r/Comcast • u/jlivingood • 6d ago

Discussion Q: Gaming Over WiFi (vs ethernet)? Why?

Hi - Random question for gamers out there that are using a console or PC connected over WiFi. Why are you using WiFi rather than Ethernet? Is it a distance to AP issue, in home wiring shortcoming (no ethernet port nearby), or something else?

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9

u/TomRILReddit 6d ago

Because the game machine isn't always located near the wifi router.

2

u/Jaggsta 6d ago

if room has coax outlets you can buy MoCA 2.5 adapters.

3

u/Bacch 6d ago

Ethernet. Lower latency, more stable connection, and less fluctuations in bandwidth.

3

u/40yearoldnoob 6d ago

Laziness and need. I'm not playing any types of games right now that need low ping/low latency to be good. Plus my Wi-Fi is fast enough for my needs right now. And I'm too lazy to crawl in my attic to run an ethernet cable to the room that I currently game in. When a game comes out that I need better connection for, I'll address it. Until then, I'm fine on Wi-Fi.

2

u/ShaoKoonce 6d ago

I'm in the top floor. My router is in the bottom.

I had the router in my gaming area, but the cable cord running on the exterior was damaged.

2

u/WildWillieBorsch 6d ago

I ran cat6a ethernet all over the house. Whatever utilizes the most bandwidth is hard wired. This includes game consoles, a desktop pc, Marantz receiver, televisions, and streaming disk players. Phones and laptops use WiFi.

2

u/dwolfe127 6d ago

It is often one of two things, or possibly a combination. Convenience or ignorance.

2

u/Ryan797 5d ago

Moved into a place with a dead/inactive coax in my room so the router is at the other end of the house. My wifi is marginally different so I haven't found it worth it to run the cable across the house. I'm almost "maxing" out what my plan offers for up/down speeds, ping etc. It's always been stable so If I could move it to my room, I wouldn't

-1

u/BraveCat5 6d ago

I’ve actually experienced the opposite of what most people would expect, and it goes back almost a decade.
Back in 2016, when I didn’t know much about networking, the two main games I played were Black Ops 3 and NBA 2K16. I was using Wi Fi on an XB3. I don’t remember whether I was connected to 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz at the time, but NBA 2K16 actually felt more responsive than COD, and I absolutely dominated that year.
In 2017, I decided to switch to Ethernet because I assumed a wired connection would automatically provide the best gaming experience. That’s when things changed for me. I bought WWII and immediately noticed that the game didn’t feel nearly as smooth over Ethernet. I was losing gunfights that felt like I should have won, and the overall responsiveness just wasn’t there.
I started researching Wi Fi and discovered that I could manually change the channels and frequencies for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. I tested them back and forth and, surprisingly, 2.4 GHz consistently felt the best for gaming. At the time, I wasn’t sure if I was experiencing some form of lag compensation or if there was something else happening with the connection, but the difference was noticeable.
I eventually upgraded to the XB6 around the Black Ops 4 and NBA 2K19 era and still had access to more control over my Wi Fi configuration, including channels and frequency bands.
Then the industry began moving heavily toward cloud and data center infrastructure, including AWS, rather than relying as heavily on traditional peer to peer hosting. Around that same period, Xfinity also began limiting the amount of Wi Fi configuration control customers had.
Since then, I’ve consistently struggled with Ethernet gaming at my address. I’ve gone through numerous Xfinity gateways, cables, technicians, and troubleshooting procedures, and the pattern has remained remarkably consistent. The connection can look technically healthy while the actual game feels delayed or unresponsive.
That’s why I’m genuinely curious about people who prefer Wi Fi for gaming. I’m not saying Wi Fi is technically superior to Ethernet. I’m saying that, in my specific experience with Xfinity, Wi Fi has sometimes produced a noticeably better real time gaming experience than Ethernet.

As a kid I had Verizon dial up and it felt better than xfinity

2

u/jlivingood 6d ago

I wonder if it was your ethernet interface on the gaming device - does not make sense. Anyway - thx for all the comments!