That old chestnut wired versus wireless xbox live

[#1]

Hi all
I play mw3 on xbox live via ethernet and have an open NAT with a good ping around 20.  I still lag though !
I was thinking about investing in a quality N router and wireless N adaptor ,  maybe something with
QOS / game fuel etc.  When I check my speeds both wireless and wired give the same results so on the face of it there
Is no difference and maybe upgrading would help
Any thoughts ideas would be appreciated
Thanks

[#2]

Lag on consoles you are pretty much dependent on the Host of the server you are in.  If they get host and then start streaming in the back ground to exploit skipping/stuttering in game that only you get to make you even easier to kill, block them and join another.  Having no dedicated servers, console lag will always be a pain as you are trusting who ever has host to Not cheat.
As for wired verses wifi, what ever works.  I can play MMO's on my laptop quite happily on wifi but not a FPS game, all that is needed is some interference to spoil a nights gaming.

[#3]

I recently switched from wireless to wired on the xbox.
Unfortunatley without being able to perform a pingtest/speedtest on the xbox itself i haven't got any hard data for any improvement. However i can say that streaming and downloading patches/dlc is faster. Lag in games seems to be less frequent, but with all P2P hosting there are occassions/host which always cause lag.
When playing MW3, where lag is most important, i find that majority of the games "feel" (by which people seem to die as i expect and my k/d is at it's normal) alright, but some hosts cause me lag, so i just quit and find a different game.
As for the searching for games (ie the <50ms, <75ms, <100ms lag on MW3) i tend to always get in <50ms games, which i think was not always the case on wireless.
So most noticable improvement was for streaming and dlc and a bit for the gaming.

[#4]

You probably know most of this but I'll type it out for less knowledgeable gamers.
I read somewhere on the Plusnet forum that games like Modern Warefare 3 and similar types of games will add artificial lag so that everyone has a similar experience and the person hosting the game doesn't have an advantage over everyone else.
If you're unfamiliar with how multiplayer games are networked on consoles, I'll briefly explain it. On Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii when a multiplayer match it made 1 of the players is chosen as the host and all other players connect to the host as a client. So you can imagine when the host shoots another player then it will definitely happen because what happens on the host's computer is reality for all the other players. On the other hand if another player tries shooting the host then it may not hit if the host has run off somewhere else between the time it takes for the data to travel from the client to the host. Host advantage was a huge problem in Gears of War 1.
You're probably wondering "why should I even pay for Xbox Live if they're going to network the games like this?" Well because its cheaper this way, how Microsoft spends your subscription fee I don't know. In PC gaming multiplayer it's almost always done on dedicated servers where everyone connects to a computer that is none of the players and has been set up specifically to host the game.
On Xbox the exception to this rule is Gear of War 3 (if you bought the DLC) and Battlefield 3 which use dedicated servers.
Anyway artificial lag is introduced to compensate for the host having too much advantage by giving everyone similar lag which is the case with MW3. So altough Plusnet are giving you good ping times you're only going to get the fastest artificial lag the game gives you. Had you played this on PC however then you'd be getting dedicated servers. You would think with all the money Activision makes with DLC and Elite subscriptions they could afford dedicated servers.

[#5]

I have a plain vanilla ADSLMax 20CN broadband with an average throughput of 6Mbs during the day and 3Mbs in the evening period and a ping of around 15ms.
I have wondered if a fibre connection (which is available to me) would give me an advantage in gaming but the answer would probably be no.
The PS3 is wired through a switch and homeplugs to the router.

[#6]

My rule of thumb after many years of troubleshooting networks is to wire everything unless there really is no other way. Wireless connections are just something else to go wrong, they increase overhead(ping) and have a lower throughput.
The giveaway should be the first thing you are asked when you have a network problem and phone for support - "Q - Are you using wireless?, A - Yes, Q - can you plug directly into the router please!"