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  • From: Sil Greene <quack AT ibiblio.org>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [internetworkers] 802-11b v. 802-11g?
  • Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 01:13:50 -0500 (EST)


from Tony Spencer:

Isn't there a serious degradation in range when you upgrade to g? This is
the only reason I have stuck with b.



in my experience, this is only when using the faster transfer rates of 802.11g. if you're out of the range of the faster g rates, they'll drop down to the lower b rates. remember, b defines rates between 1 and 11 Mbps... g extends that by adding rates up to 54 Mbps (and beyond for Super-G stuff, which is basically a vendor lock-in tech -- i haven't heard of any faster-than-54 wi-fi that doesn't require cards and access points from the same vendor).

much like a pair of dialup modems, or a 10/100 ethernet switch, your wireless card and access point negotiate the best possible rate when they first meet (think handshake signals, or protocol negotiation). not only do they determine whether b/g is supported, but they also figure out which rate works best, depending on how strong a signal they're getting. how far away you are is part of, though not all of, this equation. the range of a given access point's 802.11b 1-Mbps service should conform to the 802.11b spec, but this range is probably greater than the range on 802.11b 11-Mbps service, which is greater still than 802.11g 54-Mbps service.

--sil




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