802.11AC OR Wired?

[blade12]

I just ordered an Asus RT-AC68U (ac1900) and was trying to figure out whether to connect a wire to it or switch over to wireless.

I have 3 computers in my house. One of them is already wireless & is used mainly for surfing web, checking email, etc -- I will keep it at 802.11n even with new router.

The other 2 are used for gaming. Would 802.11AC be stable enough for gaming? If so, any suggestions on wireless network cards? Would there be a huge hit on internet speed? Currently, I get 100Mbps/10Mbps on wire. I understand there are many factors involved, such as distance, etc. 1 computer is on same floor as router 2 rooms away, other pc is on 2nd floor and 1 room away.

I was looking at http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Archer-T4UH-Wireless-Supports/dp/B00TQD235C/

Wires are pretty damn messy at the moment in the basement so I want to clean it up if possible with new router. Any recommendations?

 

[TCM2]

Never ever replace wired with wireless, certainly not just because the wiring is messy. Clean up the wiring.

No stationary client should be on wireless if at all possible.

 

[Quix]

Always use wired if possible. You can do a lot of things to clean it up, like securing the wires or running them through the walls.Wireless is really something you only want to use if it's not practical to used wired, like on a tablet. It's always going to have higher latency, lower bandwidth and imperfect reception regardless of how good the technology gets.

Sure, you could make do with wireless, but wired is better.

 

[Darakian]

802.11 has been 'good enough' for gaming since 54mbps, but the ping latency will be much more variable with wifi. I use wifi on one machine and pings to the local router fall into ranges
90% - 1-10ms
9% - 10 - 100ms
1% 100ms+

1% might not sound like a lot but believe me you will feel it every once and again. I'd take even 100Mb/s ethernet over 1300Mb/s wifi any day just for the stability of the connection.

 

[bds1904]

My motto to clients is, "Wireless works, wired works well."

No matter how good the wireless connection is, it will always be an unlicensed link susceptible to external interference.

Like someone else said, if you can deal with it not working well 1% of the time you are fine. If you don't want to mess with it ever just clen up the wires.

 

[blade12]

Let's say I go with wires for my computers.

Currently I have wall wiring setup with everything running to the basement. Modem to router, which leads to 2 pcs, ooma voip phone, and roku.

First option is I could leave both new router and modem in basement. The issue I have with that is the wireless signal seriously sucks on second floor for smartphones and laptops since router is in the basement. Maybe the signal will be much stronger with the asus rt-ac68 even from the basement? This option requires no changes to infrastructure but signal may be weak on 2nd floor. I don't know how strong ac68 is over 2 floors for laptops and smartphones.

The other option is to keep modem in the basement, run a wire up to main floor, setup router with the wire on main floor for powerful signal everywhere in the house. If I keep my gaming computers wired then I could run another wire down to the basement where I hook up a switch that would connect to the 2 pcs.

Last option is to bring both modem and router up to the main floor. Then just hook the wire that already goes to the basement to router on one side and switch on the other.. the switch would connect to my 2 pcs. The issue here is I would have to move modem to 1st floor with the coaxial wire (troublesome to move coaxial). Is there any way to add some sort of extension to coaxial so I don't have to move the original coaxial upstairs?