Topic: wireless LANs - 80.11b vs. 802.11g

[nickgregory]

OK, I am looking to get a wireless router for my house and wireless cards for my wife and my laptops.  Basic reason for doing this is so that when she and I both work from home that we can set up in different rooms and still access the network.  I plan on keeping my desktop hard wired into the router.  Only other thing is that both the 802.11b and g cards will work in our hot spots that exist at work as well.

As a result, I pose the question to you all, any thoughts on b vs. g?  I know that g is faster, but other than that, I am not sure I see much of a difference.  In addition, for what we would be using the network for, email transfer and typical work functions, I am not sure the speed is that significant an upgrade.  That being said though, I am also concerned with the "reach" of one vs. the other....

Just looking for thoughts...any and all input appreciated.

[ethan]

If all you're doing is surfing 802.11b is fine and cheaper...however if you're moving files around between machines in your  home 802.11g is much better. I have a wrt54g from linksys. I can transfer between machines at about 2 MB/s in g mode and only get about 500-600 KB/s in b mode. g also has better range.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

get a G network.  You may not think you need the bandwidth now, but once you have it, you'll grow into it.

[Diggin]

if you aren't going to be sharing between two or more computers B is the way to go since you save money.
if you need more range G is the way to go

that is about it, speed and distance


remember, you are only as fast as your internet connection

[grayp]

yeah, i'd say go with g esp if you plan on copying files across the network.   surfing shouldn't make a difference.  we've got a linksys g router with the desktop hard wired.   my wife's ibook has a b airport card as does my work laptop.  my personal laptop has g and it gets a much better reception from remote places in the house.  might be imagining things but i think the reliability with the connection is better with g.

gray

[wboswell]

I have 'g' at work and 'b' at home and there is a noticeable difference, though nothing substantial.  I haven't tested the 'reach' very much, but at the 'g' at my office gets 'excellent' signal strength, 100' from the access point.  At home, I am never more than 30-45' from the router and I get either 'excellent' or 'very good' signal strength.  Not sure if there is a difference between the access point vs. the router, but the 'g' access point always gives me 'excellent'.

[Chris K]

nick...

i am in the same boat. wanna keep my main desktop on the hard router, and have a few laptops on wireless. i was talking with the IT guys here at work, and they said i could get a wireless g access point, which basically plugs into the hardwired router to allow for wireless use....but they said, and i investigated and found to be true, that these access points cost about the same as a new wireless router.

the IT guys went on to say that most newed wireless routers also have rj45 jacks on them for existing/hardwired computers

i think i am going to buy a wireless router (possibly linksys), and sell my hardwired router

[Kevin Straker]

These two standards operate at the same frequency, 2.4 gHz. By virtue of their operating frequency they should have the same range and speed. The g router is faster because the packet size has been altered. A little basic physics: Frequency and wavelength are inversely proportional. Bandwidth (speed) is a product of the frequency. The distance travelled is related to the wavelength. As you increase the speed, you also decrease the distance the signal will travel. Think of how far a 900mhZ phone will reach vs. a 5Ghz. In short, get the G router. It's faster, and will be able to work with your existing B  components.

[nickgregory]

good advice, thanks all...+T, I think I am going to get the g router/cards, strictly because as someone pointed out earlier...I can see myself growing into the bandwidth, whereas with b, I would have to start over when I get there...

[johnw]

I personally have a microsoft "B" router (MN-500) and a Dell "B" card that I bought for my Comapaq laptop. I don't know how much of this applies if you decide to go with "G", but perhaps the same holds true. I bought the MS router because it was cheap and the card because it is apparently a rebadged Orinoco Gold which sells for about 2X the price. The card uses 5V instead of 3.5V and is a bigger drain on the battery, but has a much better range than the Belkin card I started with. The router was easy to install but had two major problems: it quickly dropped wireless connections and it is a PAIN IN THE ASS for setting up bit torrent. Customer support is limited to a room of underpaid people in India who have no background in IT. I managed to fix the dropping thing by telling the router to never check for connections or refresh anything and to disable authentication on the card. I'm still not sure I have opened a port in the firewall for BT as the shadow client gives me the yellow light, but I get reasonable speeds sometimes and the bt server doesn't show me as firewalled.

[Cooker]

i'd recommend the netgear G card and router. we have a mix and match of access points and cards here, and the netgear seems to outperform the linksys.  
we have netgear stuff at home, and the main problem i have with the netgear stuff is the win2K drivers that ship with the WG511 card are weak, they lose the connection weekly...   but the updated drivers on their site rock and we've had my wife's laptop on the network for months since upgrading the drivers.

[gewwang]

Nick, you used the linksys WAP54G at my house 2 weeks ago. It's okay but admittedly was didn't work well thru walls in my old house.

If you go with the netgear, from techbargains.com:

Netgear Firewall Router $52, May 18
Sale. Amazon has the Netgear WGT624 802.11G 108 Mbps Super G Wireless Firewall Router for a low $52.74 after rebate, free shipping. Over 10 security and privacy features including Double Firewall (SPI & NAT)

It works with any 802.11b/g card but the Netgear WG511T 802.11g 108Mbps PC Card makes it work extra fast. eBuyer has this card on sale for only $38.27 after $10 rebate. $61 at Amazon.

$25 rebate Exp 6/30/04  

[rabhan]

go with netgear, the firmware is better than linksys's.....if you get the linksys, you'd have to strip the firmware, not that bad since it is open-source, but just get the netgear bc it is cheaper out of the box and ready to go at it's full potential.

[Skydogj]

I had linksys for 2 years, and it up and died on me.
I got Netgear and the signal is much much stronger

but what I want to know is....does this thing really get a signal up to a mile away

http://www.globalcomputer.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=95380&sku=P999-1002




or the laptop version
http://www.globalcomputer.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=683665&sku=P999-1000

[Lee]

ditto what Jon (and others) said.  I owned two linksys b routers that they refused to support or warranty.  Thankfully MC picked up their slack.

Once I bought the netgear, I never looked back.  Soooo much easier to use, and it's a helluva lot smaller.  The only thing the linksys does better is with the diversity antennae array vs. the single whip on the netgear.