Wireless or homeplug ethernet for a gamer

[Jeremy DEagle]

Hi all

I'm after some advice. I have a PC in my back room and a router in the hall. To cut a long story short the cable I had buried in the floor died and now I have to have a visible and trip overable cable leading through my house.

I've thought about going wireless but heard loads of bad things about connection problems and speeds. Then someone mentioned homeplug eithernet, which seems better but more expensive...

I'm with Sky for my BB and have no issues with speed at all. I'm using their standard router in a desktop PC that is used primarily for gaming.

My question is, should I go wiress or go for homeplug ethernet? And whichever I choose, what product should I buy?

Thanks

[UltraMagnus]

wireless if you absolutely have to, i still get pings of 30 - 40 over it on my laptop

but, personally i find the idea of wireless on a static computer silly, i would use a cable tacker (like a stapler, but uses curved staples with a plastic cable protector) to run the cable along walls and skirting boards etc.

[adam1701]

I usually use an ethernet cable running about 2m from my router to my computer, on uk servers I get about 25-30 this way.

I tried using wireless from one end of the house to the other and I still got 25-30 ping.

I would NEVER trust wireless for gaming though.

[scottxxx]

I can't think of anything that will cause you more problems than wireless. I've got the same Sky BB Netgear DG834 router and wireless signal is useless. Its in my room directly above the PC downstairs and it won't connect at all, and even on other PC's that use wireless the connection just randomly cuts out and then tries to connect to any other wireless connection it can find, even if the signal strength is good.

The problem with wireless is its all fine in a lab, but in the real world where you have four or five other people in proximity with wireless devices its nowhere near as fast or reliable as the manufacturers claim. The other thing to bear in mind is the wireless signal will receive and cause interference with any other devices operating on the same frequency, which is most wireless consumer goods. For instance, my wireless video sender is obliterated by the router unless I hide the router behind layers of boxes and CDs.

No experience ofthe homeplug kit but there's not too much wrong with good old ethernet and a bit of cat5, other than it doesn't look great. I'd go with UltraMagnus - only use wireless if you have to or if you need to move around (like a laptop).