A network for home? Which one?

Hey guys,

I had a quick question about a network at home.

My house is 15m tall and 9m wide, I want to network 3 computers (mine, wife, son).

Should I wire the house with Ethernet cat 5e cable and put a 100 base T switch?
Or
Just put a Wi-Fi access point and Wi Fi cards for the 3 computers.

I prefer wireless, but I’ve heard Ethernet would have slightly faster speeds due to less aerial interference.

Suggestions? Solutions? Thank you!
 
First of all... don't put a 100 base T switch anywhere but the backup bin. If you're going to bother wiring anything put in GbE as it's inexpensive now. Also, if you're going to bother with any wiring then I'd put in the best/fastest type I could find to future proof it as much as possible. Fishing cable isn't something you want to repeat in a couple of years.

To more directly answer your question, Wi-Fi will probably be fine for you depending on the distance from your WAP (wireless access point) and what your walls are made of. You'll also need to keep in mind any other Wi-Fi interference so the distance to your neighbors can have an affect. All that being said any modern WAP will be faster than a 100 base T switch under normal conditions when it comes to throughput (how much data you can move) - but worse when it comes to latency (how long a specific bit of data takes to get from one point to another). If you're playing games you'll want low latency. If you're just streaming content or moving files around then you just want throughput.
 
Investigate EoP (Eithernet over Power). Master connects to the router and the Slaves are in the appropriate rooms. I use the Netgear version and very happy with it.

These are typically point-point devices (meaning one device per slave) but I use a switch at the remote end nicely.

Additionally, ensure you can get a model that supports one master with multiple slaves - - as that's the only purpose after all :)
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the help. I'll look at the budget and see which one is more appropriate. I do like the sound of wireless. Although, for gaming - wired would be perhaps better.

Nonetheless, Thank you very much :)
 
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