Cable vs Wi-Fi 802.11

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Jimmyv

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

Topic # 11969 21-Feb-2007 13:20

Hello,
Can someone clear up my confusion on Cable vs Wireless speeds. If cable has 3,4, or 5 Mbps speeds and Wi-Fi 802.11 speeds are 54 Mbps is the wireless faster than the cable?. Please someone help me with this?

Thank's..

grant_k

3539 posts

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Reply # 61438 21-Feb-2007 13:41

With cable, the quoted speeds are in Mbps (down or up).

With WiFi, the 54Mbps is the aggregate (i.e. sum) of the bandwidth available in both directions so you only really get about 10 or 15Mbps in each direction once overhead is taken out.

In practice, I find that I get about 12Mbps transferring files from my desktop to my laptop over 54Mbps WiFi (which is fine for what I need)

Jimmyv

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 61441 21-Feb-2007 13:45

So Wi-Fi is faster than Cable ?

grant_k

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Reply # 61443 21-Feb-2007 13:54

Jimmyv: So Wi-Fi is faster than Cable ?

Well... There's cable and then there's CABLE...

I have heard of some connections using Optical Fibre which can deliver 100Mbps to your door, but only if you live in the CBD of a major city. In NZ there are options such as Citylink for those lucky people.

I would say that IN GENERAL WiFi is faster than cable internet, especially the new versions of "Draft N" WiFi, but there are always exceptions.

Jimmyv

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 61820 24-Feb-2007 06:24

Thank you for clearing this up.