(vanity) Thinking of upgrading 802.11b wireless home network to -g. FReepers' opinions sought

5/13/04 | Marty Fierro

[martin_fierro]

Am thinking of upgrading my Linksys 802.11b home wireless network to 802.11g.

Have any FReepers done this and noticed a network speed increase? Any improvement in transmission/reception distance?

[martin_fierro]

Thanks in advance.

[Khurkris]

heck...nows there is 'super g' out to choose from. Myself, I tried the wireless thing and was never very happy. Too slow and interference probs with 2.4 ghz tele's. I tried linksys, netgear and belkin. Same probs and ALL had 'tech support' that needed a translator. I just stuck with hardwire, cat 6 is now available, and hum happily along at 100.0 mbps. Good Luck.

[AZLiberty]

My network speed may have increased slightly, but it doesn't help much to have a wireless network faster than your cable modem, unless you do a lot of file transfers between your local computers.

Reliability went way down with 802.11g. We have a metal rich environment, so our wireless network is very picky about exactly where computers are located with respect to the hub. This problem was worse with g, so I have since set my hub to use only 802.11a.

If you go to 802.11g, make sure you get one with an external antenna to increase your range. I don't get anything close to the advertised 100 ft with an internal antenna.

[Sloth]

Are you talking about speed of file transfers between computers, or shared broadband access?

[Lawgvr1955]

I use Lynksis 802.11b for the wireless network at work and at home. Very pleased with both set ups and have had no problems. I move along at 11.0 Mbps at both places. Sufficient for work with 4 computers sharing the broadband and sufficient to watch internet tv at home and still surf on two computers at the same time.

What is the advantage to going with "g"?

[El Gran Salseron]

The dsl and cable modem interface, i.e., the rj45 connection between a computer/router to the modem is limited to 10 Meg. 802.11b is 11 Meg. Does that answer your question? In other words, your wireless connection is already faster than the dsl or cable modem can ever be. Faster transfer speeds between computers is the only advantage of g.