Ethernet not built-in?

[Inspire]

This is my only beef so far with the Wii -

I know the Wii will do 802.11b/g wi-fi out-of-the-box, but let's get serious here folks; Wi-Fi is laggy for online gaming - there's simply no denying that.

What I don't understand is why Nintendo is asking consumers to fork over more cash for a USB -> Ethernet adapter. I mean - ethernet adapters are smaller, generate less heat and cost less than wireless cards - why shouldn't an ethernet port be standard? Besides that, it pretty much eats up a USB port without merit.

Do you think Nintendo felt that a built-in ethernet port would be a performance upgrade and saw the opportunity to sell another accessory at a godawful price ($30 - right?) - because that's what I see. And with all the rumors of being able to use a usb flash drive or an external hard drive, don't you guys think an ethernet adapter - something that could have easily been built-in, is a waste of a good USB port?[/rant]

Discuss.

 

[Sovieto]

You can buy a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.
Wi-Fi dosen't lag for me except for times where it slighty slows down. (Star Fox when all 4 fighters are on screen shooting)

 

[Inspire]

Right. I said that you can buy an USB-ethernet adaptor....

Using Wi-Fi for online gaming adds a higher latency than using the same connection with a ethernet cable. If you've ever gamed online on a PC - or even an xbox, it's noticeable. I've never seen star fox played online - what system are you using?

 

[Sovieto]

Right. I said that you can buy an USB-ethernet adaptor....

Using Wi-Fi for online gaming adds a higher latency than using the same connection with a ethernet cable. If you've ever gamed online on a PC - or even an xbox, it's noticeable. I've never seen star fox played online - what system are you using?

oh, i read and re-read it, me thinks you added the usb-ethernet in..:wtf: lol anyways
im playing star fox on the DS Lite, first off there are many varibles that come into play, first say on the PC
Your using Wi-Fi, perhaps your internet speed isnt fast enough, perhaps other people are using a slow internet, or your computer cant handle the graphics with its processor and graphics card.
Now with XBOXs people could be using slow internets and you wouldnt know, but the graphics issue and stuff dont apply since its all the same hardware. Most people now have high speed internets, on my friends 360, both of them, ive only experienced lag twice and that was just becuase some people's internet sucked.

 

[Inspire]

oh, i read and re-read it, me thinks you added the usb-ethernet in..:wtf: lol anyways
im playing star fox on the DS Lite, first off there are many varibles that come into play, first say on the PC
Your using Wi-Fi, perhaps your internet speed isnt fast enough, perhaps other people are using a slow internet, or your computer cant handle the graphics with its processor and graphics card.
Now with XBOXs people could be using slow internets and you wouldnt know, but the graphics issue and stuff dont apply since its all the same hardware. Most people now have high speed internets, on my friends 360, both of them, ive only experienced lag twice and that was just becuase some people's internet sucked.

I didn't add it in, but you can think whatever you want. Wireless connection latency is higher than wired connection latency. That's a fact that results from the laws of physics.

I have a desktop that's wired into my modem via CAT6 and a laptop on wireless. On an old game - say starcraft (for giggles), the laptop has a higher latency than the desktop.

Are you playing Star-Fox on the DS Lite over the internet? Because, I'm talking about online gameplay...

 

[Sovieto]

I didn't add it in, but you can think whatever you want. Wireless connection latency is higher than wired connection latency. That's a fact that results from the laws of physics.

I have a desktop that's wired into my modem via CAT6 and a laptop on wireless. On an old game - say starcraft (for giggles), the laptop has a higher latency than the desktop.

Are you playing Star-Fox on the DS Lite over the internet? Because, I'm talking about online gameplay...

w00t w00t starcraft that thing asks for nothing more than 56 kbps or whatever and ive played that a many time wirelessy at friends house
yes im talking about online gameplay with star fox

 

[Inspire]

Oh, okay. I thought you might have been talking about using the wi-fi to link up and play with folks in the same room or something. I didn't know the DS supported online gaming.

Hopefully you're right - hopefully there won't be a performance difference and no one will have to spend money on an adaptor.... but if that's the case, it begs the question - why even make an adapter?

You can pick up a Netgear vanilla 802.11g wireless router for $30 or $40 at Best Buy or Circuit City...

EDIT: Yeah, I just caught what you meant about starcraft. That's exactly what I was shooting for - a game that's not graphically intensive and not bandwidth intensive. Although you probably won't notice the increased latency - it's still there.

 

[Sovieto]

Oh, okay. I thought you might have been talking about using the wi-fi to link up and play with folks in the same room or something. I didn't know the DS supported online gaming.

Hopefully you're right - hopefully there won't be a performance difference and no one will have to spend money on an adaptor.... but if that's the case, it begs the question - why even make an adapter?

You can pick up a Netgear vanilla 802.11g wireless router for $30 or $40 at Best Buy or Circuit City...

EDIT: Yeah, I just caught what you meant about starcraft. That's exactly what I was shooting for - a game that's not graphically intensive and not bandwidth intensive. Although you probably won't notice the increased latency - it's still there.

I'm pyched for StarCraft 2! A big Blizzard announcement will be taking place in 2007! So yah, that's exactly the point, go high-speed wireless!

 

[NateTheGreat]

You know you don't have to buy Nintendo's specific USB-to-ethernet adaptor, right? I've seen the same thing elsewhere and I'm guessing it's cheaper and works just as well. Nintendo is going for simplicity here, although it's more about simplicity in design rather than internet set-up considering you must buy an adaptor if you want a wired connection. However, it's the only console that comes standard with wireless built-in (Xbox 360 requires an adaptor and the basic PS3 requires an adaptor as well), so they can say it's as easy as plugging Wii into a wall and your TV and having a Wifi router. While Wii's backside does look a bit barren, they probably left out an Ethernet port for cost or heat or size issues. If you really need more USB ports, just get a USB hub.

 

[ghghgh14702]

first off 802.11g is 54Mbps, I doubt anyone on this forum has an internet connection even near that speed, second if a games needs more than that for online play it was programmed horrible and the developers should have left online off the game. even 802.11b at 11 Mbps is plenty fast enough for online gaming and lan parties because I've done it before, maybe you just don't really know how to step your system up correctly if your having problems. As for DS games running slower at certain times when multiplayer that is probably other hardware than the wifi since there are more players to do calculations for and all the systems have to kind of share their info to match for each player, the processor in the portables are not that intense being that they are so tiny.

 

[Flip]

Edit: What he said ^

 

[Inspire]

@gh - I was really referring to latency, not bandwidth. Just because the bandwidth of your router is higher than that of your internet connection doesn't mean it won't contribute to the latency of your setup. Wireless signals travel slower than ethernet signals. Try this - take Halo PC and put it on two computers on your network - one on an ethernet connection, and the other on wireless. Then, setup a ds on your network and start playing with the two machines on 640 x 480 with everything turned down and hit f1 and tell me if the ping is equal. It won't be, because, like I said, ethernet signals travel faster than wireless signals. (Rinse and repeat for CS, UT, FEAR, etc....)

I don't have problems with my setup. There's just a difference.

Of course, from what sovieto is telling us, you won't notice the difference [EDIT: in gameplay], so the point is rather moot.

@Nate - I wouldn't imagine heat would have been a problem - I've never seen a heatsink on an ethernet / wireless card chipset. A hub is a good idea (although i imagine you'd have a mess of wires back there) - Nintendo will probably sell that for an extra $24.99, too.

I wonder what kind of chipset they have handling the USB, though - I imagine it would support the bandwidth to be running 4 devices at once, but Nintendo really went for necessary and sufficient here, so who knows... Anywho, you're right about buying it elsewhere, it will definitely be cheaper - probably comparable to an ethernet card (~$15).

Still, if it doesn't make a noticeable difference in gameplay, why pay $30 for a nintendo adaptor when you can get a wireless g router for about the same cost? The advent of N has really driven down the prices on g.

@sovieto - I didn't know they were making a starcraft 2. Nice.