Is it worth getting the official Wii/Wii U Ethernet Adapter?

[R0Y]

I'm heard nothing but bad things about the Ethernet adapters, after all, any USB to Ethernet adapter is theoretically compatible. Someone's telling me they use the official one without problems. Buying the official one is something which I doubt most people did, going with the cheaper option designed for any USB 2.0 port (Wii and Wii U branding on those 3rd party products is definitely just an attempt to charge you more.) Some of them seem to drop out sometimes, etc. Few people actually bought the official adapter it seems.

https://store.nintendo.com/webapp/w...atalogId=10001&storeId=10001&categoryId=62707

As someone who likes to plug the internet pipe into their consoles just for the consistency and reliability of Ethernet over a twisted pair phone-esque plug and my having very spotty Wi-Fi, would it be worth getting the official adapter? Seeing what others have said about adapters in general, the Wii and Wii U seem to have odd problems with the unofficial ones at any rate.

Also, almost everyone I Smash with will be using potentially bad Wi-Fi connections anyway.

A gigabit Ethernet port like the competition (Okay, 360 was 100 Mbit, but that was 2005..and it had no built-in Wi-Fi until 2010) obviously would have been preferred but Nintendo's never going to start at this point with Wi-Fi being so pervasive.

 

[smashbro29]

Frankly I won't play with anyone who doesn't use one.

 

[Cap'nChreest]

What does it do?

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

As this thread has more to do with a Wii U accessory and less about Smash, I am moving this to the NintenZone.

 

[Bassoonist]

I have a third party brand one (I think the brand says it's "Komodo"? (Can't really tell, the logo is kind of weird. lol).

It has worked perfectly ever since I've gotten it. Never had a single problem.

 

[R0Y]

What does it do?

Theoretically any compatible USB to Ethernet adapter should lack the necessary error correction of Wi-Fi and not be prone to interference, while at the same time, being theoretically and often in practice more consistent than Wi-Fi because of the direct connection. It CAN also be slightly faster per average second even ignoring Wi-Fi wait times.

Basically, your internet connection travelling over what is almost exactly an old modem connection is the way to go. It may seem counter-intuitive to some but a sizable minority of Sony and Microsoft owners must use it because almost everyone has Wi-Fi now yet both their next-gen consoles have Gigabit Ethernet (I use my PS4's.)

Quick thing about Gigabit Ethernet, it's a nice future-proofer that costs almost nothing, but 99+ percent of people on Earth don't have the fiber-optic connection required to take advantage of it right now. However, a disproportionate amount of the people who do are potential consumers and it's still useful and backwards compatible with much slower internet connections for everyone else.

I have a third party brand one (I think the brand says it's "Komodo"? (Can't really tell, the logo is kind of weird. lol).

It has worked perfectly ever since I've gotten it. Never had a single problem.

You're one of the lucky ones, many of the third party ones drop out, possibly lock at 10 Mbit/s, or are generally an issue of some kind. I say this understanding that the official one is overpriced.

 

[Bassoonist]

You're one of the lucky ones, many of the third party ones drop out, possibly lock at 10 Mbit/s, or are generally an issue of some kind. I say this understanding that the official one is overpriced.

Well, 'official' doesn't mean it will work either.

All I can do is think of that accursed Nintendo Wi-FI USB Adapter (dongle). Of the four PC's I have used (two of them laptops) I have used within the last six years, the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Adapter only worked on one of them. And wouldn't you know, that was a laptop that was disastrous and generally useless for everything but that, and died completely in 2009.

That's a bit off-topic, though. I apologize. I just think it's best to find a wireless router that will work with systems because the alternatives are generally a disaster (and even though my LAN adapter works like a charm, it, of course, can't connect by 3DS to the internet).

 

[R0Y]

Looks like they were all bad and can make speeds worse...until a recent update fixed it?

So the problems early on have been fixed?

Should have had an ethernet port built in like other consoles, I'll just stick to Wi-Fi. It's not bad since the Wii U is so close by and I don't want to buy an adapter anyway.

 

[Tornado_Man]

My internet is fine, so I personally see no need for an adapter.