Wired Vs. Wireless Home Networking. What's it to you?
by Andy Trask

There's a lot of discussion and a lot of hype in the stores and online right now about wireless home networking. If you were to accept the hype coming from the retail stores and wireless equipment makers, you could quickly come to believe not only that wireless networking is as necessary as the computer itself, but also that setting it up is as easy as making a peanut butter & jelly sandwich! Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of home networking and of wireless too (what do you expect from a geek?!), but as with any technology, wireless is not a one-size-fits-all solution and to determine whether it's the right solution for you, there are a few things you should consider.

First of all, let's take a quick look at home networking itself. Why might you want a home network? The overwhelming majority of home networks are set up to share a high-speed Internet connection on two or more computers. It's simple math to figure out that the fixed one-time cost of installing network hardware and cabling can pay for itself in as little as twelve months and then continue to generate ongoing savings compared to setting up a second or third Cable Internet or DSL account! Other common reasons for home networking include sharing printers and files between computers electronically (eliminating the "sneakernet").

So let's say you've decided that a home network is in your future, now the question becomes one of technology rather than need. There are quite a few technologies available for home networking today, but for the purpose of comparison I'm going to focus on Ethernet and wireless.

Ethernet (wired) network: Ethernet is the "standard" and is the stuff that corporate networks are made of. In an Ethernet network, every computer is connected to the network by a wire (called "Cat-5" or "Cat-5e" cable for those who are geeky enough to be interested). The advantage of Ethernet is low-cost hardware, more-or-less 100% connection reliability, and Speed! Speed! Speed! The disadvantage of Ethernet is that cable needs to be run to all your computers and depending on the construction of your house and placement of your computers, could significantly increase your installation labor costs.

Wireless Network: Wireless allows computers to connect via a radio-frequency signal that's transmitted between each computer and a central unit (geekspeak: an "Access Point") in your network. The advantage of wireless networking is low installation labor costs and under optimal conditions, flexibility in placement of computers and some mobility. The disadvantage of wireless is that the range of the equipment can be severely impacted by common household structures of stone, brick and metal such as stucco or brick walls, firewalls, metal ductwork, chimneys and appliances. Also, networking wireless equipment can be rendered unreliable by 2.4Ghz wireless telephones which are commonly used in many homes.

Update April '04: Thanks to the breakneck speed of technological development, I can counter two points previously made in this article when originally published. First, I reported the cost of wireless equipment being roughly three times the cost of wired equipment. As of this writing, the gap in pricing has closed to being insignificant between the two technologies. Second, I reported originally that wireless networking was ten times slower than wired. Since then, two new wireless technologies have been introduced, one at half the speed of wired, and the most recent, slightly exceeding the speed of wired.

While wireless manufacturers have made huge gains in range and reliability for their equipment in recent years, I have found that few homes are "perfect" for this technology, and even under the best circumstances, there are often "dead spots" within a home where the wireless signal is either unreliable, or non-existent. While networking between adjacent rooms on a single floor is generally pretty reliable, networking between floors, and particularly into basement areas, outdoors, or into garages (including rooms over the garage) can be more problematic and it's generally a good idea to have a wireless site assessment performed to determine the optimal location for placement of your Wireless Access Point.

These are some of the issues to consider when deciding on the right home networking solution for you. There are of course many other considerations including other networking technologies like Home Phoneline (HPN) networking and Powerline networking that take advantage of existing wiring in your home. Of course, as with any specialty, there are also tricks and techniques that a professional installer can suggest that could mean the difference between a marginal performer and a reliable, problem-free network.

Andy Trask is the Head Geek at Geek Housecalls (on the web at www.geekhousecalls.com). Based in Lexington Mass, Geek Housecalls provides computer hardware and software troubleshooting, networking, installations, upgrades, and general assistance to residential and small business computer users in Boston and the surrounding North, South, and Western suburbs as well as Rhode Island and southern New Hampshire. If you have a question or topic you'd like to see addressed by The Geeks, please send email to: agtm@geekhousecalls.com

If you're interested in reprinting this or other articles from this series on a website or in a printed publication please contact Andy Trask at andy@geekhousecalls.com for information about our liberal sharing policy!

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