Starlink

[Larry Caldwell]

You obviously don't have many network-connected devices. Though I totally agree that a physical wired connection is better from a networking perspective, in a home there are tons of clients that either 1) only connect via wifi so ethernet is out of the question; or 2) are in locations where running ethernet isn't going to be practical. For instance, I have: Traeger smoker outside, MyQ garage door management device in the garage, a pet feeder, smart TVs/streaming devices, etc. all over the house that just don't have ethernet jacks. And they work perfectly because I have a solid mesh wifi home network.

Most of those devices would do fine with dialup speed. That said, wifi is way better than it used to be, and works fine for streaming video. Where ethernet shines is moving lots of data

 

[Fallon]

Wire is always going to be better than wireless unless you have mobility or access issues. The only reason WiFi is popular is because it's expensive to run Ethernet everywhere & you can't wander around with a wire plugged in easily. Wireless is less reliable, less private & shared rather than dedicated bandwidth. I have most everything at home wired, but some stuff is just to inconvenient or non-critical to bother with.

Starlink is no different. It just costs to much to run wire (or fiber now) in many instances. Or with the RV, boat or other mobility use case it's not an option at all.

None of the wired vs wireless addresses the quality of the infrastructure or ISP though. Good wireless can beat out old wiring or a poor ISP. Most problems with DSL is really old wire put in the ground 40 years ago or an ISP that is severely oversubscribed & lacks sufficient bandwidth upstream of the DSL connection itself.

I keep Starlink as a backup ISP or mobile ISP. A 100,000lbs dozer cable plow cruised through my yard the day I got my Starlink waiting list Email. My wife works from home full time & I work from home part time, so a backup is pretty important. My fiber ISP actually pays me in addition to my 10 gigabit connection. Lease for the rack behind my barn & power for said rack. As a new ISP they have had some stability issues at times. It's nice to have (and to be able to afford) a backup, not everybody has that. Starlink is ok for gaming, but 95-99% of the time my fiber is better.

 

[newbury]

I keep Starlink as a backup ISP or mobile ISP.

Whereas I keep my Mobley (~$25/mo) and my 5G phone for backup and mobile ISP connnections.
My Alexandria, Va ISPs all suck compared to my rural Mississippi ISP.

 

[dstig1]

Wire is always going to be better than wireless unless you have mobility or access issues. The only reason WiFi is popular is because it's expensive to run Ethernet everywhere & you can't wander around with a wire plugged in easily. Wireless is less reliable, less private & shared rather than dedicated bandwidth. I have most everything at home wired, but some stuff is just to inconvenient or non-critical to bother with.
....

Precisely my point. We don't have hundreds of devices here but we do have probably a couple dozen total. I specifically paid extra for the Roku with a wired connection for the TV. One less thing soaking up my wifi bandwidth and video is fairly heavy. But then I built my own house 11 years ago and put in a half mile of cat5e cable all over the place. Overkill for sure, as things have gotten more wireless, but I have a wire anywhere I might want. Everywhere I can - and assuming it makes sense, I plug it in. Everywhere wireless makes more sense I do that.