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IPad connected to a Ethernet cable

Wednesday 18 January 2022


Good Day Everyone!


My name is David O’Brien. the purpose of this posting is that I have a question about my iPad and it’s capabilities. I have a iPad Pro 12.9” 5th generation device. The model number is the following: MHP13LL/A. The iOS the iPad is currently running on is, 16.2.


Last night I tried attaching my CAT 8e networking cable to the iPad using the Belkin’s USB - C to Ethernet Adaptor. At the time of me doing this I was in the “settings’ of the iPad and saw “Ethernet” appear on the settings sections. I have a few questions about this that I will ask in there own individual paragraphs. My CAT - 8e is plugged into my router.


The first question I have is the following. What are the pro and cons of having a Ethernet cable plugged into an iPad?


Is video playback quality when streaming from the internet better because of the faster download speed when connected by cable?


Finally, what other tasks can be accomplished with having an Ethernet cable attached to an iPad regardless of the Category rating?


Thank you,


David O’Brien

iPad Pro, iPadOS 16

Posted on Jan 18, 2023 8:57 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 18, 2023 9:06 AM

Good day David,


sshd-keygen-wrapper wrote:
ednesday 18 January 2022

Good Day Everyone!

The first question I have is the following. What are the pro and cons of having a Ethernet cable plugged into an iPad?

No real cons. Other than being tied to a cable rather than being wireless.

Is video playback quality when streaming from the internet better because of the faster download speed when connected by cable?

It can be, depending on the quality of the video you are watching, and wether the wired connection is indeed providing a faster connection than wi-fi. You can use the speedtest app to get the internet speeds in both cases.

Finally, what other tasks can be accomplished with having an Ethernet cable attached to an iPad regardless of the Category rating?

Nothing that can't also be done using Wi-Fi. Ethernet just offers a different way to connect to the internet, which can be faster and more stable than Wi-Fi, but does not do anything Wi-Fi can't also do.


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 18, 2023 9:06 AM in response to sshd-keygen-wrapper

Good day David,


sshd-keygen-wrapper wrote:
ednesday 18 January 2022

Good Day Everyone!

The first question I have is the following. What are the pro and cons of having a Ethernet cable plugged into an iPad?

No real cons. Other than being tied to a cable rather than being wireless.

Is video playback quality when streaming from the internet better because of the faster download speed when connected by cable?

It can be, depending on the quality of the video you are watching, and wether the wired connection is indeed providing a faster connection than wi-fi. You can use the speedtest app to get the internet speeds in both cases.

Finally, what other tasks can be accomplished with having an Ethernet cable attached to an iPad regardless of the Category rating?

Nothing that can't also be done using Wi-Fi. Ethernet just offers a different way to connect to the internet, which can be faster and more stable than Wi-Fi, but does not do anything Wi-Fi can't also do.


Jan 18, 2023 9:38 AM in response to sshd-keygen-wrapper

Using a cabled Ethernet connection will theoretically benefit from faster network throughput. WiFi is shared media - the available bandwidth being shared by all devices that are using the same WiFi network segment. By contrast, the entire available bandwidth (potentially Gigabit) of the Ethernet connection is available to the iPad.


The Ethernet connection also removes all the variability associated with a WiFi (radio) connection - such as RF interference, reduced throughput due to retransmission, co-channel interference etc.


The disadvantage of a wired Ethernet connection is the cable-tether - reducing portability.


IPad connected to a Ethernet cable

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