The old rule was simple: never game on Wi-Fi. Wired Ethernet or nothing. That rule was written when Wi-Fi meant 802.11n and everyone shared a single 2.4 GHz channel with the neighbors' baby monitors. In 2026, the answer is more nuanced.
Modern Wi-Fi 6 and 6E routers are genuinely competitive with Ethernet for most casual and even mid-tier competitive players. They add only a few milliseconds of latency in ideal conditions and handle household congestion much better than older standards. The catch is that word — ideal. You need a modern router, a modern device with a matching Wi-Fi radio, a clean 5 GHz or 6 GHz channel, and no walls between you and the access point.
The moment any of those conditions slips, Ethernet reasserts its lead. If you are placing top-ten in a tournament, you plug in. If you are climbing ladder in a fighting game, you plug in. For everything else, a good Wi-Fi 6 setup is honest competition. For a fuller picture of when Wi-Fi is fine and when you should absolutely wire in, check out the ExpressVPN guide on internet speed for gaming.
