on my laptop, that is sitting on my desk next to the access point, and I'm still connecting using wireless, because I couldn't bother to search for the cable under the desk and plug it in. But it's also because I know that I will be moving this laptop here and there in the not too distant future, and since I don't need to transfer big files now, I don't care.

[aceyx]

You must connect to the cable somehow.

Anywhere between the client and host. That is the "cable."

[dr_st]

You must connect to the cable somehow.

Anywhere between the client and host. That is the "cable."

Let's split this to two. First, between my computer and the router. Second, between my router and the server on the outside to which I connect.

Also, sniffing can be done on the software level (IP/TCP) or on the hardware level (physical Ethernet/WiFi).

To sniff something on the software level one has to have his sniffing program installed on one of the computers where the data passes. Now, I can be sure that no one has installed such programs on any of my machines. Can I be sure that no one has installed such programs on any of the machines between me and the host? No, but I find it very improbable.

Now, the hardware level. For this, someone has to physically connect to the medium that transmits the data. And this is where the difference between wireless and wired becomes important. To sniff an ethernet cable or the infrastructure cable used by my broadband provider, one must connect to it physically. To sniff a wireless connection, one doesn't need to connect physically to anything, just listen.

Again, while I cannot be sure that the cables outside of my house have not been tampered with, I'd say there is a pretty low chance that they have. I am 100% sure that no one has tampered with the cables inside my house, but when I broadcast a wireless signal, for what I know, anyone could be listening.

That's the way I see it. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[immaculate]

sniffing is mainly an issue over unsecured (and even secured, for that matter) wireless networks.

to answer the original poster's question, if you are close to the router/modem, just plug it in. i use wireless only when i'm not physically at my desk (i.e. in bed, in living room, bedroom, etc). this is mainly because after enough networking classes (and after watching my friend purposefully unsecure his wireless router so that he could kismet/ettercap all leecher's passwords), i know better than to do anything sensitive over WiFi and, well, it's flat out slower for transferring large files, so that's another thing to take into consideration.

aaron