There’s an entertaining and illuminating post over at Ars Technica that gets into the nitty-gritty of exactly why wi-fi connections are so slow and generally… crappy.

I manage wi-fi networks in my own home and for clients. But I barely use them myself, and then only for my mobile devices, and only for basic functions. I’ve long since given up on the idea of using wi-fi for the bulk of my networking needs. All of my personal and professional experience has shown that wi-fi is only useful in terms of convenience.

The Ars Technica writer who penned the post, Jim Salter, apparently feels the same way. But he goes a lot further, with clear explanations for the problems you deal with when using wi-fi. And he has some good advice: don’t use wi-fi unless you have to; the more you use it, the worse it performs.