Wired or Wireless? Choose Your Network
Getting connected is a fast, cheap affair. Here's how to decide which network is right for you.
Scott Spanbauer

You probably recognize this scenario: As everyone in the house or in a small office gets their own computer, each wants to connect to the printer, phone line, or high-speed Internet connection. They may even want to collaborate on or view the same files. What's a buzzing hive of computerized folk to do?

The answer is: network. By connecting your PCs with a low-cost wired or wireless network, you'll save money, effort, and time. These days, you can choose from four basic types of networking hardware: ethernet, phone line, power line, and wireless. Peer-to-peer network software like that built into Windows allows any connected computer to access shared resources on any of the other connected computers.

Networks are built by adding a network interface card (if not already built-in) or other network adapter to your computer and then connecting that adapter to the medium--a wire or radio frequency--over which the data flows. Depending on your network topology, there may also be a central hub or router to which each of the computers connects. If the hub also routes data between the local network and another network (such as the Internet), it's called a router.

When it comes to network performance, you'll see quite a bit of jargon relating to (theoretical) maximum speeds, which are measured in bits per second. First, some acronyms: Megabits per second (or mbps) means millions of bits per second, and gigabits per second (or gbps) means billions of bits per second. These speeds will vary, depending on the kind of network you use. The fastest dial-up modems connect at about 50,000 bits per second (50 kilobits per second), so a 10-mbps network connection is roughly 200 times faster than that; a 100-mbps connection 2000 times faster; and a 1-gbps (1000-mbps) connection 20,000 times faster.

You can also compare network speed to the performance of an average broadband connection, which typically transfers data between 256 kbps and 1.5 mbps. As an example, let's say a given network operates at 1 mbps. Then the 10/100/1000 ethernet flavors (see Wired for Speed: Ethernet), for instance, would be 10, 100, and 1000 times faster, respectively--in theory, at least.

In terms of computing activities, you can consider how fast your files will download. For example, copying a three-page Word document from one computer to another is going to appear to take about the same amount of time, no matter how fast your network is (unless you've got your stopwatch out). However, transferring your 200MB Outlook .pst file or your entire collection of photos or digitized video is a different story. Over a 10-mbps connection, a huge file could take, say, six minutes to move from one machine to another. If you do the math, in theory, that same file would copy in just 36 seconds over a 100-mbps network, and in just 3.6 seconds over a gigabit network.

Of course, your mileage may vary: Other factors affect performance--actual data throughput is less than the theoretical maximum speeds when you run into factors like packet overhead and the retransmission of lost or damaged packets.

Wired for Speed: Ethernet
Wired ethernet is the least expensive and fastest type of network, with interface cards (as low as $5 each) and hubs (often under $15) available from multiple manufacturers. You'll find speeds up to a gigabit per second, although the most common run at either 10 or 100 megabits per second.

Ethernet is also the most prevalent--many of today's computers come with 10/100-mbps ethernet adapters preinstalled. You can even spend a little extra for the latest gigabit ethernet equipment, which eliminates much of the delay in transferring data over the network.

Ethernet's main drawback is the wiring; unless your home or office is wired with Category 5 ethernet cabling, you'll have to install the wire between your PCs and hub or router yourself. If you really tax your network with file transfers and streaming video and audio, and you don't mind the wires, ethernet is the cheapest and fastest way to go.

Wired for Convenience: Phone Line
If your home or office has telephone jacks everywhere, you may want to opt instead for a phone-line network. More expensive than ethernet, products conforming to the first HomePNA specification were limited to about 1 mbps. The HomePNA 2.0 spec implemented in most phone-line adapters and hubs hums along somewhere between 4 mbps and 32 mbps, depending on phone-line conditions--not the fastest network, but good enough for printing, along with sharing files and an Internet connection. Products supporting the latest HomePNA spec, version 3.0, will support speeds up to 128 mbps--fast enough to transmit multiple streams of audio and video around the house, and nearly 100 times faster than a typical broadband Internet connection.

HomePNA 2.0 equipment costs a bit more than ethernet equivalents--Linksys' HomeLink Phoneline 10M Network Card PCI adapter currently costs roughly $35, and the company's HomeLink Phoneline 10M Cable/DSL Router about $115. However, depending on your networking needs, a HomePNA network could be easier and cheaper to set up than ethernet, because of its hubless daisy-chain topology. If you don't need to connect the HomePNA network directly to a high-speed Internet connection, all you'll need is a network adapter for each PC. With no hub and no wires to install (assuming a phone jack is available for each computer), all you need to do is install the adapter and configure the network software.

To find HomePNA networking products, start at the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance. If you don't need the fastest network, and your home or office is already wired for telephones, a HomePNA network could be a quick and relatively inexpensive solution.

Wired for Handiness: Power Line
Compared with Home PNA 2.0 networks, power-line networks are similar in speed, but a bit more expensive. Power-line networks piggyback onto your building's ubiquitous electrical outlets instead of the phone line. HomePlug networks offer the same hubless, no-wiring setup as HomePNA, and adapters start at about $60. However, at 14 mbps, the technology isn't suitable for high-speed, high-volume tasks. If you and other users routinely transfer files and print while playing media files stored on another PC on the network, HomePlug might be too slow.

For a list of products conforming to the 14 mbps HomePlug power-line networking spec, see the HomePlug Powerline Alliance's certified products page. If installing network cabling isn't an option, your site isn't wired for telephones, and you don't need top network speeds for streaming media, a HomePlug network could be your best choice.

Wireless for Wandering
With notebooks poised to soon surpass stationary desktop systems in popularity, wireless networks are seeing a corresponding boost in popularity. What good is a portable PC if it's tethered to the network? Wireless networking lets you drag your laptop to the conference room, the kitchen, or out to the patio. But wireless doesn't mean painless. To go wireless, you'll need to understand a growing vocabulary of sometimes incompatible specifications. And all currently available wireless hardware specs are less secure--much less secure, in some cases--than wireline networks, thanks to sophomoric encryption schemes.

Fortunately, wireless networking prices are reasonable enough, so you won't feel too bad retiring your equipment once faster and more secure versions appear. Adapters start at less than $25, access points (hub-like base station units) at about $50, and routers that connect the network to a cable or DSL modem are just a few bucks more.

Though it can't compete with standard 10/100-mbps ethernet, newer wireless (or Wi-Fi, if certified standards-compliant by the Wi-Fi Alliance) equipment is generally faster than phone- and power-line technologies. And it comes with one other unique benefit: Equipping your laptop with a wireless adapter could allow you to connect to wireless-network hot spots in hotels, airports, and coffee shops. For more details about these possibilities, check out All About Wi-Fi.

The most common wireless spec, called 802.11b, transmits data at a theoretical maximum of 11 mbps (some newer products extend the spec to 22 mbps). PCI and PC Card adapters start at just over $20, and wireless access points, the wireless equivalent of ethernet hubs, start at just under $50. Remember that your distance from the access point, and the materials between you and it, can cause significant drops in speed.

A faster specification, 802.11a, transmits at theoretical maximum speed of 54 megabits per second, and these days, doesn't cost much more. However, 802.11a and 802.11b equipment can't communicate directly with each other. A few manufacturers produce access points that combine the two specs, letting you network both a and b devices. And then there's a new spec--802.11g--that can communicate with 802.11b but not with 802.11a, and there are access points that combine a, b, and g.

Confused yet? The 802.11g spec currently seems to be the one to get, but even it will soon be replaced by something else in due time. In the meantime, be sure to choose the wireless network type that affords you the greatest security against mobile wireless-network break-in artists, or war drivers. Because wireless networks broadcast their availability like a radio station--albeit one with a limited range--neighbors and anyone parked in front of your house could bum a ride on your wireless network.

To ward off freeloaders and snoops, most 802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11g products have an encryption scheme called wireless equivalent privacy. Unfortunately, WEP quickly proved easy to decrypt, so the nice people at the Wi-Fi Alliance came up with something stronger: Wireless Protected Access. When shopping for wireless networking equipment, I strongly suggest that you select products that incorporate WPA security (all elements must support it). For more information, see Internet Tips: Play It Safe With the Right Browser Security Settings.

Finally, you don't have to select just one kind of network--many wireless routers also incorporate a wired ethernet hub, for example. Combined wireless/wired networks allow you to connect stationary computers that require a faster connection (for online gaming, streaming media, or large file transfers) by ethernet, while still providing wireless convenience for other PCs in hard-to-wire or changing locations. Whichever network type you select, Windows' networking software should run handily on it.

Go to How to Set Up Your Home Network for step-by-step instructions on how to set up different types of networks. For tips on how to enhance your wireless network, see Wireless Networks That Do More.



Related Topics: Wireless, Ethernet, Power Line, Network Cards, Internet & Networking, Hubs, Switches & Routers



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