Combining Ethernet and Wifi

[RageNuke]

Hello everyone,

I recently moved and got a 150 Mbps download package. I have a 2.4GHz PCI-E wireless adapter on my computer that I bought as a back up and never use, since before I moved I connected by ethernet through a powerline adapter. In my old house I had a 50 Mbps package and the powerline worked perfectly. Now, in my new house, I'm only getting about 35-45 Mbps, even though I have a much better internet plan. I think this is just because the wiring in the house just isn't as good over here, especially in my room. I can't just run an ethernet cable directly, so I ordered a 5GHz dongle so that I can get full advantage of my speed on my desktop. I still have the powerline adapters though, and I game a lot. So I was wondering if there was any way to use the ping that I get from the powerline and the speed from wireless at the same time. Can I combine both connections or somehow separate them so that games and VOIP use ethernet and media and other downloads use wireless? Thanks for the help.

[Electronics Wizardy]

No way to combine them easily. You can use both but all programs will use one interface. Having 2 can't make you get downloads that are faster.

[Beowulff83]

If you are getting a decent 5g signal where your pc sits I would just use that.  I am not a fan of powerline adapters, they work in a pinch but too much going on for them to be a reliable connection.  I do not know of a way for you to combine the two either.  If your cable and modem/router is operating as it should the 5g connection should be pretty close to an Ethernet connection.

[RageNuke]

I don't want to combine them to increase speed. Just have it so that any big files download through WiFi and games use Ethernet.

[Jarsky]

Im confused, so are you currently using Wifi and getting 35-45Mbps?

Whats your connect rate using Powerline?

[RageNuke]

Just now, Beowulff83 said:

If you are getting a decent 5g signal where your pc sits I would just use that.  I am not a fan of powerline adapters, they work in a pinch but too much going on for them to be a reliable connection.  I do not know of a way for you to combine the two either.  If your cable and modem/router is operating as it should the 5g connection should be pretty close to an Ethernet connection.

You think the jitter and latency will be close enough for it to not matter?

[RageNuke]

1 minute ago, Jarsky said:

Im confused, so are you currently using Wifi and getting 35-45Mbps?

Whats your connect rate using Powerline?

I'm getting 35-45 using the powerline about the same on WiFi since the adapter is only 2.4GHz. I order a new 5GHz adapter, though.

[Electronics Wizardy]

4 minutes ago, RageNuke said:

I don't want to combine them to increase speed. Just have it so that any big files download through WiFi and games use Ethernet.

its a pain to do, no reason though, wifi is fast enough to no limit you.

[Beowulff83]

1 minute ago, RageNuke said:

You think the jitter and latency will be close enough for it to not matter?

Shouldn't if you have a good signal and your cable and router are working as should,  its not Ethernet for sure but it should work well.

[Jarsky]

If theyre about the same, then just use the Wifi - most wifi is pretty decent these days, especially if your new 5Ghz adapter and AP support 802.11AC (Wireless AC) which is a low latency and fast wireless spec.

[RageNuke]

3 minutes ago, Jarsky said:

If theyre about the same, then just use the Wifi - most wifi is pretty decent these days, especially if your new 5Ghz adapter and AP support 802.11AC (Wireless AC) which is a low latency and fast wireless spec.

I'm pretty sure I have this gateway: https://www.xfinity.com/support/internet/wireless-gateway-3/. Not sure if I have the version 2 or 3, but it's probably version 3 since it was installed today. The page says it operates with the 802.11AC spectrum and I checked the router settings and it is setup that way. This is the adapter I ordered: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018TX8IDA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. So technically I should have the best/a really good connection? I have never actually had 5GHz before so I don't know how good they are just yet.

[Beowulff83]

2 minutes ago, RageNuke said:

I'm pretty sure I have this gateway: https://www.xfinity.com/support/internet/wireless-gateway-3/. Not sure if I have the version 2 or 3, but it's probably version 3 since it was installed today. The page says it operates with the 802.11AC spectrum and I checked the router settings and it is setup that way. This is the adapter I ordered: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018TX8IDA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. So technically I should have the best/a really good connection? I have never actually had 5GHz before so I don't know how good they are just yet.

yes, you should be good, your limiting factor will be how far your pc sits from the router and the obstacles in between the two.  5G is faster and more reliable but the trade off is the signal doesn't travel as far

[desertcomputer]

Just saying game doesn't require that much bandwidth also with VoIP, as long as you have stable and low ping connection such as power line adapter or 5gz wifi you should be solid. 

[RageNuke]

2 minutes ago, Beowulff83 said:

yes, you should be good, your limiting factor will be how far your pc sits from the router and the obstacles in between the two.  5G is faster and more reliable but the trade off is the signal doesn't travel as far

Ok, if there's no way, then I'll see on Monday if the connection is reliable enough. Right now I'm getting 124 Mbps on my phone on the 5GHz network. If we drew a line from the gateway to my pc there would be three walls in between, but the distance is only about 10 meters. So it's probably a pretty ok connection. Thanks for the help.

[dalekphalm]

18 hours ago, RageNuke said:

I'm pretty sure I have this gateway: https://www.xfinity.com/support/internet/wireless-gateway-3/. Not sure if I have the version 2 or 3, but it's probably version 3 since it was installed today. The page says it operates with the 802.11AC spectrum and I checked the router settings and it is setup that way. This is the adapter I ordered: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018TX8IDA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. So technically I should have the best/a really good connection? I have never actually had 5GHz before so I don't know how good they are just yet.

I hope that WIFI adapter works well for you, but I'm skeptical about the quality of it.

[RageNuke]

On 6/3/2017 at 5:23 PM, dalekphalm said:

I hope that WIFI adapter works well for you, but I'm skeptical about the quality of it.

It worked fine. Plug and play.