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We have a company of 12 employees working constantly on internal resources, but our current connection is depending on WIFI, we were thinking of using wired solution but we want to challenge the choice first, is it feasable? is it worth it? We did encounter many times when the wifi goes down intermittently, but it goes up pretty quickly and all we have to do is refresh

any pointers appreciated

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  • thanks mate for the edit, i clicked submit probably when someone walked into my office to make a complain or something :)
    – Ayyash
    Jan 15, 2011 at 6:52

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A wired network will be faster (100 or 1000Mbps), will be at least as reliable (assuming it's fitted correctly) and will be more secure (an infiltrator must be on-site and have a network cable to get in).

However, it will also probably cost you more to put in a wired network properly (unless you want cables all over the floor, you'll need some cable runs and network points fitting at the least) and doing so may restrict the mobility of your users. If everyone is using laptops and often pickup their machine and wonder across the office to talk to other users, then a wired network will inhibit this current working pattern and may cause issues

The alternative is to buy one or more additional wireless access points, make sure they are on seperate channels, and split your users between them. This will not perform as well as a wired network, but will probably improve your current situation and will probably cost less than a wired network (although you should connect the wireless access points via wired connections anyway).

Switching to a wired network is a really good idea, but if you're going to do so get it done properly, and make sure it's got extra capacity (if you hire new people you don't want to be ripping up the cable runs to add another link).

The bottom line is is fitting a wired network properly within your budget?

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Yes, it is worth it. It will decrease latency on the network and make more bandwidth available, likely making everything faster. It is a no brainer.

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    security is higher as well since packets can't be sniffed.
    – starcorn
    Jan 13, 2011 at 11:03
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    Also a wired network improves security, as a wired network can't really have it's WPA key cracked (because it doesn't have one :P ). Just to give some figures, a wireless "G" network has a bandwidth available of 54Mbps, whereas a wired network has a bandwidth of 100Mbps, even 1000Mbps (1Gbps) sometimes! Jan 13, 2011 at 11:04
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It's probably better worth while (money wise) to verify that your wireless network is set up correctly before spending money on a purely wired network. (Even if you have to buy a 2nd (or 3rd) wireless access point it might be better in the long run.)

While under certain conditions a wired network is better, a wireless network is sufficient and more flexible. If everyone is constantly transferring a large amount of data (like streaming video/audio or if you are on skype the whole time) then wired might be worth while.

For a better answer, you might want to give details on what your office environment and what sort of programs people are using.

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  • +1 for actually investigating before leaping into action :-)
    – sleske
    Jan 13, 2011 at 11:48
  • oh we do skype a LOT :)
    – Ayyash
    Jan 15, 2011 at 6:47
  • well, if that's how you're making money...then wired is probably the way to go :)
    – Alex
    Jan 16, 2011 at 16:19

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