to be wired or wireless? thats the question

which in your opinion think is faster, and more secure when it comes to wireless networks or wire networks?

Wired is faster and more secure, personally I don't believe that wireless should be used unless your are using a truely wireless computer (i.e. Laptop or PDA), but that is just me. Wireless is slower and less secure, but also you don't have to deal with the wires when seting up the box.

As of now, wired is faster and more secure. Wireless may eventually become the only option though. That seems to be the direction we are heading in.

Def wired. But, wireless ....

... is great when cabling is not a convenient option
... can easily be made more secure
... and unless you need to transfer huge files or work heavily with database apps and graphic image servers across the LAN, doesn't feel any slower to the typical user who really just surfs the web and does email.

Wireless might look faster because of the speeds mentioned on the boxes; but keep in mind that it takes a lot longer to avoid collisions et.c., so the overall performance is weakened a lot.
Yeah, and then there's the security issue - it'll be very hard to make it as secure as wire.

I'd definetely go with the wire.

another thought, though, is if you are living in an area with mad wireless going on, you can get your high speed internet for free...
heck... i pay for mine and, when i first moved here, there were no signals in the area... now, several months later, i'm still paying, but i can detect about 2-3 other wireless users in the area who are getting free internet from me...
just a thought about the bonuses of wireless (thought, i guess for me, it ain't so great right now - but when i move to manhattan, you know i'm not goin'a pay for my connection)...

Wired every time, except for convenience and in true portable things like PDA's and Laptops. For normal desktop PC's it is totally surpassed by good old wired networks. Fast Eternet provides speed security and easy setups unlike some wired networks, Nothing beats Gigabit Ethernet though for lan parties and fast file sharing.

*plum*

Also Wireless also can suffer from interference. From Phones, and other cordless devices.

Twisted pair can suffer cross-talk/interference, too, of course, from other cables and lines nearby.

when it rains i dont recive a wireless signal with my card, :p

Does your bad knee ache, too?

I can't believe the people in here sometimes.

WEP (wired equivalance protection) is how wireless networks stay secure. There are newer methods out, but WEP still holds strong. It encrypts your data with a 128-bit key that is then decrypted by the recipient. With 802.11G networks you should have no problem with speed either.

Wires get in the way and restrict how far you can move your computer. They also get damaged and need replacement quite often if they are not built into walls and such. Wiring can be expensive and the longer the wires the more money you can be out when you need to replace. Wires are faster than wireless, but not to an amount that it should be a key factor for home networks. They are only more secure in that if someone can't get to the wire they can't connect. The second someone gets a hold of a wire they have some control.

My conclusion, if wires aren't going to be long or a hassle to install then they work. If you don't want to bother with wires all over the place just get some wireless NICs and your good to go! Just remember to encrypt/secure your network!

Well in my opinon if you are sharing files over a network 802.11g is still allot worse than standard Fast Eternet, also for prices (in most places) wired networks are allot cheaper to setup.

*plum*

Humm.... Wireless G 54 mbps, Gigabit wired 1000 mbps, yep no speed difference there.

Also in terms of security, physical access is the first step someone needs to destory a computer, sure there are encryption methods and other security procedures with wireless, but you still are giving physical access to your network to anyone in range, and from there someone with the right knowledge and software can and will break in.

I'm with Truce 100% here. There's no contest if you can afford the smaller costs to going wireless, with a desktop or laptop. I'm slowly changing everything over to 100% wireless because there are far more advantages for using it vs. not using it.

roarmeow - why don't you secure your network so they can't use it? that makes no sense to me, that's why they make WEP.