What is the Difference Between a Wireless and a Wired Connection?

Nobody wants to live with or have to conduct business using a slow, unreliable internet connection. For your business to thrive and your home to receive the best internet service possible, you need to educate yourself on all the types of internet services you could use to connect to the Internet. This will aid in determining which one is right for you. You should also look into different providers and see what plans and services they offer. Bundles are always a good idea if you look for internet service and other things such as a landline or cable television. These are all factors you should consider when choosing an internet provider and plan.

Access to the Internet can be granted in one of two ways: through a wired connection or through a wireless connection. Wired connections require cables and a network connection and use an Ethernet cable to connect the device being used to access the internet and the router. Wireless connections are transmitted from the router to the Internet-ready device through the air using radio waves. The physical connection ends when the router is connected to the modem. Both hold their own benefits and their own disadvantages.

With a wired connection, the speed of data transmission to the device from the Internet is significantly faster than using a wireless connection. Essentially when you are using a wired connection, you are hard-wired into the Internet. Since it doesn’t have to go through the air, there are much fewer disruptions and much faster speeds of connectivity. An ethernet connection is great for gaming due to the low latency or “lag” the user experiences during play. If you aren’t a big gamer or really just don’t excessively use the internet, this probably doesn’t mean much to you, so a wireless connection is most likely right for you.

Devices connecting to the internet via WiFi will receive information through radio waves in the air. Because of this, disruptions in connectivity and speed can be an issue. The wired connection stops after being connected to the router. From there, the data is transmitted without the use of a physical connection. For the most part, people use passwords to secure their networks so that their neighbors and other random people cannot access the Internet on their dime. To get WiFi, users will need to input the password the owners of the router decided on or was given on their internet-ready devices.

While gamers and people whose careers rely on a strong internet connection will benefit the most from a wired internet connection, residential folk are probably better off using WiFi or a wireless connection. If the house is home to people who only use the internet to scroll through social media or look something up, wireless internet is best because a bigger number of people can connect to the internet using it. Wireless will also allow you to take the device farther from the router, meaning you can get service from a larger area than with a wired connection. To learn more about how to choose the internet service that is right for you, click here.

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