Is the LAN Adapter worth it?

[Octagon]

I play on smash ladder regularly because its my prime practice when friends aren't over or not at a tournament, and even the most minimal of lag pisses me off. Is it worth it to purchase a LAN adapter to help with my connection or will i still face problems like frame or input lag?

 

[LancerStaff]

It depends on how good your internet is to begin with. If your internet is on the low end then chances are that you'll see a big difference (like myself), but if it's already great then you won't see much. Actually I've heard that using the adaptor can hurt your speed if it's fast enough, though I'm pretty sure that's only if it's ridiculously high to begin with.

On the one hand, it's probably not going to hurt. On the other, you can't really remove the lag entirely.

 

[pollo20x6]

It will almost always be better than wireless.

 

[MJH Genesis]

I have it and have noticed a different some matches are still laggy but most are pretty lag free for me now!

 

[GhostUrsa]

Is it worth the money? Yes. Is it necessary? That will depend on a number of factors like speed of internet access, the quality of your router, and the amount of wireless congestion where you live. I get good speeds but my router is a little old and my apartment has a lot of congestion, and the wired adapter removed packet loss and lowered the amount of variance my Wii U was suffering. This in turn made it so I can have a smoother online experience, as long as I am fighting someone within my region (I live in the us, so I have to avoid Canadian players on Smashladder as the I just don't have the quality to play well).

If you want to see if you need the adapter, I'd recommend downloading a wireless interference testing software (one that uses your computer's wifi card to see just how much is being broadcasted into the air) and also doing a speed test with your Wii U to determine how much loss and variance you are experiencing.