Question:
802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
What's the difference between built-in 802.11b/g wireless and 802.11g Wireless without the "g" as part of the description?
thanks.
Answer:
Re: 802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
B will give you transfer rates at a max of 11 Mb/s. G gives you a max of 45 Mb/s. ALL the "g" equipment will fall back to "b" if it is connecting to a "b" only device. In other words, a "b" only device, if it connects to a "g" device can only give you a transfer rate of 11 Mb/s max.
But keep this in mind. If you are connecting via DSL to the internet, the "b" speed is more than adequate since the DSL connection is much slower than 11 Mb/s.
If you are connecting among devices on an internal network, then the connection speed will be that of the slower device. So if both computers have 'g' devices you can get transfer rates at the max. rated - 45 Mb/s
Oops ... yes ... it should be 54 Mb/s
Answer:
Re: 802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
G is 54mbps not 45mbps and yes, if you do have a certain internet that is over 11mbps then you do need a G wireless card. BUT! Make sure you have a router to handle all your computers besides the one. Your wireless card doesnt matter with the other computers. Just the router has to handle all the computers
Answer:
Re: 802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
Yup, both the above guys seem to have answered your question. My 2 cents is that you posted this in the wrong forum, so...away it goes (to the land of Wireless and Networking).
Answer:
Re: 802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
My 2 cents is that you posted this in the wrong forum, so...away it goes (to the land of Wireless and Networking).
My apologies. I've never owned a laptop before, and I've never used anything wireless before (except a phone). I obviously missed that forum. I'm new to these forums too.
I'm trying my best here, to find out answers to questions. Most of the stuff is so way over my head, so I appreciate it when someone can explain things on a simple level.
I guess my question really should hav been. I have a 802.11g Wireless on my laptop. Am I missing something by not having a b/g card?
Thanks everyone for the help!
Answer:
Re: 802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
Digicam,
Manufacturers pretty much have stopped the branding of their wireless products with the B symbol possibly for 2 reasons:
1. Putting the G only reduces some confusion some may have with the technology. With only G listed, people will know it's a G based WLAN card.
2. They don't want to associate the older technology with their products. Also, they assume everybody currently knows that G based products are backwards compatible with B.
I think I have answered your question with those 2 point above. The G card in your notebook is a B/G compatible card. You're not missing anything.
-Vb-
Answer:
Re: 802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
Thank you. A related question.
Sometimes when I'm in the area of a wireless hot spot, it connects and disconnects. Yet my son-in-laws new iBook stays connected at times when mine does not. He suggested I get an extra antenna but the folks at Best Buy told me it would do no good, that the "hot spot" needs to boost their signal at their end.
So, I didn't buy a antenna. Now I see that the new Averatec 3700 has a "
A built-in high-speed wireless LAN with dual-antenna." Is the "dual antenna" advertisng hype, or will it really extend the boost and range of the wireless LAN? And, if so, why wouldn't an extra antenna help my 3270?
thanks so much.
Answer:
Re: 802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
An extra antenna will help with signal strength by increasing the field of detection to give more coverage, but you can't add an additional one to your notebook since you're using the internal (built-in) wireless card.
There could be other reasons why you can't keep the connections:
1. Your settings for your wireless lan card are not optimized. You can try going into the properties of your Wireless card and see if it has any power settings or signal strength. You may want to set power management (for the card) to low/off and signal strength/power to maximum. You may also want to try changing your supported types to B only, B+G or G only. These features may help to be more compatible with the hotspots. Setting to B only should make it compatible with all hotspots, unless they made their router accept only G connections.
2. You may also want to try upgrading the drivers for your WLAN card. Do you know what brand it is? If it's Intel, goto the Intel site and download the lastest drivers for your card. The new Intel drivers are supposted to address some connectivity problems.
When you connect to a hotspot and stay connected, what is your connection strength? If it's low, what happens if you move around? If it gets stronger, it's possible you're out of range of the router (I think coverage area can be set on the router to either have a long or short signal) or it's just possible the reception on your notebook is a bit on the low side.
-Vb-
Answer:
Re: 802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
you should also clarify what you mean by "stays connected"
do you mean that you can connect, get onto the internet, and surf around, and then it dies?
or do you mean, that it sees the wireless network, but you can't actually connect to it?
if it's the former, then follow venombite's advice
if it's the latter, then it means the hotspot is probably one you have to pay to log onto
Answer:
Re: 802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless
1. Your settings for your wireless lan card are not optimized. You can try going into the properties of your Wireless card and see if it has any power settings or signal strength.
You mean go to the device manager to do this? If you mean to adjust things in the Advanced tab, I haven't the foggiest idea what any of that stuff is.
2. You may also want to try upgrading the drivers for your WLAN card.
Well, I tried to install the 3.0.4.0 driver as jcjam recommended in this thread:
http://www.averatecforums.com/showthread.php?t=2683
I installed the driver and it rendered my wireless system useless. I tried to rollback to the original driver, but that didn't work either. Thank goodness I didn't follow the "advice" about shutting off system restore to get a little more speed out of my laptop. I set a restore point prior to attempting to install the new driver and so I was able to restore my computer wirless connection to the original, working state. Thanfully, I'm back online.
@#$! I wish you didn't have to be a technical brain surgeon to do this stuff. It sucks!
When you connect to a hotspot and stay connected, what is your connection strength?
It's very good when I'm at home. The laptop is well within the range of the router any place in the house. But when we're at our vacation home, it's low or very low.
Forgive me for being so frustrated...I just am!! :mad: This is not to diminish my appreciation for everyones help.