Wired v Wireless Network - Lakelands Computing

Wired vs Wireless Network

There are several ways to connect to a network:

Wired (using ethernet cables)
Wireless - using wifi
Wireless - using 3G /4G / 5G
Wireless - using Bluetooth
Wireless - using infrared

This table compares the methods (1 is best):

Key things to consider:

How can the device be connected ? For example Smartphones can't connect to wired betwork without a special adaptor.

What connections does the network allow? (it might not have a WAP)

How fast you need the connection to be?

How Secure you need it to be?

Any physical limits, eg need to be close by, Is line of sight possible (for infrared the two devices need to see each other as light doesn't travel through walls whereas sound (radio waves) can.

	Speed	Security	Physical limits (eg, close by, Line of Sight needed etc)
Wired - ethernet cables	1	1	4 - need cables
Wireless - Wifi (radio waves)	3	3	3 - need Wireless access point
Wireless - bluetooth	5	7	5 - need to be close together
Wireless - 3G (radio)	7	6	1 - need cell towers but 95% + coerage UK
Wireless - 4G (radio)	6	5	2 - need cell towers, not fully deployed
Wireless - 5G (radio)	4	4	6 - not wide spread yet
Wireless - infrared (light)	2* in labs not out in real world yet	2	7 - line of sight needed