Connecting Devices to the Internet

Everyone loves wireless and consumers demand great WI-FI services throughout their homes.

With so many devices wireless only with no ability to connect to the internet via Ethernet cabling, the pressure is on for better and better WI-FI service in your home.

We have seen ‘internet enabled devices’ grow in number and also in terms of their capability and resultant demand on your internet service.

For families today, everyone has a wireless device and people retreat to different corners of the house to watch a Netflix show or some other streaming application.  It was just a few years ago where streaming did not exist, so the online demand on internet services is many times greater than just a few years ago.

Another grand example is your TV.  There are 400,000 televisions sold in NZ annually and the large majority are now Smart TV’s which are internet enabled and connect to the internet rather than through an aerial on the roof.

We have seen the launch of 4K TV’s and more recently 8K TV’s.  This relates to the number of pixels displayed on the screen, with the 8K TV producing a deep rich picture for the user.   This extra capability places tremendous demand on the internet service.

The number of pixels presented and constantly refreshed on an 8K TV service is nearly 100 times that of an old traditional TV.

All TV manufacturers recommend Smart TV’s are connected to the internet through an Ethernet cable and not connected across a WI-FI service.

Often the issues with a poor user experience on a Smart TV is because of being connected to the internet through a WI-FI service.

The other issue can be where you have an ADSL internet service and the ADSL speed is not fast enough to support streaming on your TV.

This was highlighted very graphically during the Rugby World Cup.  In suburbs where UFB Fibre was not available, and all homes were connected using ADSL and there was a high demand of users, the average speed dropped to a point where they could not stream and the TV screen pixilated. This created immense frustration amongst rugby followers.  Netflix users similarly have complained of the same experience.

If you are experiencing issues, AB Electrical can help and develop a plan to get an Ethernet cable from your modem/router to the TV.

< Previous Article

Next Article: Impacts on ADSL/VDSL