Even with WiFi 7 hitting multi-gigabit speeds in marketing material, Ethernet still wins on every measurable axis except mobility. Here's how they compare in real homes in 2026.
A modern WiFi 6E router can advertise 2.4 Gbps per stream. In practice, most laptops have a 2x2 antenna and a single 80 MHz channel, capping you at 600-900 Mbps in the same room as the router and far less elsewhere. A $5 Cat 6 cable carries a steady 1 Gbps full-duplex from anywhere in the house.
Ethernet adds about 0.1 ms of latency. WiFi adds 2-15 ms on a clean channel and far more under interference. Jitter on Ethernet is essentially zero; WiFi jitter regularly exceeds 5 ms.
Ethernet doesn't drop packets unless something physical is broken. WiFi is a shared medium, every device in the neighborhood is competing for airtime. Microwave ovens, baby monitors, and Bluetooth all fight for the 2.4 GHz band.
Ethernet requires physical access to attack. WPA3 is solid, but WPA2 networks (still common) are vulnerable to KRACK and offline brute-force against weak passwords.
Powerline adapters carry data over your home electrical wiring. They typically deliver 100-300 Mbps in real-world conditions and add 3-5 ms of latency. Useful where running Ethernet is impossible, but a well-placed mesh node usually beats them.