Does using a wireless adapter add much latency?

Hank Scorpio

Hi guys,

Im curious as to the amount of latency using wireless usb sticks add? Im a gamer and moved to a new house however im working off wireless on a cheap targa wireless stick. When i do a tracert to random IPs the first hop is averaging around 20/30ms, where as with an ethernet cable it would be 1ms typically and constant.

Is my wireless adapter just poor quality? Would adding say a 15 meter CAT5 cable solve this problem? Tbh im not sure about wireless latency etc - From the router itself using Eircoms ping diagnostic boards is averaging 30ms, however when i ping from the PC in dos its average is 55ms. The package is eircoms 3Mb so interleaving isnt set to high.

Would you advice to use a long cat5 cable or is there quality wireless adapters i could use instead? Money isnt really an issue. (Not sure if landlord would approve of a long cat5 cable crossing everyones doors )

Thanks.

P.s i havent had a chance to check latency using a ethernet cable yet.

Some_Person

What adapter are you using? It could also be interference so try changing between wireless channels. For me latency on a USB adapter is as low as Ethernet.

PogMoThoin

I'd always advise cat5 if at all possible, wireless adds latency, even in the same room. These wifi dongles have nothing inside them, tiny circuit boards and antennas, most of them do not work very well, especially the cheap no-name ones. You see Yourself its adding 30ms to Your times.

Hank Scorpio

the stick is from a company called targa, i got it with my PC when i bought it. I suppose i answered my own question with the OP, ill buy an ethernet cable so. Thanks guyz

Some_Person

A good brand adapter works fine, I'm using the Buffalo WLI-UC-G300HP with a Buffalo N router, constant 1ms latency, 2ms max. I was playing TF2 on it last night, perfect ping.
Like I said earlier, try changing wireless channels too, also look at the adapters settings in device manager since there might be some power saving feature which lowers adapter performance and thus increasing latency.

Hank Scorpio

Thanks again.

PogMoThoin

There's a world of difference between a Buffalo and a Targa dongle, but at the price of 30 sterling You'd be as well to just get a router, flash it with dd-wrt or open-wrt and set it up in client mode.