The age of the internet has brought through some of the most important innovations
in terms of convenience of accessing information, transferring information around
the world, and more importantly, being able to ‘head shot’ someone from the
other side of the globe (in games of course). It has created entirely
new genres of games, programs, and services. The speeds we access this information
has also skyrocketed. From the age of the hardware modems of 56kbps to the new
era of broadband offering speeds of over 1 mbps at affordable costs that make
it available to the home user (1 mbps is approx. 1000kbps). But people
have still, and for the most part, been wired down by their internet connections.
This is where the wireless revolution is about to come in.

Recently I purchased a home wireless router using the new IEEE 802.11g standard
in an attempt to try and find a solution to have the flexibility of moving my
networked electronics around my home. Of course I jumped at the chance to try
out Microsoft’s Wireless Broadband Adapter for the Xbox. So how does wireless
stack up against a wired setup? Read on as I weight the pros and cons of each
setup. . .

The “Wired” Approach

Alright, I know there are quite a number of readers who have this kind of
setup at home. I used to be on of them. This is the traditional setup for any
network that exists and all networks contain at least in some part a wired portion
contained within. But is this really a practical solution for home user? Let’s
see some of the Pros and Cons of this type of setup.

The Pros

  • Cost – Although it can be somewhat expensive wiring the entire house,
    it is still the most inexpensive solution in terms of networking, which makes
    it very appealing.
  • Reliability – If everything is connected correctly in terms of wiring,
    you should hardly ever run into a problem on the cabling end.
  • Speed – Although wireless has made a great improvement from the
    802.11b standard to 802.11g, it still cannot match the speeds that are now
    being introduced by new advancements in cabling technology. With speeds now
    hitting around 10 gigabits per second with category 6 cabling, wireless can
    not keep up at the moment.

The Cons

  • Setup – Let’s face it, not everyone is a network professional and
    if you try to setup up a network at home and have no clue at what your doing,
    your going to run into problems.
  • Lack of mobility/flexibility – By far one of the biggest cons of
    the wired setup. The need to have a cable to access the internet everywhere
    in the house can cause problems and wiring nightmares.
  • Wiring messes – I don’t know about most people but I already have
    enough wires running behind my computer and my entertainment system and any
    way I could reduce it would be welcomed. And if you want to connect something
    without a nearby network jack, running a long cable to your Xbox or PC is
    not the most appealing thing for guests to see.

The Wireless Approach

Wireless has been around for a considerable amount of time in comparison to
how long the internet’s been around. However, it has only been a valid option
for home users in the past few years. The wireless movement in North America
has just begun and promises a great deal, but is it truly the best options for
us? Maybe some of these Pros and Cons might shed some light on the subject.

The Pros

  • Mobility – By far the biggest advantage. Being able to access the
    internet from any location inside and out side the home is a huge advantage.
  • Setup – Even those without a great deal of networking experience
    can set a wireless network. Just plug the wireless router or base station
    into the modem and wireless PC or console can connect to the internet with
    little or no effort.
  • Lack of mess – Without any wires it provides the tidiest solution
    of all the networking possibilities.

The Cons

  • Speed – It still cannot compare to the speeds that are available
    to the wired networks, but it is getting closer every day.
  • Reliability – Wireless networks are still more susceptible to inference
    than their wired counterparts. While I have been fortunate in having a good
    strong connection, I have still experienced the odd disconnect from time to
    time.
  • Cost – The biggest drawback of the wireless solution. It is still
    fairly expensive to go wireless but costs have been gradually decreasing.

For the average home user the wired network is the favored network setup, simple
and cost effective. But more and more home users need to be able to move their
laptops around to places where network cables cannot run. While this is ideal
for a business network, the home environment is completely different and needs
to be less restricted. The wireless solution offers mobility but at a cost of
reliability and expense. So which of the two is the better choice? That’s for
the readers to decide. For myself however, I am going to enjoy using my wireless
Xbox adapter in my home.

Filed under: Editorials

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