Board index › Topical Discussion › Computers, Math, Science, and Technology

Is Ethernet cabling becoming obsolete due to WiFi?

Page 2 of 2 [ 32 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

Previous topic | Next topic

sliqua-jcooter
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Jan 2010
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,488
Location: Burke, Virginia, USA

24 May 2014, 8:28 am

LupaLuna wrote:
I should mention that some of the other reasons fiber is not use at the endpoint is not so much that it's expensive, but it's a lot more difficult to work with and you have to be careful how much of a bend you put in to it as well.


Bend radius isn't too important now, there are fiber products out there that you can tie in a knot and only get like 1db of loss. Cost is the biggest reason companies aren't deploying it outside of the datacenter, another big reason is PoE.


_________________
Nothing posted here should be construed as the opinion or position of my company, or an official position of WrongPlanet in any way, unless specifically mentioned.


beneficii
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 May 2005
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,245

24 May 2014, 9:14 am

I will use the cable to get direct access to the router to do things like change passwords without having to enter a password myself.


_________________
"You have a responsibility to consider all sides of a problem and a responsibility to make a judgment and a responsibility to care for all involved." --Ian Danskin


LupaLuna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Age: 54
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,551
Location: tri-cities WA

24 May 2014, 11:25 am

sliqua-jcooter wrote:
another big reason is PoE.


Actually PoE over fiber is possible. All you have to do is shine a high-powered laser into the fiber at one end and at the receiving end, you just shine the laser light on to a photovoltaic cell to convert it back into electricity, although I question the efficiency of doing that.



greengeek
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jul 2007
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 434
Location: New York USA

02 Jun 2014, 1:13 pm

LupaLuna wrote:
sliqua-jcooter wrote:
another big reason is PoE.


Actually PoE over fiber is possible. All you have to do is shine a high-powered laser into the fiber at one end and at the receiving end, you just shine the laser light on to a photovoltaic cell to convert it back into electricity, although I question the efficiency of doing that.


You could also have a pair of wires on the fiber for power.


_________________
Nothing is fool proof only fool resistant


greengeek
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jul 2007
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 434
Location: New York USA

02 Jun 2014, 1:15 pm

I don't think Ethernet is going to go away, as it's more stable, you need to connect the access points for WiFi to the network and the internet some how, and everybody gets dedicated bandwidth, unlike the air and the old coax Ethernet networks.


_________________
Nothing is fool proof only fool resistant


eric76
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Aug 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,660
Location: In the heart of the dust bowl

02 Jun 2014, 1:18 pm

I've bought about 5,000 feet of ethernet cable so far this year.



0bey1sh1n0b1
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jul 2013
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 138
Location: DMV Area

02 Jun 2014, 2:06 pm

Um ethernet is becoming obsolete to fiber.

WiFi will never replace networks as a medium of communication. They work in half duplex.



eric76
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Aug 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,660
Location: In the heart of the dust bowl

02 Jun 2014, 2:53 pm

0bey1sh1n0b1 wrote:
Um ethernet is becoming obsolete to fiber.


Not really.

I don't know anyone who uses fiber in the home. At least not for Internet. I've seen some cute lighting things that used fiber.

There is fiber to the home, but that would not have replaced ethernet except in rather unusual circumstances. To have ethernet to the home, you pretty much would have had to live next to a telephone company facility. Remember that the maximum distance (cable wise) you can have between any two points on an ethernet network is 100 meters.

I wonder what it would cost to buy fiber optic cards and switches to use fiber instead of ethernet in an office.



sliqua-jcooter
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Jan 2010
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,488
Location: Burke, Virginia, USA

02 Jun 2014, 3:19 pm

eric76 wrote:
I wonder what it would cost to buy fiber optic cards and switches to use fiber instead of ethernet in an office.


A lot. And you lose PoE. It's not cost effective.


_________________
Nothing posted here should be construed as the opinion or position of my company, or an official position of WrongPlanet in any way, unless specifically mentioned.


sliqua-jcooter
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Jan 2010
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,488
Location: Burke, Virginia, USA

02 Jun 2014, 3:23 pm

0bey1sh1n0b1 wrote:
They work in half duplex.


Um, no.


_________________
Nothing posted here should be construed as the opinion or position of my company, or an official position of WrongPlanet in any way, unless specifically mentioned.


eric76
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Aug 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,660
Location: In the heart of the dust bowl

02 Jun 2014, 4:39 pm

sliqua-jcooter wrote:
0bey1sh1n0b1 wrote:
They work in half duplex.


Um, no.


I interpreted that as meaning wifi is half duplex, not ethernet.



sliqua-jcooter
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Jan 2010
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,488
Location: Burke, Virginia, USA

02 Jun 2014, 4:41 pm

eric76 wrote:
sliqua-jcooter wrote:
0bey1sh1n0b1 wrote:
They work in half duplex.


Um, no.


I interpreted that as meaning wifi is half duplex, not ethernet.


Yes, that's how I interpreted it, and it's still wrong. Spacial multiplexing FTW.

Also, 802.11ac introduces true full duplex with their spot bands stuff and multiple radios.


_________________
Nothing posted here should be construed as the opinion or position of my company, or an official position of WrongPlanet in any way, unless specifically mentioned.


SoftwareEngineer
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Apr 2014
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 578
Location: Tonopah, AZ, USA

04 Jun 2014, 12:42 am

Wired Ethernet is the smart option. Especially with close neighbors and apartment complexes, there is a lot of interference. Currently, due to bandwidth, only channels 1,6, and 11 are generally used. WiFi is essentially shared media. With Ethernet and a good switch, there is better throughput. And the new UltraHD systems hit the market, you'll need the best performance you can get. Plus, the new satellite TV standard for distribution will be Ethernet. I think it's called "HD over Ethernet". My new house will be fully wired.



eric76
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Aug 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,660
Location: In the heart of the dust bowl

04 Jun 2014, 1:15 am

sliqua-jcooter wrote:
eric76 wrote:
sliqua-jcooter wrote:
0bey1sh1n0b1 wrote:
They work in half duplex.


Um, no.


I interpreted that as meaning wifi is half duplex, not ethernet.


Yes, that's how I interpreted it, and it's still wrong. Spacial multiplexing FTW.

Also, 802.11ac introduces true full duplex with their spot bands stuff and multiple radios.


Duplex merely refers to whether or not you can send and receive at the same time over the media in question.

The usual wireless for computers is half duplex -- it cannot send and receive at the same time.

There are newer radios that are full duplex. I've yet to see these on common equipment that a normal user would buy.



LupaLuna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Age: 54
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,551
Location: tri-cities WA

11 Jun 2014, 12:18 am

greengeek wrote:
LupaLuna wrote:
sliqua-jcooter wrote:
another big reason is PoE.


Actually PoE over fiber is possible. All you have to do is shine a high-powered laser into the fiber at one end and at the receiving end, you just shine the laser light on to a photovoltaic cell to convert it back into electricity, although I question the efficiency of doing that.


You could also have a pair of wires on the fiber for power.


Yes, but by the time you did that, you may as well just run copper ethernet instead since doing that would defeat the whole purpose of using fiber in the first place.



mr_bigmouth_502
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Dec 2013
Age: 31
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 7,028
Location: Alberta, Canada

11 Jun 2014, 2:23 am

Hell no. I'm using a wired connection right now, and if you do a lot of online gaming, having a wired connection can make a difference. That said, if the connection from your ISP isn't the greatest, then it won't really matter if you use wired or wireless. I'm on a rural ISP that offers poor latency for online gaming, but decent bandwidth, and by being wired right into the router, I have slightly higher and much more stable download speeds than a wireless connection.