"More and more organizations (as well as households) are setting up wireless networks in their premises. Wireless networking is a very affordable solution, even for home users and it's catching up with its wired counterpart. With new WiFi technologies improving data throughput and range, there's no doubt that wireless networking is the future.

However, in my line of work, I still encounter many organizations that insist on wired connectivity. They generally have 3 major reasons for doing so.

One would be the reliability of the connection. A wired network uses physical cables and therefore guarantees a stable connection every time. The performance of a wireless network, on the other hand, is subjected to the operating condition. Distance and radio interference will reduce network speed as well as cause packet loss.

The second would be much higher bandwidth of a wired network. Wired networks can achieve a whooping bandwidth of 1 gigabits per second, which is ideal for transferring large data files or a network with heavy traffic. Of course, the actual bandwidth of Gigabit networks is less than that, but they are still much faster than wireless networks. Even 802.11g which supports 54 mbps will choke in demanding environments.

The third and most critical reason would be security. While lower transfer speeds can be tolerated, there is no way an organization is going to expose its network in exchange for the convenience of a cable-free environment. There have been many occasions where a wireless network’s security have been compromised merely due to the nature of wireless networks."

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