Ethernet vs WiFi: How Much Faster Is a Wired Connection?
WiFi is convenient, but a wired Ethernet connection almost always beats it on the metrics that matter — especially latency and stability. Here's exactly how they compare and when to plug in.
Speed: wired wins, but maybe less than you think
On a modern WiFi 6 router standing close by, WiFi can reach most of your plan speed. But the moment you add distance, walls or interference, WiFi drops fast — while Ethernet holds steady at near-full speed regardless.
Latency and jitter: the real difference
This is where wired wins decisively. Ethernet has lower, rock-steady ping and almost no jitter. WiFi latency varies constantly as it negotiates the airwaves, which is why gaming and video calls feel better wired even when the speed numbers look similar.
Reliability
Wired connections don't drop, don't suffer interference from microwaves or neighbours, and don't slow down when the room gets crowded. WiFi is shared airtime; Ethernet is a private lane.
When WiFi is fine
For browsing, social media and casual streaming on phones and tablets, modern WiFi is perfectly good. Save Ethernet for the devices where latency and stability matter most.
Test the difference yourself
Run our speed test on WiFi, then plug in with Ethernet and run it again. Compare not just download, but ping, jitter and the bufferbloat grade — the wired improvement in latency is usually dramatic.
Free, instant, no app — see your download, upload, ping & bufferbloat.
Run the speed test →