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Wii U Ethernet Adapter
- Thread starter EDarkness
- Start date
Marty Chinn
Member
Forget that, I want to know what's the excuse for Ethernet being slower than WiFi....
I'd rather have Wifi built in, which it does. Wifi > Ethernet in 2012.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Never!
Marty Chinn
Member
No, Ethernet is still superior to WiFi in 2012. It's faster, more reliable, and not susceptible to interference or drop outs.
UltimateIke
Member
Reggie forgot to check that box.
USB shenanigans
Teletraan1
Banned
Not in my house that was built in the 40s.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Holy shit, this website design looks like it hasn't been updated since the late '90s
Haint
Member
Good to know it's not just me. Seems we're left to wonder if the U's wifi (and ethernet apparently) just sucks or the the browser can't process speedtests.
Haint
Member
I'd be inclined to agree, but the wildly different Wifi and Ethernet values (on Wii U) nckill noted perhaps suggest the browser's not entirely to blame and something screwy is going on with the general connectivity.
Nope. Ethernet is still faster and more reliable as has already been pointed out. Faster = better. Wifi is terrible for gaming.
Marty Chinn
Member
It's noticeable in the Amazon app too. That's what first made me wonder if something was wrong.
Amazon Instant Watch
Ethernet - 2 bars, no HD
WiFi - Full Bars, HD
UltimateIke
Member
All three.
Hmmm...my router is saying the Wii U is on the g signal.
MrTroubleMaker
Member
D
Deleted member 284
Unconfirmed Member
I think someone stated earlier it has to do with the max bandwith of USB. And apperntly, some third party USB adapters are version 1.x instead of 2.x.
Sanctuary
Member
The Nyko adapter I purchased not even two months ago for the Wii works just fine on the Wii U.
I don't have a router though. I've never needed one, and would never use WiFi for the PS3 or 360. Simply not worth it. So I'm not going to waste money on one just for the Wii U, when I won't be needing it for fighting games, and any other game that I would need to be online for will have enough speed (even if it's slower, it's still stable) through the USB.
So basically it'll only do b/g. Heh, crazy in this day and age. I could see the Wii only being b/g, but I figured Nintendo would go b/g/n for the Wii U.
Marty Chinn
Member
No, it'll do n 2.4ghz, just not n 5 ghz.
Okay. Still crazy, though.
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
So conflicted...
This thread showed me that you can still buy the original NDS thumb pad wrist strap for only $4!
US only unfortunately, but man... that thing was great.
US only unfortunately, but man... that thing was great.
I think they have to use the same "asix ax88772" chipset the official USB Adapters use.
I have a $16 TRENDnet branded adapter from Amazon that works. I could've got a cheaper no name brand one from China via ebay, but I've heard those can sometimes have MAC addresses with all 0's, so that wouldn't have worked for me.
I get the same speed results on my PC's direct ethernet connection and my Wii U's usb ethernet. Almost identical results. About 3.7Mb for each one.
I'm not sure that site is as accurate as
http://www.speedtest.net/
which gives me about 4.4Mb on my PC, but I can't use speedtest.net on my Wii U
Keep in mind, my DSL line is only 5Mb... So if it's limiting someone's cable at some speed above that... I wouldn't be able to tell you.
The official Nintendo adapter is limiting you to 1.5 to 2.0 mbps?
I wonder if some of the older adapters were USB 1.0, not USB 2.0?
I've never had a problem using the wireless for any of my consoles. I'm not sure why people make such a big deal out of it. Perhaps if you'd like to stream videos it might make a difference, I guess, but we stream Netflix in HD perfectly fine on the WiFi of the 360.
On a side note, as people are talking about how old that website looks, this is the website for the historical museum in my hometown:
http://www.bountifulutah.gov/HistoricalCommission/A_index01.html
The most notable aspect is that it says it was last updated in April 2012. Yes, folks, somebody updated this site this year, and it still has flashing colorful gifs and a big "Click here" button that also flashes. I'm so proud of my hometown and their historical museum. They're truly performing their duty to preserve relics.
EDIT: Make that THREE identical flashing "Click here" buttons. And if you DO click it, you're treated to more.
EDIT 2: Just clicked through to the staffing and found this gem: "Museum Website (for comments or questions send E-mails to: TomsGrafix@aol.com."
I'll tell you what, I will hire TomsGrafix@aol.com for my next project, particularly if I need it to include parentheses left open.
On a side note, as people are talking about how old that website looks, this is the website for the historical museum in my hometown:
http://www.bountifulutah.gov/HistoricalCommission/A_index01.html
The most notable aspect is that it says it was last updated in April 2012. Yes, folks, somebody updated this site this year, and it still has flashing colorful gifs and a big "Click here" button that also flashes. I'm so proud of my hometown and their historical museum. They're truly performing their duty to preserve relics.
EDIT: Make that THREE identical flashing "Click here" buttons. And if you DO click it, you're treated to more.
EDIT 2: Just clicked through to the staffing and found this gem: "Museum Website (for comments or questions send E-mails to: TomsGrafix@aol.com."
I'll tell you what, I will hire TomsGrafix@aol.com for my next project, particularly if I need it to include parentheses left open.
Marty Chinn
Member
Simply using a microwave will kill your connection.
UltimateIke
Member
I don't think so. I have an official adapter I got a couple of months after the Wii first released and an official adapter I ordered a couple of weeks before the Wii U released. Both are the same and slower than Wi-Fi.
This is why I'm considering getting a 3rd party adapter.
KojiKnight
Member
bandwidthplace.com
Wii U: 6Mbps
PC: 10Mbps
speedtest.net
Wii U: N/A
PC: 25Mbps
Conclusion: Bandwidthplace is a crappy place to test, speedtest.net requires flash so no Wii U support. Better test would likely be to take internet tests out of the equation and host a test on a local computer to run via the Wii U's browser.
Wii U: 6Mbps
PC: 10Mbps
speedtest.net
Wii U: N/A
PC: 25Mbps
Conclusion: Bandwidthplace is a crappy place to test, speedtest.net requires flash so no Wii U support. Better test would likely be to take internet tests out of the equation and host a test on a local computer to run via the Wii U's browser.
Marty Chinn
Member
It's not crappy if you're comparing relative speeds. There's clearly a difference between Ethernet and WiFi, and Ethernet is clearly slower.
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Best way to test is to download a large file and time how long it takes to download on wifi and ethernet.
That'll give you an idea of consistency over a long period which is what you want for online gaming.
That'll give you an idea of consistency over a long period which is what you want for online gaming.
Palette Swap
Member
A good way to check it isn't browser related would be to download the same game twice, once over Ethernet and once over Wifi.
These Ethernet figures look really wrong and smell of USB bullshit.
Edit: beaten.
Wii-U browser does not allow downloads, except from the e-shop?
Marty Chinn
Member
Problem with the eShop is, do we know if the eShop is working at full speed or not?
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Yeah, it would have to be from the eShop. There's a FIFA Demo in PAL land so would be easy to do. Don't have an ethernet adapter myself so can't do it, unfortunately.
CambriaRising
Member
Don't, op. USB is fucking awful for speeds.
Edit: As I now see people have discovered.
Edit: As I now see people have discovered.
Jailer of Hope
Member
Hmm. I think it took me about 30-35 mins to download the 1733MB of NSMB U on a Rocketfish USB adapter. Maybe I'll transfer my my game over to my HDD and redownload it on Wifi when I get home.
Marty Chinn
Member
USB 2.0 should be fine since it's up to 440 mbps. There shouldn't be an issue there.
Palette Swap
Member
USB2 shouldn't bottleneck 100Mbit/s Ethernet considering its effective throughput is 280Mbit/s.
If USB2 intrinsically created bottlenecks to the extents shown ITT, you'd think these PC wifi USB adapters would be known for hampering Wifi speeds. AFAIK they aren't.
It's still very possible the way the console manages USB could be responsible for this though.
Anyway, this is all a bit baffling from a consumer standpoint considering one would want Ethernet for higher and more reliable speeds.
ROBOKITTYZILLA
Member
I was a little annoyed to discover that it didn't have Ethernet built in (I wired every room in my house for Ethernet) but was planning on picking up the adapter later. After reading this, I don't think I'm going to bother.
sixteen-bit
Member
same colors and everything
Haunted
Member
Even though you're wrong, the real trick was making you think it's an either/or choice.
It should've had both and there's no excuse.
UltimateIke
Member
I get near identical results on Bandwidthplace (24.12 mbps down, 3.55 mbps up) and Speedtest.net (25.17 mbps down, 3.75 mbps up). I've tested both sites multiple times, on multiple days, using both the ethernet and Wi-Fi connections on my desktop.
So my Wii U results should be fine with Bandwidthplace, right?
I tested just now and got 12.3/3.28 with Wi-Fi and 6.21/3.02 with ethernet.