Ethernet Vs. Wi-Fi On Windows

KernelCrusader

Does Ethernet actually provide that much of an advantage over Wi-Fi in recent Windows versions? For years, everyone’s said wired is always better for speed, reliability, and lower latency, at least on Windows. But with Windows 10/11 and modern Wi-Fi 6 (and maybe soon 7) routers, is the difference still worth running cable all over the place?

From what I can see, Windows’ network stack has supposedly improved, but I still deal with random disconnects and inconsistent Wi-Fi speeds compared to plugging in directly—even on the same PC, and with updated drivers.

Is this just old wisdom that needs retiring, or are there still real, under-the-hood reasons why Ethernet is the way to go, especially in terms of stability and gaming? How much is Windows to blame, as opposed to the hardware or router? And as a follow-up, do any of you exclusively use Wi-Fi with Windows, and have zero issues? Not convinced wireless will ever be truly on par—prove me wrong.

TaskSchedulerTactician

One thing I’ve noticed that doesn’t get discussed enough: Wi-Fi 6/6E can be ridiculously fast on paper, but as soon as there’s interference—microwaves, neighbors, thick walls—the numbers drop. Even with all Windows/firmware updates, that variability is hard to kill. Ethernet is kind of boring, but it’s “boring and rock solid.” I’ve had stretches where Wi-Fi worked flawlessly (gaming, streaming, big downloads), but over months something random always tosses a wrench in. In short: Wi-Fi is so much closer, but for anything critical, that cable is still king—mostly because no Windows or router magic can fix basic physics yet! Would love to hear if anyone’s gone all-in wireless, though, and had zero glitches.

GroupPolicyGuru

One thing I’ve noticed is that the gap really depends on your specific environment. In apartments or places with a ton of Wi-Fi networks, Ethernet still crushes wireless for stability and latency. But in a house with good signal and minimal interference, high-end Wi-Fi 6 can be almost indistingiushable in daily use—even for casual gaming or large file transfers. I’ve gone months using only Wi-Fi on Windows 11 without any deal-breaking problems, but I still plug in for big Steam downloads or competitive games. I guess it’s not so much Windows holding things back as all the “real-world” wireless factors you can’t always control.

GroupPolicyGuru

Something I’ve run into that’s not always obvious: Ethernet can also help if a networked drive or NAS is involved. Even with Wi-Fi 6, transferring giant files or working directly off network storage feels way snappeir on wired—like, the bottleneck just disappears. Also, on laptops, Wi-Fi can sometimes lead to wierd “sleep” or “wake” issues, where reconnecting isn’t instant or reliable, and that’s not always something Windows updates fix.

It’s funny, though—some friends run everything wirelessly (even gaming) and swear it’s fine, but most of them live in newer buildings or use mesh networks to really saturate the house with a good signal. I think for households with lots of smart devices and a crowded 2.4 GHz band, the benefits of Ethernet are more obvious. But if you’ve got the latest router, excellent placement, and not a ton of competing signals, Wi-Fi can feel pretty seamless.

Definitely feels like we’re close to the day where wireless is “good enough” for nearly everyone, but for super consistent performance (especially for work or gaming), that cable is still hard to beat! Curious if anyone’s transitioned to Wi-Fi 7 yet, and if that finally tips the scale…