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Wireless or Wired Network?
By Marc Jenson
So you are considering expanding the internet within your home or office. You've
decided to create a network that will allow you greater access to the web. The question
now is what kind of network do you want to put in. Do you want the freedom of a wireless
network, or do you want the security and reliability of a wired network? Both networks can
provide you with great service and expandability, but each one varies in size,
reliability, cost and speed. It's now just a matter of picking through the pro's and con's
of both to see which one suites you the best.
The wired network has been around for some time. In the world of technology you could
say it's been around for ages, probably as long as the internet its self. The majority of
people see a wired network as being the more secure of the two options. They also offer
fantastic transfer speeds. Meaning, that sending files from one computer to the next tend
to be faster on a wired network than a wireless one.
The security of the wired network has long been it's strong suite. They provide strong
barriers to keep users far from the grasps of malicious hackers and the such. The only way
that a person could get into your network is through the external internet connection,
before it comes into the home. This as you can imagine would be extremely difficult and
eliminates almost 100 percent of malicious users from your network.
The only other possible way for a malicious user to get onto your network, is by connecting
directly to your router or switch. However, this is not only difficult because of the obvious,
but these attacks can often be averted by the use of firewalls or complicated routers with
heavy security.
There are downfalls to the wired network, and for some, these shortcoming outweigh any
benefits in speed or security. Wired networks contain one of technologies biggest growing
problems, wires! People are struggling with so many wires and power cords these days that
some are reluctant to add any more to their homes. Wired networks contain many wires, as
you could well assume.
And these wires usually need to cross through rooms and floors to reach the desired
locations. This means a lot of clutter for the usual home owner. Unless the home owner is
willing to shovel out big bucks to hide the wires, or has the wires installed as the home
is being built, this problem will be a tangled and messy one. For this reason, wired
networks are more often found in the office environment. Here, roof panels can easily be
removed to run cables across the ceiling to different rooms and locations.
Other issues afflicting the wired network are, difficulty coping with growth. If you
want to add a new computer to your network you have to run a new cable from your router to
your computer. This as you can image can be a real pain. Also replacing faulty wiring can
be extremely hard to do. If you have your cables running through the walls finding,
removing and replacing a faulty cable can be time consuming and expensive.
And last of all a wired network is restricted. If you want to serf the web while
watching T.V. you better have run a cable to your recliner. In such a network the users
are required to be wherever it is that the cable pokes out of the wall. So most home
owners turn to the wireless network, to create a network with ease and access throughout
the house. All this without the mess and restriction of cables.
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