G or b, what's the difference?

[ajbrun]

I'm going to try to connect 3 computers up, and buy a wireless router. Two of these computers will be connected through a wire, because they are close together. The other one is on a different floor, and might be better to go wireless. Which should I get - g, or b?

What's the difference, and which would suit me best and why?

Thanks

Also, does anyone know of a VERY cheap suitable one with a USB point for a modem?

[ajbrun]

I should probably mention that this will mainly be for internet sharing.

[unrealrocks]

From what Ive been told G is faster but lower range, B is slower but higher range.

[bsodmike]

G is 5 times faster than b @ 55mbps (that's mega bits per second) and b is 11mbps. Don't use WEP that eats up bandwidth, use WPA - more secure and not as much of a hog

I'd go for 802.11G as it is sort of future proof. (note: I said sort of!)

[unrealrocks]

You can get lots of different speeds G and B

B Normally comes in 11MBps and 22Mbps although you can get G 22MBps. G Normally comes in 55Mbps but the 108Mbps is comming in more now

[Howard]

B+ is 22MBps.

[Lexeus]

I'm going to try to connect 3 computers up, and buy a wireless router. Two of these computers will be connected through a wire, because they are close together. The other one is on a different floor, and might be better to go wireless. Which should I get - g, or b?

What's the difference, and which would suit me best and why?

Thanks

Also, does anyone know of a VERY cheap suitable one with a USB point for a modem?

As far as I understand there is no such thing as a router with a USB port for connecting a USB modem. USB modems have to be connected to a pc.

ebuyer is probably the best place to look, although there is about a £40 minimum for a wireless router

[Tifosi]

B is 11mb/s
B+ is 22mb/s
G is 54mb/s and does not come in a 22mb/s variant (although it is backwards compatible
G+ is 108mn/s
A is 54mb/s @ 5ghz

[Apex]

http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/hard...quicklinx=395k

all in one

[ajbrun]

As far as I understand there is no such thing as a router with a USB port for connecting a USB modem. USB modems have to be connected to a pc.

ebuyer is probably the best place to look, although there is about a £40 minimum for a wireless router

I did find one in ebuyer that had a modem connection via a USB (I think that's what it was for). It wasn't wireless, and only had 2 ports though. If you're interested, I think it can be found under the heading "usb modem routers", and it's the only one in that catergory.

[gamesaregood]

Although these speeds are meant to be good (Ie the 108mbps one SHOULD be faster than a 100mbps Wired LAN you would think)

Well shockingly ITS NOT FASTER it does not EVEN COMPARE.

I tested 108mbps wireless vs 100mbps wired LAN and here is what i found out.

70mb ish file:

13seconds over my works 100mbps wired LAN
1 Min 8seconds over the 108mbps (lol) wireless LAN.

Also please not the laptop which i was using to copy the files was about 0.5m from the access point.

To be honest any of them will share an internet connection at a fast enough rate.

[Paul Adams]

http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/Content/1130/06/2.html

Comparison Between Data Rate and Throughput (Including Simplex Versus Duplex Throughput)
There is a common misunderstanding regarding the bandwidth, the data rate, and the throughput of a wireless device:

* Bandwidth refers to the raw data rate of the device.
* Throughput refers to the actual amount of end user data that the device can transfer in a given time interval.

The result of this misunderstanding is that wireless network users are frequently disappointed in the wireless throughput (data transfer speeds) that they experience.

Understandably, wireless equipment manufacturers want their equipment to look as attractive as possible to potential buyers. For this reason, they usually use the raw data rate in their sales and advertising material. An 802.11b AP, for example, provides a raw data rate of 11 Mbps.

Wireless users have a different expectation; they are interested in how fast a web page or a file downloads. They are interested in the capability of the wireless device to deliver their data. When the wireless users’ 802.11b AP delivers just 5.5 Mbps of data throughput, they feel that there must be a problem with the equipment.

Most frequently, the real data throughput potential of a half-duplex wireless network is approximately 50 percent of the raw data rate. An 802.11b AP operating at the maximum 11-Mbps raw data rate has a maximum throughput potential of about 5.5 Mbps. This difference between raw data rate and actual throughput has several causes, including these:

* The framing and signaling overhead
* The half-duplex turnaround time between transmit and receive
* The lower efficiency inherent in the transmission of small packets

Collisions between wireless users and interference from other networks can reduce the throughput below 50 percent. Chapter 8, "Solving Noise and Interference Problems," discusses this issue in more detail.

Remember that your end users rely on you to set their throughput expectations realistically. When they measure their throughput and discover that it meets or slightly exceeds the throughput that you told them to expect, they will judge your wireless network performance to be good.

This concurs with my experience - "54Mbps" 802.11g WLANs typically have a data throughput around 26Mbps.
Also, 108Mbps is not a standard, they actually cheat by using emulating 2 connections simultaneously.

[Spud1]

to go back to your original question tho

B is old, outdated and slow [11m/s], avoid avoid avoid

G is the current fastest consumer wireless connection[54], and is what i reccomend

Both G and B are backwards compatable down to 1mb/s depending on the distance between computers.

B and G have no difference in their ranges, what makes a difference is the equipment. eg some manufactures have a better range

as a general guide:

Linksys are to be avoided, they sound good as its Ciscos budget arm but really they make shocking wireless kit

D-link are average and good if your on a budget

Netgear tend to be very user friendly and feature packed but they are normally expensive

Belkin are good all rounders, and my reccomendation

You will need a new adsl modem - tho you can get an all in one device that includes a modem, this is a good idea as is greatly simplifies the process of setting up the network

[ajbrun]

I don't think I'll be going for a wireless one now. Wired is much cheaper, and possible better. My dad says that I don't have any use for a router, and since I'm not into "proving people wrong", I'll see how it goes right now without a router, and if I still think that one is neccessary after a while, I'll get one.

[Apex]

don;t forget 802.11a (54mb)

[Butuz]

Which is expensive, and has poorer signal strength / distance in my experience than G.

Butuz