What's the difference b/w 802.11b and 802.11g?
I'm trying to set up our wireless network at home and I was wondering if there's any other difference than speed. Also, I heard somewhere that cable modems arn't fast enough to take advantage of 802.11g. What am I better off getting?
Also, what's the difference between a "wireless router" and a "wireless access point"? I bought a Linksys router at first and it didn't work. Our neighbors have a wireless access point and everything works. What's the real difference?
Also, what's the difference between a "wireless router" and a "wireless access point"? I bought a Linksys router at first and it didn't work. Our neighbors have a wireless access point and everything works. What's the real difference?
Comments
Originally posted by MacUsers
Ya, 802.11b (AirPort) is really slow compared to 802.11g (Airport Extreme)
Yeah, but can my cable modem take advantage of it?
Originally posted by dferigmu
Yeah, but can my cable modem take advantage of it?
It shouldn't really make a difference for surfing the internet unless your cable connection is REALLY fast. It is unlikely you can get more than 2Mbit/sec download from the internet, so the standard 11Mbit/sec of airport should be fine.
The 802.11G's 54mbps is really useful if you are transferring large files between computers on a local network, or maybe sharing an itunes library, or different local things, not internet things. basically, 802.11G allows wireless to be a viable replacement for local wired networks, that have been running at 100Mbps or higher for quite a long while.
Originally posted by progmac
It shouldn't really make a difference for surfing the internet unless your cable connection is REALLY fast. It is unlikely you can get more than 2Mbit/sec download from the internet, so the standard 11Mbit/sec of airport should be fine.
That's probably true, but remember that 11Mbit/sec is a theoretical, best-case speed. Much of that maximum bandwidth is consumed by overhead or never achieved in the first place -- 802.11 can fall back to slower speeds, such as 2 or 5 Mbit/sec.
A real-world example: I can stream redbook audio (AIFF files via iTunes sharing) using 802.11g, but 802.11b doesn't cut it. Theoretically, 802.11b should be able to handle 1.4Mbps, right? Unless you need a very inexpensive solution, dferigmu, I would opt for 802.11g.
I was pleasantly astounded at how nice and zippy the whole thing was! Add to the fact that I didn't have to putz around with any cables just made it that much cooler.
just didn't want people to think they wouldn't be able to get wireless service for the same range if they get 802.11g.
Originally posted by alcimedes
802.11g has the same range as 802.11b, only the problem is the 54Mbit part has a shorter range. then it just kicks over to 802.11b speeds.
just didn't want people to think they wouldn't be able to get wireless service for the same range if they get 802.11g.
But it doesn't. In real life when an 802.11g device is working in extended range, performance degrades dramatically, much worse than 802.11b speeds.
Try it anywhere. I'm using my basestation in B-only mode because of this. Eventually I'm going to buy a 100 mW amp or more access points to use in a WDS set-up. I just haven't decided. The amp might not do much since the receivers need to be powered too.
Basically, I need to send an internet signal from our PC to 2 Macs and an Xbox. I have had bad experiences with Linksys products, and D-Link has a Mac page on their site so I think I will go D-Link.
To be able to send to internet to those three places, I need an ethernet bridge and what else: what's the difference b/w a wireless router and an access point? Which one do I need?
Originally posted by dferigmu
Ok, so I'll go with 802.11g.
Basically, I need to send an internet signal from our PC to 2 Macs and an Xbox. I have had bad experiences with Linksys products, and D-Link has a Mac page on their site so I think I will go D-Link.
To be able to send to internet to those three places, I need an ethernet bridge and what else: what's the difference b/w a wireless router and an access point? Which one do I need?
simply put:
router = share one IP amongst many devices
access point = make ethernet traffic wireless
It sounds like you need both, so go for the combined router/access point.
Originally posted by Eugene
But it doesn't. In real life when an 802.11g device is working in extended range, performance degrades dramatically, much worse than 802.11b speeds.
Try it anywhere. I'm using my basestation in B-only mode because of this. Eventually I'm going to buy a 100 mW amp or more access points to use in a WDS set-up. I just haven't decided. The amp might not do much since the receivers need to be powered too.
Nah. Just get some good DSP circuits on the receiver end and a big ass antenna.
I just got an 802.11g basestation for the simple reason that I have B devices far away and a g device in the same room. Seems to work OK. Anyway, 802.11a/5.2 Ghz is the real lame-duck. It's very fast, but the unlicensed ISM band has a ceiling for radiation power, and as you may know, higher frequency = more radiation energy required.
I'm not sure of the modulation techniques used in g vs b, though there is this "Use Interference robustness" option on my sister's aluminum powerbook that has something to do with the Airport extreme card in there. Let me know if any of you have seen results from playing with that.