Roku Player has faster connection with my WiFi vs ethernet connection

[alarmguy]

Curious as to why?
For over a decade we used our Roku players on WiFi, never an issue and still is not.
However for the fun of it I thought I would make use of the in the wall installed builder supplied ethernet port to see if there was any difference in speed.

The measured WiFi speed from the device is 180 Mbps today and depending will go as high as 251.

Anyway, for the first time in my life I hooked up a Roku player to the ethernet port on my router and the speed is half at 91 Mbps.
Either way it doesnt matter much but I expected the ethernet speed to be at my connection speed of 300 Mbps. Why is it only 91 Mbps?

The wiring behind the wall is Cat 6 and the patch cables I am using, although older looking but never used at Cat 5e

Anyone have any thoughts?
I can also get Wifi Speeds in my house at the paid for speed of 300 Mbps on my Mac laptop, give or take 20.
Why on the Roku player that I get 180 Wifi speed am I getting 91 on ethernet?

 

[BrendanC]

10/100 NIC on the roku. same thing with most roku TV’s. i’d still keep it wired, it’ll be more consistent.

 

[mk378]

It is linked at Fast Ethernet speed of 100 Mb, which results in a usable throughput of 94 Mb maximum. It is likely that the port in the Roku is not gigabit. 91 Mb is plenty fast to stream a single program.

 

[tmorris1]

Exactly what BrendanC said. Other than using a local Plex server there is nothing that will max out the 100mbps ethernet in real use.

 

[alarmguy]

10/100 NIC on the roku. same thing with most roku TV’s. i’d still keep it wired, it’ll be more consistent.

Thank you for the fast response! It was driving me nuts. I was wondering about that. I didnt know if it was in my head or not (most likely in my head) but I certainly didnt notice any penalty and I dont know, when clicking from App to app I was wondering if the ethernet felt more snappy.

I know anything we stream can not use anything near the 91 Mbps speed anyway, correct?
Im asking because the connection is there and I do really want to use it.

Anyway you guys are great, including @tmorris1 thank you. Once you mention it, I do remember at various times in my life seeing the speed of the ports on devices but never paid attention because I always used WiFi.

 

[BrendanC]

Thank you for the fast response! It was driving me nuts. I was wondering about that. I didnt know if it was in my head or not (most likely in my head) but I certainly didnt notice any penalty and I dont know, when clicking from App to app I was wondering if the ethernet felt more snappy.

I know anything we stream can not use anything near the 91 Mbps speed anyway, correct?
Im asking because the connection is there and I do really want to use it.

correct, even the 4K HDR files i stream from plex top out at 40-45 mb/s. there is virtually zero latency addition with a wire versus wifi that can add late cy overtop your ISP.

 

[alarmguy]

correct, even the 4K HDR files i stream from plex top out at 40-45 mb/s. there is virtually zero latency addition with a wire versus wifi that can add late cy overtop your ISP.

Awesome, thank you again. Good to know, leaving the ethernet hooked up.

We have another computer hooked up to a port on the router through a power line adapter. It's my wife's company provided workstation. They dont allow wifi and years back they sent her the power line adapter which works fine for her use. Actually I am surprised how reliable, it's a Basic Netgear. I could run a cable in this new house because our network box is actually on the other side of the wall where her work station is. Last house wasnt possible but it works, and they are the ones that provided it.

Other than that, we have a lot of stuff on the WiFi network.

 

[Wheel366]

Awesome, thank you again. Good to know, leaving the ethernet hooked up.

We have another computer hooked up to a port on the router through a power line adapter. It's my wife's company provided workstation. They dont allow wifi and years back they sent her the power line adapter which works fine for her use. Actually I am surprised how reliable, it's a Basic Netgear. I could run a cable in this new house because our network box is actually on the other side of the wall where her work station is. Last house wasnt possible but it works, and they are the ones that provided it.

Other than that, we have a lot of stuff on the WiFi network.

I have a few of those powerline ethernet adapters and I had them running at one point. I may add one back if/when I hardwire a camera in my house but as of now, I have an Asus AI Mesh setup which has the backhaul wired via 2.5GB. I can wire anything where I have the nodes but I don't have any ethernet connections on my first floor.

The powerline ethernet adapters did exactly what I needed with enough speed though depending on where they were plugged in, speed was a few hundred Mb or closer to 30Mb. I read somewhere that if the one outlet is on a different side of the box compared to the other, speeds will be slower. Not sure if that is true or not; just something I read.

 

[alarmguy]

I have a few of those powerline ethernet adapters and I had them running at one point. I may add one back if/when I hardwire a camera in my house but as of now, I have an Asus AI Mesh setup which has the backhaul wired via 2.5GB. I can wire anything where I have the nodes but I don't have any ethernet connections on my first floor.

The powerline ethernet adapters did exactly what I needed with enough speed though depending on where they were plugged in, speed was a few hundred Mb or closer to 30Mb. I read somewhere that if the one outlet is on a different side of the box compared to the other, speeds will be slower. Not sure if that is true or not; just something I read.

Yes, powerline adapters can be finicky, same 110v line is desired and distance can be an issue but never had a problem in our personal situations.
We did have problems in the security business side using them at times, we would chose them when a customers router was at one end of the home but had a camera at the other end of a long ranch. Most times it worked but others were a PITA with service calls. However with that said, that was now a while ago, been out of that business and retired about 6 years. New stuff is better, still doesnt change limitations too much I guess but still better.

 

[CharlieBauer]

Other than that, we have a lot of stuff on the WiFi network.

Another reason to use ethernet whenever possible.

And don't forget that with ethernet, you can install Access Points / Mesh with wired backhaul to improve your wifi coverage.

 

[eljefino]

Using ethernet will take a load off your wifi, improving its performance for the other stuff you still use it for.

I've had bad luck with smart TVs being hardwired, they just glitch out more. My problem, not the networks, though.

 

[alarmguy]

Using ethernet will take a load off your wifi, improving its performance for the other stuff you still use it for.

I've had bad luck with smart TVs being hardwired, they just glitch out more. My problem, not the networks, though.

Interesting, as crazy as it sounds I dont hook my TVs up to the internet. Once in a great while, like every couple years incase there is a good firmware update, then disconnect. We solely use Roku players. At the last house, until we moved, we had 5 Roku players and it made things simple as all TVs operated the same way and for each individual saved programs no matter what room we were in. More or less it wasn't dependent on the TV hardware, all TVs used the same streaming device.

 

[tmorris1]

FWIW a new Roku Ultra was just released. It doesn't look much different than the previous version other that adding WIFI 6 and the new backlit remote. Still a 100mbos ethernet port.

 

[alarmguy]

FWIW a new Roku Ultra was just released. It doesn't look much different than the previous version other that adding WIFI 6 and the new backlit remote. Still a 100mbos ethernet port.

I got annoyed at the last Ultra. Maybe I am different but wife feels the same. The new remote has non replaceable rechargeable battery. Darn thing has to be recharged a couple times a year now. When it took regular batteries all we would have to do is replace the two of them every 2 years or so.
Actually you just reminded me. I saw the low battery on the screen last night.

Thanks for the info on the port. I guess fair to say current programming will never need anything close to requiring 100 Mbps.
I left the ethernet connected to the Roku, no longer using WiFi with it. Appreciate everyone's fast response on this!

*LOL* as funny as this may sound, I really wanted to use that port. Long story short, moved into a new house last year and they forgot to install the network cables for the main room next to the tech tube which the TV is mounted over the fireplace. Had them come back, took him a while up in the attic. Never thought I would use it but it was supposed to be there, also missing was a standard Coax connection which was done all on the same wall plate. Didnt need that either since we stream everything. Now I feel good using the network cable though!