What's best - WiFi or Wired?

I'm sure this is an easy one for some folks out there but i thought i'd ask.
I was thinking hypothetically, if i was downloading a large file over the net, lets says a 3GB movie for arguments sake, would it download quicker onto my MacBook Pro if left on WiFi, or wired to a network port?
I understand that it depends on my ISP speeds too, but i thought WiFi only allowed 54mbps connection between router and laptop?

Others have explained why your ISP is probably the limiting factor in speed, but there are other factors which play into "best". Do you need to be mobile? If so, then wired is not a good choice, but you trade off something for that mobility. If you don't need to be mobile, then wired may be a better choice, as there are fewer things that can cause service interruption on a wired connection than on a wireless one. Some cordless phones, microwaves, etc can cause interference on the frequencies used by wifi, so you may drop your connection if you are using wifi and a source of interference happens along.
I have 802.11n, and gigabit ethernet in my house, but I only have a 6Mbps DSL line. I still tend to use wired service more because it gives me better performance between the other computers in my house which makes up close to 50-75% of my total network traffic. If I used the wifi, I could move around a bit easier, but accessing the large files on my server in the basement, or sharing pictures with my wife would be slower.

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