First, a bit of background: I've been networking since the 1970s when we had to use thicknet, 10Base5. It was nicknamed Frozen Yellow Snake because it was yellow and as hard to manage as a frozen snake. That said, I was also using totally non-standard wireless networks in the early '80s when my crew and I hooked up an offsite office to the Goddard Space Flight Center main campus using microwave dishes to access a T1 (1.544 Megabits per second (Mbps), and we liked it!) connection.
Besides showing that I'm, well, experienced, I've also made a living as a network administrator along the way. And, as useful as Wi-Fi is, there are times you want to use Ethernet. Here's why.
First, let's say you really need speed. Say your staff is doing serious video, audio, or graphic editing. In that case, you need all the throughput you can get — and then some. Yes, today's Wi-Fi 6 routers such as the TP-Link Archer AX6000, Netgear Nighthawk RAX80, and the Linksys MaxStream MR9600, can, in theory, hit 4.8Gigabits per second (Gbps) on the 5GHz band. That's what the standard says, anyway.
In real life, you're likely looking at no more than 1.5Gbps when everything is just right —and really more like 800Mbps in real-world use.
Still, that's good, right?
Yes, but, there's a lot of caveats in those speeds. For example, one of networking's truisms is that your connection is only as fast as your slowest link. If your laptops, for example, all have Wi-Fi 5, aka 802.11ac, chips, your top speed in most small offices/home offices (SOHOs) is going to be Wi-Fi 5's maximum speed of 300Mbps. So, to make the most of Wi-Fi 6, you'll need to buy new, higher-end laptops and Wi-Fi cards for your PCs.
In addition, your office shares that bandwidth with others. If you have many people working at once — or watching WandaVision on Disney+ in 4K/HDR/Atmos — your maximum available bandwidth will decline.
Say that instead, you hook up to your local server with Cat 5 Ethernet. With that, you'll get an honest 1Gbps of speed. Period. End of statement. That's also true with your office's Internet connection; if you get 1Gbps to the door, Ethernet can deliver that 1Gbps to your desk.
All modern PCs and laptops support 1Gbps Ethernet. All you need is a Gigabit switch, which you can get for less than $20 bucks from vendors such as TP-Link, Linksys, or Netgear. Need more ports for a fair-sized office? Just get something like the Netgear 24-Port Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switch (JGS524), a Linksys Business LGS124 24-Port Rackmount Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Network Switch, or the D-Link Ethernet Switch, 24 Port Gigabit (DGS-1100-24V2) for around $100.
Do you need even more speed? No problem. Just install Cat 6 Ethernet cable — I'm having it installed in my new office at this very minute — and now you can hit 10Gbps. You'll need to pay extra for the PC ports and the switch, but it's only $200 or so for speed that will see you through the end of the decade.
The other major reason to go Ethernet is security. Wi-Fi security is only as good as the oldest Wi-Fi gear in your office. Since everything has to work with the lowest common denominator Wi-Fi security protocol, odds are good you're running with vulnerable security. Indeed, I know some businesses that are still using, God help them, WPA, and one that's actually running WEP.
Even if you're running WPA2, and I know many of you are, you're vulnerable. Heck, there are even free programs such as Pyrit and Hashcat that can crack WPA2 passwords in a few hours. Someone can leave their car with a running laptop in the trunk outside your office and by day's end, they can listen in to your network traffic.
True, if you're using Wi-Fi 6, you'll be using the much more secure WPA3 — if your vendor actually implements WPA3. Everyone is supposed to, but I'd be wary of no-name Wi-Fi 6 gear.
Most Wi-Fi 6 access points also offer a "WPA3/WPA2 mixed mode." That's to ensure older clients can still connect, but it comes with two problems: WPA2 remains as hackable as ever and some hardware, such as older iPads and Microsoft Surface devices, are unable to connect at all with access points using mixed mode.
As for Ethernet, well, what do you know? Unless an attacker is physically hooked up to your network or using Mission Impossible levels of attack, they're not getting into your network. Period.
I know you're still going to run Wi-Fi. It's just too darn useful and easy to setup and maintain. But for those offices and jobs where you need the fastest speeds and the highest security, Ethernet is still your best friend.
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