Why is Wi-Fi Slower than Ethernet?

Although super-fast Wi-Fi has become relatively widespread, it still lags behind Ethernet - but why?





Intro Theme: Showdown by F.O.O.L from Monstercat - Best of 2016

[samuelsann]

So what you saying us need an Ethernet port on our smartphones?

[internetexplorer]

Because if you have windows open some of the wifi willl escape

[somethingsinlife]

It's like having your own Lane on the freeway vs honking through heavy traffic in India. Cable = Your own lane. Wireless = Traffic in India.

[Uzedrname]

When your internet speed is 700 kb/s then there’s basically no difference.

[torchatlas]

This video ended up being a lot more interesting than I expected.

[mohammadjawad]

Please make video telling how microwave affects wi-fi.

[MeepMeep]

If a person is dumb I usually just say, because Wi-fi only has 4 letters and Ethernet has 8 letters.

Person who ask the question: yea that makes sense. Thank you
Me: Here to help

[pymzojo]

Can't wait for Space X's Starlink and I can stop using Bell's infrastructure.

[MrKoval-nmky]

just 1 thing: 0:56
Electrons do not move fast through a wire, but the signal speed is close to speed of light....
Actually electrons are very slow to move in the wire.

[Codexual]

As a tech support agent for an ISP, the most simplest words I could describe to a person about WiFi and slow speeds, the more straws you add into a cola can how much are you really going to enjoy that cola for yourself.

But if WiFi was formed into a person, let’s say I’d be in jail.

[kinocchio]

Because air is applying drag and also gravity is slowing WiFi down

[Fangman]

Thank you for talking about duplex communication! half-duplex really hurts throughout and wifi is forced onto it!

[kjkardum]

I have 300mb WiFi in school and wired school internet is almost the same.

[rezidentseagull]

As an add-on, don't forget too that these days, wired networks are almost universally SWITCHED networks, meaning network switches interconnect devices. This means that Ethernet collisions are almost non-existent because each device gets a dedicated pipe, so there's even less latency involved because you almost never need to account for two devices taking turns sharing the same wire

[Cruzz]

Electrons move incredibly slowly in a wire. The drift speed is something like 1 mm every 5 seconds. They're just very tightly packed, so electrical impulses can move really quickly.

[LinasR]

Wi-Fi routers now use multiple antennas to avoid half duplex or be able to operate in two (3 sometimes) different frequencies. There is also a Mu-MIMO.

[ZeldaFreak]

During my job training as an programmer during a Network Class, I was asked how I would advertise fiber Ethernet compared to copper and my first guess was that there is less latency and I got told that is not good advertising.
Technically this isn't wrong, because light travels at light speed and electrons in a cable are a bit slower and one reason is that they don't take a direct path but with cheaper optical fiber, this is also the case. The latency difference is very tiny on scales like an office building. Sure for the stock market, anything that's faster, is better.

I have an other question that maybe might be a good video.
When you rented an apartment and you prefer cable on everything, you might run into an issue. Laying down cables to every room is hard. You can't open the wall and hide it nicely. When you try to cross rooms, you need to make a hole in the wall. I mean it should look nice, should be permanent, until you decide to move out and remove everything. There is the office style with this ugly cable channels at about 1m height and big at. The home solution might be smaller cable channels on the bottom of your wall, Ethernet outlets that you screw on the wall, instead putting them on the wall and drilling holes in the wall, to pass cables through the wall.
There is a slight issue. With more cables, the holes need to be bigger and also the cable channels. Just let imagine how many ports a single person might need in a 2 room apartment. In the bedroom there is your TV and you might get a TV in the future that supports smart TV. You also have a streaming device like a Steam Link for one of your consoles and a docking station for your Nintendo switch. A Ethernet cable for your Fire TV or similar is not nessesary, because your future smart TV might replace this. Also because you are oldschool, you have a stationary Telephon with VoIP. You also have a spare port for your laptop. That makes 5 Ports but because the outlets come in dual config and there are cables for 2 ports, we make it 6 for the bedroom.
For the living room, it's similar. 1 for the TV, 2 for Consoles, 1 for WiFi, 1 for your PC, 2 for Smart Device Hubs, 2 for a Nas, 1 for an additional PC, 1 for your VoIP Phone and 1 for your Printer. That are 12 more Ports. That are 18 Ports. I didn't mentioned Cameras or additional TVs or Displays with a streaming device. Sure everyone has other needs. Some have less consoles and some more and switching cables is a pain. I mean when someone is willing to get a proper setup, it's not that hard. A small server cabinet is easy to buy and a switch fits there in and it's tidy when done properly. I mean you even can put a server into it. Sure you can extend things with a switch. For example is the TV area. When you have 3 Consoles and your TV there, you put a 5 Port Switch there and it's not slow, because you only use one at a time. Also I forgot to mention that you can use PoE for devices that support this.

I mean other solutions might be better for renting. Powerlan is a nice solution, because you don't need to put a lot of cables. One big downside is that the bandwidth is not great. With Lan, you easily can go to 10G, even when a handful of devices uses this. Your internet speed won't get faster but accessing your Nas might be better.

One better solution might be fiber. The cables are way more thinner and theoretically can transmit to more than one device with other colors. At least 3, using rgb. Sure you can't bend the cables on sharp corners. Sure for converting, the ports should do the work but that maybe need external power. I don't think that the energy over a normal Ethernet cable is enough. Splitting the signals can done without power with simple filters.
For me that sounds like a solution that's might be on the market. Sure fiber is nothing new but you need a device that converts everything and most devices only supports plain Ethernet.

There should be better techniques, especially for people that don't want to destroy a lot. Making a hole in the wall for passing cables is something I hate. You need a long enough drillbit and that big enough. I bought a drill bit that was long enough and tried it on concrete. The hole was not the problem but the connector didn't fit through. You can't make the hole bigger without a proper bit. With paper walls this is no problem. I mean maybe there is also a device that are better for the holes. Fitting 3 twin cables through the wall for 6 Ports is quite hard but even more is way harder. Also these cables are harder to bend.

[evil]

i connect my tablet via ethernet . a micro usb to usb dongle then a usb to ethernet dongle and finaly ethernet cable to the dongle and modem.

[unknowncommonman]

Then what's the point of having more antenna's then one for a Wi-Fi Router and it still can't be full-duplex .

[AmyraCarter]

Don't forget throttling; that's the bane of all connections.