My Ethernet is slower than my wifi. Should I still use it for audio streaming?

[davide256]

The main reason not to use wifi is that its subject to random electrical interference which means erratic performance for jitter during data transmission. In general

on any complex (full band/orchestra) recording you will want at least 48/24 quality of recording for best fidelity but on pop music (small ensemble) 44/16 will ususally

suffice

[davide256]

3 hours ago, ChrisFromDublin said:

Oh, I've read in the user manual for a streamer from a reputable electronics company that I MUST use Ethernet instead of Wifi. I never really understood why. 

Plain vanilla Ethernet is relatively immune to environment electrical interference that can degrade throughput and jitter. WiFi can be affected metal in your walls and electrical interference from other radio wave emitting devices. As long as you keep the transmission path clean for WiFi between you and your audio device all should be good. But as modern homes get congested by more and more WiFi devices the less predictable performance will be. For that reason keeping your streamer/NAS on an Ethernet switch off the router will avoid ghost problems when other members of the family are using wifi or gear that interferes with WiFi is operated.