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I've always felt like Ethernet just made more sense for any device that stays in one place. And just like my gaming PC, my LG C8 OLED has been sitting in the exact same spot ever since I bought it seven years ago. Since I mainly used it to stream Netflix and other services in 4K, I assumed using Wi-Fi, especially when the router wasn't in the same room, would make buffering far more likely.
The mistake I made here was assuming the LAN port on my TV was just as good as the one on my PC or PS5. When I upgraded to a 500Mbps internet plan later on, I expected my TV to benefit from the extra bandwidth too. At one point, I ran a speed test comparing Ethernet and 5GHz Wi-Fi, and the results were the exact opposite of what I expected. Wi-Fi was not only significantly faster, but it also didn't cause any of the buffering issues I was worried about, even when I streamed Dolby Vision content.
Ethernet limited my speed
Because the LAN port caps out at 100Mbps
Most people who use the Ethernet port expect the best possible connection without wireless interference, and I was no different. The problem with using this port on my TV is that it doesn't even support Gigabit Ethernet. It's limited to 100Mbps, which means it could never take full advantage of my 500Mbps internet plan in the first place. Ironically, both my gaming PC and PS5 support Gigabit Ethernet despite being several years old, while my TV doesn't.
Now, you'd think that's because my LG C8 came out in 2018, but most newer TVs don't have Gigabit Ethernet ports either. Even high-end OLEDs that launched this year, like the LG G6 and Samsung S95H, still use Fast Ethernet, which tops out at 100Mbps. I get that TV manufacturers expect people to use Wi-Fi, but if they're going to include an Ethernet port at all, I don't see why it shouldn't be Gigabit. That got me curious enough to check the Wi-Fi specs on newer TVs, and I was surprised to find that most of them still don't support Wi-Fi 7.
4K streaming isn't all that demanding
Even 25Mbps is enough, and unlike gaming, it can buffer ahead
The fact that the latest TVs still use Wi-Fi 6E, even though Wi-Fi 7 has been around for over two years now, made me wonder why TV manufacturers aren't quick to implement the latest standard, unlike smartphone and laptop makers. Then it hit me that they probably don't have much reason to. Netflix, for instance, recommends 15Mbps or higher for 4K streaming, whereas Disney+ recommends 25Mbps. Even if you leave plenty of headroom for other devices on your network, you're still nowhere near the 100Mbps limit of your TV's Ethernet port.
On Wi-Fi, I get much higher speeds, especially when I'm connected to the 5GHz band, but here's the thing: I don't face any buffering issues even on the 2.4GHz band, where my speeds are usually lower than over Ethernet. The reason is that streaming services don't need a consistently high-speed connection. When you watch a show on Netflix, for example, it downloads parts of the episode ahead of time, so even if your speed fluctuates a bit, you're unlikely to notice anything because the video is already buffered. That's nothing like online gaming, where every input has to reach the server in real time.
Of course, Ethernet is objectively better
But it's overkill for what you watch on a TV
There's no doubt that Ethernet gives you the most reliable connection. That's why I still use it on my gaming PC, and I'd do the same for my PS5 if it were close enough to my router. When I'm using a wired connection, I know I'm getting the best possible latency for gaming. Also, it's nice not having to worry about signal strength, wireless interference, or walls and other obstacles between the router and my devices.
That said, I don't need the best possible connection when I'm on my TV. The only exception is when I'm playing online multiplayer titles on my PS5, but at that point, I'm not using my TV's Wi-Fi anyway. For streaming, I just need my Wi-Fi connection to be reliable enough to keep the video playing without interruptions. That has never been a problem for me, even when I'm on the 2.4GHz band. Using Ethernet for streaming video is pretty much overkill when even an outdated Wi-Fi standard handles 4K content just fine. Sure, that might change if I ever get an 8K TV down the line, but manufacturers don't seem to be pushing 8K anymore.
Don't give up convenience like I did
It's really not worth sacrificing convenience for something you won't notice while watching TV. Just because it's sitting there in one spot doesn't mean you have to run an Ethernet cable to it. Wi-Fi is already fast and reliable enough to stream 4K content without buffering. If anything, you could be limiting your speed by using that outdated LAN port on your TV. At this point, I'd rather keep my TV stand clean until I actually need to prioritize latency while gaming on my PS5. When that time comes, I'll just use the Gigabit Ethernet port on the console.
