Effectiveness of data transfer over wired and wireless media Assignment 3 – Ivo Martins

Effectiveness of data transfer over wired media and wireless media Wired networks have been used for a very long time and is the most secure of the two choices. Wired connections have barriers which mean it is a lot harder for hackers to get inside of your networks if you use them compared to wireless connections. Apart from security, the effectiveness of a wired connection can be judged on a few aspects. Some of the important aspects are the bandwidth and the connection speeds. This is one of the most important things when assessing wired media vs wireless media. Majority of the time wired connection is always better in terms of bandwidth and speeds compared to wireless connection. Having good bandwidth and transfer and connection speeds is very important especially for big companies who rely on using internet all the time. Another important factor is transfer reliability. Using a wired connection is more reliable in terms of data transfer because you lower the chances of losing data when transferring whereas when you use wireless media, the chances of you losing data are much higher. Pricing is also a key factor especially for businesses. This is because the business needs to consider what the best option for them is due to the price. Using a wired media will cost a lot more than using a wireless media however when a company decides which of the two options they are going to use they also need to keep in mind the other factors and not just the price. When using wired media, for example, a simple Ethernet cable would reach a data transfer speed of up to 100/Mbps. Whereas the data transfer speeds on wireless media depends on the network internet standard protocol e.g. 802.11a, 802.11b etc. An important feature that using wireless media has compared to wired is that you are able to use things such as mobile devices. This can be devices such as phones, tablets, laptops and other equipment like printers etc.

Advantages and disadvantages of: Wired media Wireless media Advantages Disadvantages Accurate and reliable when transferring all the data Cost Bigger bandwidth Range due to Ethernet cables only going 100m Faster transfer rate Cable management if too many devices are connected Good for large companies who rely on using the internet a lot Security Advantages Disadvantages Cost Unreliable transfer speeds Better for smaller companies or homes Security is very bad Able to connect and use mobile devices Signal can be poor Data transfer can be lost so unreliable