Is a Windows Android drive letter inherently faster/slower than USB copies?

I explained to some friends that I use webdav servers to mount Android file
systems onto Windows as a "drive letter" over Wi-Fi, while they instead use
USB cable to connect Android file systems to Windows as a "network drive".

a. Drive Letter (over Wi-Fi)
b. Network Drive (over USB)

They need to make backups of a dozen or more Android phones, where they
asked me which is faster - the Wi-Fi drive letter or the USB connection.

I don't know.
They're both fast enough for me.

Is there any inherent reason why one would be faster/slower than the other?

On 02/09/2022 09:31, Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Is a Windows Android drive letter inherently faster/slower than USB copies?
>
> I explained to some friends that I use webdav servers to mount Android file
> systems onto Windows as a "drive letter" over Wi-Fi, while they instead use
> USB cable to connect Android file systems to Windows as a "network drive".
>
> a. Drive Letter (over Wi-Fi) b. Network Drive (over USB)
>
> They need to make backups of a dozen or more Android phones, where they
> asked me which is faster - the Wi-Fi drive letter or the USB connection.
>
> I don't know. They're both fast enough for me.
>
> Is there any inherent reason why one would be faster/slower than the other?

Presume the USB connection is USB2.0? therefore theoretical max of 480Mbps, but
in practice nowhere near that

What spec of WiFi? 802.11ac especially with MIMO could beat USB if the files are
large (rather than a large number of tiny files) but 802.11n might struggle?

On 9/2/2022 3:39 AM, Andy Burns wrote:

<snip>

> What spec of WiFi? 802.11ac especially with MIMO could beat USB if the
> files are large (rather than a large number of tiny files) but 802.11n
> might struggle?

I like the convenience of a drive letter, but I suspect that the speed
difference, if any, would be small.

I go into this in #106a on page 47 of the document
<https://tinyurl.com/iOS-Android-Features>. Unfortunately, this
capability is not possible with iPhones, at least not unless you jailbreak.

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Off the top of my head, the only two methods which result in a Windows
> drive letter are WebDAV and FTPuse, where Frank turned me on to FTPUse.
> <https://www.ferrobackup.com/map-ftp-as-disk.html>

I should clarify that I was saying there are only two _free_ solutions
which created that all-important drive letter of the entire Android phone.

If you look in my tutorials, I tested a bunch of payware solutions which
did the same thing, such as MTPDrive payware (which works rather well).

Given we've tested every suggestion, the solutions should be in these...

Tutorial: Mounting smartphone sdcard & external sdcard onto Windows over Wi-Fi as a driver letter using only a free, ad-free Android WebDAV server
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware/c/EaxzIkCT2pM/m/7jxxMyoUBQAJ>
Does freeware exist on Windows that will mount (as a drive letter) Android connected via USB as MTP?
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware/c/TaIlIMK2Nuw/m/gRKx5eGKAwAJ>
Tutorial to run any Windows command directly on Android over either USB or Wi-Fi
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/JrWLPRYO-TU>
Tutorial: How to connect Android to Windows as a drive letter over a Wi-Fi LAN for free simple reliable bidirectional copy
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware/c/PkJ3nV4OnCY/m/UvvWahlyDwAJ>
What's the best way to forward SMB TCP port 445 to something higher than 1024 on Windows?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/BLhcFy2lpjw>
Does freeware exist on Windows that will mount (as a drive letter) Android connected via USB as MTP?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/TaIlIMK2Nuw>
Non-root Android SMB/CIFs Samba server set to communicate on TCP ports higher than 1024
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/CZolwHVb0-c>
Do these 3 WiFi tests of a network location to a drive letter mapping work for you on Android 7.0 Nougat & Windows 10 using only freeware?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/9Ovk-O3j5l8>
How can we get two drivers to co-exist in the device manager for the same Android phone?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/SHR2YmpfVwo>
How do you copy photos over USB from Android to Windows?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/X9sUE-ATG94>
Simultaneously slide Windows Linux iOS Android files back and forth over USB at 7GB per minute speeds using 100% native devices (no proprietary software needed)
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/WohhLOTCYKw%5B1-25%5D>
What's the best way to forward SMB TCP port 445 to something higher than 1024 on Windows?
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/3QQ8bAZeXNI>
Tutorial to run any Windows command directly on Android over either USB or Wi-Fi
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/JrWLPRYO-TU>
Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.os.linux/c/oOfdMLmJ-oQ/m/jh_1DwTOBgAJ>
Do these 3 WiFi tests of a network location to a drive letter mapping work for you on Android 7.0 Nougat & Windows 10 using only freeware?
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware/c/9Ovk-O3j5l8/m/8x3nv1HgAAAJ>
Listing all unique installed app names (system + user installed) on Android from Windows, over USB
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware/c/H7QcSIXIdNw/m/N8bxGMraCQAJ>
KDE Connect is a keeper for sending & receiving files over your Wi-Fi LAN to/from any desktop to/from any Android phone!
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware/c/VJuH89KYxgA/m/44iIRYPqBAAJ>
Tutorial NitroShare FOSS cross-platform file & folder transfer over Wi-Fi between any desktop & Android
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware/c/Cq00leHKsvQ/m/NwZFPOEXBQAJ>