Chief among the benefits of going with Ethernet over a wireless option is speed. While recent improvements in wireless technology (such as the new Draft-N standard) have improved the throughput and range of 802.11 wireless networking, individual results vary greatly. Wall thickness and composition can degrade a signal over the distance of just a room or two, and other than purchasing wireless range extender units there is really no way to improve reception. Ethernet networking does not have this problem.
In a properly installed Ethernet network data transmission can reach gigabit speeds and over much longer distances. Another benefit of building a wired network inside the home is the possibility of being able to add additional convenience to the home through such things as media distribution (running a music or video server to feed content throughout the home) or even installing home security and other equipment as well. All of these things work very well with Ethernet based connections but may or may not work as well over a wireless link.
What Are The Downsides To Wiring A Home For Ethernet Networking?
Ideally any new home should be built with Ethernet networking already built into the walls. For those that are not, the biggest problem is the obvious hassle of cutting holes, fishing cables, and then making the appropriate connections. Depending on the accessability of a home's substructure this can be relatively easy or quite hard.
If a home has easy access to the underside of the floor joists then running cabling may not be a problem, but if the home is built on a cement slab the only alternative is to go into the attic crawl space to run the wire then drop down inside the walls to an outlet. All of these options require a lot of sweaty labor and some specialized networking tools. The other downside to installing a network after the home has been built is that if the needs of a room change it may be necessary to repeat the entire process to move an outlet to another wall or location.
Whenever the choice must be made between wired and wireless networking, wired should be the first choice if it is financially a possibility. As improvements continue to be made in the area of wireless technologies this recommendation may change, but for now home users should consider wired home networking as being the pinnacle of speed and reliability.
