ethernet or usb

[yesterday]

what is better for connecting to the internet a usb connection or an ethernet connection.

[Neil]

Ethernet.

[soybean]

Speed-wise, either type of connection should give you the same speed for your Internet connection.  However, here's an article which makes a good point for selecting ethernet over USB: Installing a Cable Modem: USB vs. Ethernet.  Here's an excerpt of key points from the article:

"In regards to speed, your cable modem will typically operate at 3 megabits per second or less. This speed can be handled easily by the slowest USB or Ethernet connection. Most cable modems can connect with USB 2.0 (up to 400 Mbps) or Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps), but since the cable modem will transmit only so fast, either connection will work find.

In most cases, the advantage of using the Ethernet connection instead of the USB connection comes down to two things. The first is that using the Ethernet connection frees your USB ports (and bandwidth) for other more useful peripherals.

Secondly, in most cases, you will want to use a wireless or wired router in conjunction with your cable modem for connecting other PCs or devices to the Internet, as well as to protect all of the PCs on your network from attack. In this case, you must use Ethernet for the modem-to-(router) connection."

[unlovedwarrior]

i have always used ethernet cable

[Rob Pomeroy]

The question is all wrong.  You can't connect to the internet with a USB cable.  You need a router.  And to be honest, you won't notice any speed difference using a USB modem/router, compared to using an ethernet modem/router.  The advantage of ethernet is that it implies you have a multiport router - i.e. more than one computer can connect.  Whereas USB is one to one.

[unlovedwarrior]

thanks for clearing that up rob 8-)

[soybean]

The question is all wrong.  You can't connect to the internet with a USB cable.  You need a router.  And to be honest, you won't notice any speed difference using a USB modem/router, compared to using an ethernet modem/router.  The advantage of ethernet is that it implies you have a multiport router - i.e. more than one computer can connect.  Whereas USB is one to one.

I was assuming he was referring to a connection from computer to modem, which seems logical based on his brief post.  And, he could use a modem with a USB port and connect his computer directly to the modem via a USB cable.  No router needed in that scenario.  Another reference, in addition to the one I previously posted: USB connections between cable modem and PC

[yesterday]

thanks guys!

[patio]

The question is all wrong.  You can't connect to the internet with a USB cable.  You need a router.  And to be honest, you won't notice any speed difference using a USB modem/router, compared to using an ethernet modem/router.  The advantage of ethernet is that it implies you have a multiport router - i.e. more than one computer can connect.  Whereas USB is one to one.

Bingo !

[soybean]

Guys (patio and Rob), what's the deal here?  Many home broadband users do NOT have a router; they connect their computer directly to their cable or DSL modem.  Why are you ignoring this basic fact?

Note: edited to change router to modem in "... they connect their computer directly to their cable or DSL modem."

[unlovedwarrior]

lol

[patio]

From the article:


USB connections between cable modem and PC

Some cable modems have both an ethernet socket and a USB socket. Examples include:

    * Surfboard 4100
    * Terayon TeraJet 210
    * ntl:home 100/120 (Ambit)

Articles on this page:

    * USB vs ethernet: the pros and cons.
    * Swapping USB to ethernet and vice-versa.
    * Latest USB cable modem drivers and installation procedure.
    * USB chipset driver updates.
    * Windows XP and USB sleep/standby problems.  New 2002 June 23

USB vs ethernet: the pros and cons

USB networking imposes a heavier load on the system processor than ethernet does, so there might be a performance impact in using USB for networking: this is unlikely to affect your network speeds, but might affect the percentage of processor time available to applications.

[soybean]

What was the point of your last post?

[Rob Pomeroy]

Many home broadband users do NOT have a router; they connect their computer directly to their cable or DSL router.

Er... "Many users do NOT have a router; they connect ... to their ... router"...?

Sorry - what's your question again soybean?  Did you mean "modem" in place of that last "router"?  Yes it's true that plenty of people just use an ADSL/cable modem, connected by USB, but the question specifically mentioned ethernet connectivity, which implied the presence of routing hardware.

[soybean]

Yes, I meant to say "modem" in place of that last "router".  I'll go back and edit that.  

I believe the original poster was simply referring to either connecting his computer to the Internet via a USB port or the LAN port on his computer.  The terms LAN and ethernet sometimes get used interchangeably.  Also, he said nothing about networking or sharing an Internet connection with multiple computers.  Therefore, I assume he's talking about a single computer.  With a single computer, he could use either a USB or a LAN type of connection to connect directly to a modem, depending on what type of ports were on the modem.  And, he would not need a router for one computer, although he could have one.