For gamers, a wireless connection is completely fine

The tech world is littered with well-meaning advice that might have been true at one point but has morphed into a mythological state. Some of these are more ingrained than others, whether they’re about overclocking reducing your hardware’s lifespan, 5G signals causing health issues, or that you’re too small a target for cybercrime. Another widely accepted fact, if you can call it that these days, is that a wired network connection will be better for gaming than Wi-Fi. This used to be true, but advancements in Wi-Fi and a slowing of faster Ethernet adoption have flipped the script, and Wi-Fi is now a better option for online gaming.

New Wi-Fi standards are plenty fast

Wi-Fi 6 broke the mold

When Wi-Fi 6 was certified in early 2020, it promised theoretical transfer speeds of up to 9.6 Gbps. That’s not far off the 10 Gbps of fast Ethernet connections and many times the speed of gigabit Ethernet. Wi-Fi 6 was barely around before it was supplanted by Wi-Fi 6E, which kept all the efficiency of Wi-Fi 6 and added an uncongested 6GHz band for compatible devices. More thought is required into router placement, as the higher frequencies are worse at penetrating walls, furniture, and other objects. The easiest way around this is using a mesh network with multiple access points. Wi-Fi 7 is now here, with even faster speeds and higher bandwidth, and then Wi-Fi 8 is in the planning stages with a focus on reliability. The point is that Wi-Fi is already fast enough and low enough latency to outpace many wired connections, and it’ll only get better as time passes.

Consumer devices such as PCs, laptops, handheld gaming consoles, and other consoles use modern Wi-Fi versions. The Steam Deck LCD uses Wi-Fi 5, as does the Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. The OLED Steam Deck has Wi-Fi 6E, as does the PS5. It’s getting harder to find motherboards or laptops with Wi-Fi 5, as all new devices have Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7, depending on the chipset generation. Smartphones have also been slowly transitioning to Wi-Fi 7, with the iPhone 16 about to accelerate that adoption in many more households. When faster Wi-Fi is everywhere, why not use it?

Most consumer devices use outdated Ethernet

Or don’t have any at all

Many consumers value convenience, and plugging in an Ethernet cable every time you want to go online and stomp some noobs is tiresome. Even the best gaming laptops rarely have Ethernet ports nowadays, as the push for thin and light designs means no physical space for them. Even laptops that include Ethernet often opt for 1GbE ports, which are slower than the latest Wi-Fi adapters that are also included. It’s even rarer to see 2.5GbE ports on mobile devices, even if they’re becoming more common on budget motherboards. Rarer still are 10GbE ports, and once you go higher, you need expensive adapter cards, new wiring for your home, and expensive routers and switches to connect them all.

Gigabit Ethernet is outpaced by Wi-Fi 6, and now that the iPhone 16 uses the latest standard, we’re about to get Wi-Fi 7 devices from every manufacturer. That means you can expect Wi-Fi connections several times faster than gigabit Ethernet, making the necessity of a wired connection for gaming something of the past. With gigabit fiber being the fastest broadband connection available for many gamers, that also means your Wi-Fi network is faster than the connection coming into your home. Sure, your ping can be affected by the other devices on your network, but that’s just as true if you are using Ethernet, and the solution is to set up Quality of Service (QoS) on your router to prioritize your gaming traffic. That way, the Zoom calls and Netflix streams from other devices in your home won’t have an appreciable effect on your online gaming experience.

Faster Wi-Fi standard adoption is more rapid than advancements in wired networking

There will always be a place for wired network connections, but they’re becoming increasingly outdated for home users. Thanks to technologies like 4×4 MU MIMO, which uses multiple antennas to get comparable speeds from wireless connections, you don’t need to run wires to get full-duplex speeds. Ping and latency might still be considerations for gaming, but it’s not the age of copper wire and DSL connections anymore. Most users have much faster broadband that provides such low pings that you might as well be physically playing on the game server you’re connected to. Wi-Fi 6, 6E, and 7, have outpaced the adoption of faster wired networking, and you don’t need to plug in to gain a competitive advantage while gaming anymore.