Wireless VS Ethernet cable --- Which one?

Wireless VS Ethernet cable

I’m setting up a gaming computer in my bedroom on the 2nd floor of our home. For my internet connection, should I go wireless or use an Ethernet cable? My primary concern, is will a wireless choice affect my gaming performance? In other words, will I be at any disadvantage when playing competitive games? Other concerns with choosing wireless are; will my downloading/uploading of files be affected? Is there any sort of interference that might negatively affect things? And, will having a 2nd person sharing the wireless router impact performance?

So why go wireless in the first place? Well, there wouldn’t be a cable connecting from the “computer den” router to the computer in my bedroom. No cables to trip over. No cables hanging/nailed to the wall.

Lets take a look at my current setup.

Cable modem in the wall. Connected to a 5 port switcher (I think it’s a 100 base T connection). One of the lines connects to my Netgear WGT634U – Wireless Storage Router. From

Currently, my gaming rig is connected to this with an Ethernet cable.

Scenario 1 (Ethernet cable)
So, if I got a longer Ethernet cable, say 50’ to 100’, I could keep the two things connected just like they are. I’d just need to figure out the best way to lay the cable; along the wall/ceiling/window for it to get upstairs. I’ve noticed that there are “shielded” Ethernet cables, that are about 33% more expensive. Would I need to get one of those?

Scenario 2 (Wireless)
For my “gaming” desktop I have 2 hardware choices to make it wireless.
A, USB Adapter – In this case, I’m trying out the WG111T (108 Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter)
B, PCI Adapter – WG311T – (108 Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter)
C, ? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think those are really my only 2 practical choices with the current router that I have.

Is one really better than the other in regards to performance? The USB adapter sure is convenient though.

Also, how important is signal strength for my wireless devices? I’ve noticed that there is a gauge that will tell you how strong the signal is, that you are getting, as a %. A secondary gauge tells you what “rate” you are getting the signal at. Like at “52”, or “108”. And this number seems to fluctuate on the fly, for some reason.

So bottom line, will my gaming performance be negatively affected going wireless over using a 50’/100’ Ethernet cable? With games like; DAOC, WOW, BF2 etc.

if possible wired is always preffered. i had wireless on my main rig for a while on a very weak link and i only saw a 20 ms drop in ping time on my online games when i switched to wired. i would have thought wireless would have had a much larger effect on ping times.

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well from exprerience from me and my friends wireless is not the way to go. IT LAGGS SO BAD. It won't be the ping that lags, but i think its the sending out and in info.

The 14 year old noob

wireless does add a bit of lag, not much but its there. with my usb wireless cards (linksys) i got 70 ms higher ping than with wireless, im sure some of that overhead was due to a usb device but there is still some lag involved with wireless. not enough to notice at all though.

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no! your wrong!! wireless killed and ate my puppy!!!

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well i suggest Ethernet as i get 20% less lagg