What’s the bottom line?īoth Wi-Fi and Ethernet have their benefits when it comes to home broadband. My colleague Ry Crist dives into more ways to speed up your Wi-Fi, and you can bet I'll be leaning into his advice. I haven't taken any steps yet to boost my Wi-Fi signals, but I might move my router to a more central area of my apartment or get an extender to help my speeds stay consistent. Based on the drastic difference between the Wi-Fi and Ethernet speed tests, I determined that my Wi-Fi connection was to blame for the slow service, not my ISP throttling my speed. However, testing my internet speeds with an Ethernet cable helped me pinpoint the root cause of my slow connection. Ethernet limits your mobility, which is unrealistic if you have several people connecting multiple devices. Using Wi-Fi, you can access the internet from anywhere in your house without plugging into a router. Using an Ethernet connection all the time is just not practical.
![connection test internet connection test internet](https://linuxconfig.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/00-how-to-test-internet-connection-on-linux.png)
Data transmitted through Wi-Fi can be more easily intercepted by hackers, but if they want to hack you over Ethernet, they need to physically connect to the router. One of Ethernet’s advantages over Wi-Fi: the connection is safer and more secure. Plus, you won’t have to worry about latency issues, or a lag in connection, that sometimes occur with local network congestion. Since your device is connected directly to the router - compared to wirelessly through Wi-Fi - you can expect faster bandwidth, which is how much data you can transmit through an internet connection.Įthernet also boasts more consistent speeds since wired signals don’t fluctuate as easily as wireless ones do. One of Ethernet’s biggest advantages is speed. To make it worthwhile, you would have to install a switch box or Ethernet jacks around your house to connect multiple devices to the internet.
![connection test internet connection test internet](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ur--4ws1ESc/maxresdefault.jpg)
Wi-Fi can handle a lot more devices than regular Ethernet cables can. It might seem like the cost of Wi-Fi and Ethernet would be similar - since you’re paying for the service, not the mode of internet connection - but Wi-Fi is actually significantly cheaper than Ethernet.