How to determine compatible 802.11 modes?

maffrewmaffrew
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hey guys,



I have a 15" Powerbook G4 (1.25Ghz) and a 20" iMac G5 (1.8Ghz), and both have airport cards in them. Previously i was running an 802.11b wireless network, but i've got a new router and ideally i'd like to run in 802.11g.



However, in my ignorance, I have no idea whether the airport cards support 802.11g or just b. Besides running the network in g and seeing if they connect, is there any way to see which modes the cards are compatible with?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    project2501project2501 Posts: 433member
    Does it really matter, new routters propably can use mixed mode, where the fastest connection is used, whether it's g or b.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    maffrewmaffrew Posts: 166member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Project2501

    Does it really matter, new routters propably can use mixed mode, where the fastest connection is used, whether it's g or b.



    I've got it on G mode now, and they're both working fine.



    On mixed mode, i was under the impression that using mixed mode made it go down to the slowest, not the fastest? Like, you're only as fast as the slowest person.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    karl kuehnkarl kuehn Posts: 756member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Maffrew

    I've got it on G mode now, and they're both working fine.



    On mixed mode, i was under the impression that using mixed mode made it go down to the slowest, not the fastest? Like, you're only as fast as the slowest person.



    Both go at their own paces, but they are both speaking on the same frequency, so it is like two people talking at very different speeds, the slower one just absorbs a lot more time to say what they want to.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Karl Kuehn

    Both go at their own paces, but they are both speaking on the same frequency, so it is like two people talking at very different speeds, the slower one just absorbs a lot more time to say what they want to.



    This isn't true. If you run a router in mixed-mode and ALL clients are G, it'll run at very close to the full G-only speed. There is a bit of a performance overhead required to allow a B card to see the network. If a B-only device then joins the network, it will drop down to B-speed.



    As both your machines have 802.11g, Maffrew, it's best to leave the router in G-only mode.
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