Samsung Smart TV's wireless vs ethernet lan

snb008 · Aug 15, 2015

I will upgrade to a Samsung Smart TV in the near future which has both a built-in wireless (802.11ac) LAN as well as an Ethernet LAN support.

Does anyone have any experience of a recent Samsung model with either or both of these connectivities? Regarding connection to the internet and integration into my home network, do they just work about the same in practice? Or, are there some significant pros and cons?

Please share your experience. Thank you.

System Error Message · Aug 16, 2015

though i never use such i suggest you use ethernet over wifi because the bandwidth isnt shared and there is a lot less interference. Hopefully it uses gigabit ethernet. Im sick of all these devices giving only 100Mb/s ethernet interface (this includes costly high end ARM).

AdvHomeServer · Aug 16, 2015

snb008 said:
I will upgrade to a Samsung Smart TV in the near future which has both a built-in wireless (802.11ac) LAN as well as an Ethernet LAN support.

Does anyone have any experience of a recent Samsung model with either or both of these connectivities? Regarding connection to the internet and integration into my home network, do they just work about the same in practice? Or, are there some significant pros and cons?

Please share your experience. Thank you.

Having wireless AC available is pretty good. To the downside, 5GHz has range problems and interference problems when compared to 2.4GHz. If your router is a few feet away and unobstructed and the 5GHz is not crowded you'll probably be ok.

A lot of devices and new laptops only have 100Mb wired. For normal TV it's going to be OK. I have no idea how much bandwidth is needed for 4k. I agree with the OP that wired is better than wireless. It's more dependable.

I had an elaborate wireless network and just replaced it with wired cat6 and am using wireless as a convenience as opposed to a backbone. A wired connection upstairs uses a tp-link 600Mb powerline connection. Its utility states I'm getting about 200Mb average on it. I'm happy. The main powerline hookup is in the basement next to the utility box. This gives it the shortest run possible. I chose to get adequate tech as opposed to the best available because I didn't need 'the best' powerline and, when I needed something better, the tech would improve again and today's 'best' would be tomorrows 'adequate' and cost less.

CaptainSTX · Aug 16, 2015

snb008 said:
I will upgrade to a Samsung Smart TV in the near future which has both a built-in wireless (802.11ac) LAN as well as an Ethernet LAN support.

Does anyone have any experience of a recent Samsung model with either or both of these connectivities? Regarding connection to the internet and integration into my home network, do they just work about the same in practice? Or, are there some significant pros and cons?

Please share your experience. Thank you.

Use Ethernet. Streaming video using WiFi just doubles your chances of having problems. You face enough issues with congestion on the WWW without adding WiFi congestion and interference within your home. WiFi is for convenience not work horse applications like streaming.

TonyH · Aug 16, 2015

CaptainSTX said:
Use Ethernet. Streaming video using WiFi just doubles your chances of having problems. You face enough issues with congestion on the WWW without adding WiFi congestion and interference within your home. WiFi is for convenience not work horse applications like streaming.

In any situation cable is first choice. This is no brainer.

snb008 · Aug 16, 2015

I will not buy the TV until year end and so I have a lot of time to plan ahead.

The TV will sit at one corner of the room while the Extender/Repeater will be 5-15 feet away in the same room. Running a longer cable is no problem. When I have all the hardware hooked up, I will test both connectivites and report back here in this thread.

In the meantime, anyone with experience with Samsung TV's wireless and/or ethernet connection, please share.

steef84 · Aug 17, 2015

For me my cheap Samsung UE32F4510 in the bedroom performs great when streaming wireless connected through 802.11ac wifi. Running Plex client without problems for 1080p sources.

paulbates · Aug 31, 2015

I've tried both, and wired is a better choice. My AV cabinet is wired to 100mb ET, I wired the location 15 years ago and split one cat 5 into a double ET jack. Having said that, there is a noticeable enough difference.

Improvements are noticed the most on Netflix and Hulu when navigating and starting programs. The router is only 30 feet from the TV, and I have one pc and few tablets and phones on 5gzh. No phones and the PC in standby, its still better. There almost never a Netflix/Hulu pause on wired, a few are noticed on wireless.

I could get away with wireless, but I travel and don't want to get calls that the TV is slow, or paused during playback. Even in 2015, wired is better for specific applications like this.

After doing a number of experiments, I've left it plugged in and stopped experimenting.

coxhaus · Aug 31, 2015

Use wire and save your wireless for your mobile devices. Wireless is slow compared to wired connections.

stevech · Aug 31, 2015

coxhaus said:
Use wire and save your wireless for your mobile devices. Wireless is slow compared to wired connections.

excellent advice.
Wireless is hard. Prof. Paulraj of Stanford: "Wireless isn't 100 times harder than wired, it's a million times harder." Wise words.

It's not just that wireless is slower than wired, it's that wireless is unavoidbly unreliable at times. No matter. It's in the ether.

Wireless supports mobility. Immobile things shouldn't use wireless.

snb008 · Sep 1, 2015

I cannot agree more with this ''Wired over wireless'' statement. Running wireless just has too many variables.

For my situation, I have both 'hardware' hurdle (ie dealing with concrete walls and not drywall) and 'software' hurdle (ie wife's complete disgust of visible wiring). At present, both hurdles are unsurpassable.

I am resorting to using an extender. The extender will sit in the same room as the TV. TV sits at the corner and its location is permanent. The extender can sit closer to the TV and an ethernet cable from the extender to the TV can easily be hidden from sight. But, at this position, the extender receives (relatively) weaker signal from the router. The extender can also be positioned to receive (relatively) stronger stronger signal from the router but at the position, it sits further away from the TV and running an ethernet cable requires ingenious effort. This is my dilemma.

As the layout and construction of everyone's home are different, I have to experiment what is best for my case.

coxhaus · Sep 1, 2015

If you can stream HD for an hour or more without interruption then I would call it good. If you get pauses then I would look for a better solution. No body wants a movie interrupted from an internet slow down. You loose the movie effect.

stevech · Sep 1, 2015

coxhaus said:
If you can stream HD for an hour or more without interruption then I would call it good. If you get pauses then I would look for a better solution. No body wants a movie interrupted from an internet slow down. You loose the movie effect.

Agree! Wireless is always the last resort choice for immobile things.

louwaydon · Oct 18, 2015

coxhaus said:
Use wire and save your wireless for your mobile devices. Wireless is slow compared to wired connections.

This is true! Our connection for our smart tv in the house is separate and it's not wireless too. Our wireless is for our laptops, iPad and mobile phones only.

Nullity · Oct 18, 2015

I use WiFi with my Smart TV, mostly because I am lazy. Plex and Netflix only use ~10Mbit of bandwidth. I have not had any problems.

As everyone says though, wired is best.

stevech · Oct 18, 2015

wireless is always last resort for immobile things.

Nullity · Apr 15, 2016

I've exclusively used (802.11n) WiFi with all of my WiFi devices, including my Samsung, with no obvious problems but I do use static DHCP hostname/IP assignments for every common MAC.

Hostname assignment is very important to me for host enumeration.

Shabbir Rao · Apr 15, 2016

Wire is best of course but it is not portable and flexible to work with.

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Samsung Smart TV's wireless vs ethernet lan

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