Wifi is slow but ethernet is fast? 3 common reasons you should know

Users have certainly encountered many annoyances when their Wi-Fi usage speed is much slower than when plugged directly into the router with an ethernet cable.

This home network problem causes more discomfort. Why wifi is slow but ethernet is fast and is there anything you can do to fix it? Continue reading the article below to find the answer for yourself.

What makes the internet speed of wifi and ethernet is different?

Now, let's explore the reason why wifi slow ethernet fast.

Loss or drop in signal:

In general, wifi slow but ethernet fast because the wireless signal will always get weaker the further you go from the router and when there are more obstacles.

Will ethernet slow down wifi? It's not happened. Ethernet does not degrade over distance and offers much more consistent bandwidth and speeds.

Wifi and Ethernet

See more: Does a wifi extender slow down internet speed?

Network congestion:

Slow wifi fast ethernet because wireless technology uses radio frequencies or RF waves to send data. In practice, these waves always attenuate with distance. Therefore, having slower speeds on wifi is inevitable.

Each wired connection, on the other hand, is a clean, completely clear communication channel with the router, through the ethernet port it's plugged into. The problems of congestion and interference are much less. So this will cause the problem of fast ethernet slow wifi.

Half Duplex and Full Duplex

Wifi works on Half Duplex, meaning that devices on the wireless network can only send to or receive from the router at any given time, and only one device can send/receive at the time.

As a result, devices using wifi have to queue and wait for the router to process their request. This will increase latency and potentially lower speed and cache loading/latency.

Wired devices are in Full-Duplex mode. They can send and receive simultaneously without any problem. 

Don't keep wondering does ethernet slow down wifi because this will not happen. It is simple: No queues, no congestion, less traffic disruption than Wi-Fi. That is the reason why ethernet is fast but wifi is slow.

Half Duplex and Full Duplex

See more: Does an ethernet cable slow down wifi for others?

How to improve the slow wifi problem?

Many people wonder does connecting to ethernet slow down wifi? The answer is of course "No". So you don't need to worry that does using ethernet slow down wifi or does an ethernet cable slow down wifi for others. It's not the cause, even that it's the solution to the slow WiFi speeds. Besides that, you can apply the following ways to fix it instead of blaming innocent ethernet as the reason.

• Why is my 5ghz wifi slow? The problem may be due to the router. Quickly reset your router and devices.

• If internet slow on wifi but fast ethernet, move your router and devices closer together.

Place router near your device

• Make sure your router is not too close to other RF/EMF emitting devices, like microwave ovens.

• Remove some people from wifi.

• Also, use wifi during less busy times when fewer people are on the home network. 

• If you've been using your current router for a long time, contact your ISP and see if the newest router they can send you has better performance.