Keep it simple

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USB-C > Ethernet dongle like a true Network Master.

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Or if you rent. I could run an Ethernet cable to my office from my router, but it would have to run upstairs and across a few doorways.

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Yeah this kinda overlooks a lot of the issues with like… getting a cable somewhere

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My house is relatively new (built 2005), and they pulled cat5 for all the telephone lines and just didn't hook up the extra pairs of wires. Since nobody uses landlines anymore, I rewired most of the outlets for RJ45.

Have pulled a few more wires, including fiber to my main office PC (so I can have a very fast connection to my NAS). Once you learn a few techniques and the way your building is laid out, it's not that hard.

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You will generally run into fire stops in the framing, like you can see here:

https://www.oneprojectcloser.com/fire-stops-fire-blocking-in-studs/

When I ran wires to my office, I had to cut out one section of drywall above it, another below it, and then use a right angle attachment for my drill to go through it. Pull wire through and seal it with fire block foam.

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$6.99/5' of cable. A weekend of manual labor running cable through my walls.

Or $300 for something I can set-and-forget.

Decisions, decisions.

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Would be cool if building code standards included Cat5 (or even better, USB) along with the standard power and phone connections of new builds.

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Sure, but this isn't that. That requires actual work put in developing and simulating the product, these are just multiple antennae for multiple channels.

Source: ~~trust me bro~~ I work in semiconductors at a firm that creates RF chips

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Seems pointless considering the fire stop is made from something flammable.

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Its purpose is to slow it down, not stop it. There would be a chimney effect where smoke rises out of the channel and fresh oxygen is allowed to come in from below. The blocks here prevent that from happening.

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Oh, I'm not saying it's not functional in stone capacity. I understand the physics and what is trying to be accomplished with it, but unless it's done with pretty tight tolerance so any air leakage between the upper and lower spaces is as close to nil as possible, then it's not going to be super effective.

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Dude, this is standard framing that's been done for ages and is in tons of houses in the US. It works, and it's mandated by code for a reason.

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That one in the picture is $599 isn't it?

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I set up a mesh router pair a while back - super easy setup, and the speed is good enough to have multiple TVs streaming at once, and without needing to run cables between rooms... Worth it.

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You mean to say there are tiny little humans working inside all the chips in my devices??

AngryMob

The problem with wireless isn't speed anymore, its stability. For a lot of applications that's fine since buffering and whatnot hides any hiccups. but gaming for example is a nightmare on wireless still.

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I'm not disputing any of that. I'm just saying that it seems like it wouldn't work super well.

I'm just some guy on the internet. I'm expecting an opinion. I don't wish to suggest we should do away with it because it's probably not the most helpful thing we could do; not at all. Keep it, use it, be happy and hold a parade.

I still think that it's not as effective as it could be because you'll always have air leak, and probably enough that putting a small hole in a fire break to run a cable probably won't make things much worse.

Code says you have to seal it, so that's what you'd be obligated to do. I'm only questioning if there's better options that would be more effective. That's all.

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Wireless tech has improved greatly over the last 20 years. Speed, latency, bandwidth, stability…all generally excellent. 15 years ago I wouldn’t have wanted to use a wireless mouse or LAN connection. Now? NBD. They just work. Still have issues with poor signal in some areas, but mesh range boosters take care of that pretty easily.