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[DarienA]

I know the rated speeds of the protocol but has anyone seen, heard of real life comparisons that show a definite performance increase when using B/G with your consoles? We've created a game room opposite our family room in the basement of our townhome and rather than run cable(router is located on top floor), we're looking at purchasing a wireless adapter... we've also been thinking about redoing our network in G anyway... (BTW what's the difference between these G rated routers and these Super-G or G with Speedbooster routers?).

Thanks for any input.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Unless you really need those 55 Mbps of peak transfer speed because you share big files in the Wireless Network I suggest the B version, but since the price is very similar nowadays you might as well plunge the money for the G versio even though we are expecting a new WiFi protocol to hit the streets soon with much improved security.

The Super-G and similar probably use two antennas to provide two parallel 55 Mbps connections on two different channels in parallel.

 

[Gantz]

Get the G. There's no reason to get B unless you're a cheapass.

 

[Ghost]

The only thing you really need to consider is how many devices are sharing the wireless connection, because (as you probably know) they all share the same bandwidth, so it adds up, but depending on your internet connection that may or may not be an issue. Other than that B vs G, ive found G has a slightly better range, you'll get signal where you cant with B, but it'll be weak and the rates you get will be poor so thats not really an advantage.

 

[Slo]

Get the G. Definetly. Mine just arrived and I love it. I've got 2 walls and a floor between my router and the game adapter, and I usually get speeds between 24 and 36 Mbps, and it fluctuates. ( I got this info by setting my laptop w/ NIC right next to the Game Adapter ). That's about a 40-60% degrade in signal strength, I'd hate to think what kind of signal you'd be getting if you were only broadcasting at 11 Mbps.

 

[DarienA]

Because of the positioning of the devices I'm thinking I'm probably going to have to get an extender placed on my middle floor so that I'll even be able to get a signal in the basement.. but I'll have to do some testing first...

 

[Scoobert]

Get the G. Definetly. Mine just arrived and I love it. I've got 2 walls and a floor between my router and the game adapter, and I usually get speeds between 24 and 36 Mbps, and it fluctuates. ( I got this info by setting my laptop w/ NIC right next to the Game Adapter ). That's about a 40-60% degrade in signal strength, I'd hate to think what kind of signal you'd be getting if you were only broadcasting at 11 Mbps.

That's speed, not signal strength. You're obvisiouly not downloading that fast, right? That's all wasted speed because you're just on dsl/cable. G and B have the same frequency, the both have the same signal strength.

Keep in mind though that wireless is a hit or miss. Sometimes it may work in your home, then again it might not. Also brands could make a difference. One brand might work great and then another doesn't. Then you move and it doesn't work. Lol.

 

[Slo]

No kidding, my cable provider certainly isn't giving me 54Mbps speeds. But a simple walkthough of my house/yard will show that as signal strength degrades, so does transfer rate. I believe the signal was at something like 65% right next to my Gaming Adapter. If you're going to use wireless networking for gaming purposes, you'll want that signal to be traveling as fast as fricken' possible between your router and your bridge.

Maybe I'm overestimating the importance of transfer speed, but the difference in price is so negligible that I can't see trying to cut this corner.

 

[Scoobert]

Maybe I'm overestimating the importance of transfer speed, but the difference in price is so negligible that I can't see trying to cut this corner.

I think you hit it right here. Their really is no big difference between B and G. I'm almost positive that B would work just as fine for you. But like you said, G's prices are so similar to B's. 802.11g is just the new thing out, and most likely 802.11b will go the way of the do-do.

The price difference between the two is so small, might as well go for 802.11g.

Oh and the whole speedbooster thing varies from company to company. 802.11g is rated 54Mbps, but some companies call their devices speedboosters because they have a transfer rate of over 100Mbps.

 

[DarienA]

If I have a network that was a G Router with the speedboosting technology... right now I'm looking at the DI-624 and I have a mix of B and G devices how does the router deal with them... does it broadcast to everything in B or;

Does it broadcast to G in the G devices, run boosted to any device that'll support the G boosting and finally run B to any of the B devices.

 

[etiolate]

For WLAN play you get the benefits of G, but for itnernet play you can only get up to 3 mbits per second really and the 11mbits of B covers that.

 

[BeOnEdge]

get G. i have the dlink Gs with the xtreme G crap and they work awesome. I tried B first and the connection was 1/2 as strong. G may be more speed than you'll ever need BUT the extra data being sent gives a more solid connection. I can be ANYWHERE in my house and have a solid connection on G.

 

[Defensor]

For WLAN play you get the benefits of G, but for itnernet play you can only get up to 3 mbits per second really

Wow, even the Nyko Net Extender will cover that.

 

[DarienA]

Ok but can someone give me an idea of what a G router does in a mixed environment? Does it transmit G to G devices and B to B devices or does it transmit everything in B if any B devices on in the network?

 

[The Shadow]

Some Gs only transmit to other Gs and some Gs can transmit to both Gs and Bs in their respective speeds.

 

[BeOnEdge]

DLink Gs can transfer to both. Microsofts and Linksys does as well. for instance, my home is a G network. all Dlink. When i take my laptop to my friends house who is on linksys B, i can connect fine. When i take it to my mominlaws house who is on Dlink B, i connect fine. ofcourse it will connect at B speeds though although Dlink says its Xtreme cards will work better on B networks too.

 

[DarienA]

DLink Gs can transfer to both. Microsofts and Linksys does as well. for instance, my home is a G network. all Dlink. When i take my laptop to my friends house who is on linksys B, i can connect fine. When i take it to my mominlaws house who is on Dlink B, i connect fine. ofcourse it will connect at B speeds though although Dlink says its Xtreme cards will work better on B networks too.

...that's not what I meant... but thanks I do have the answer I was looking for, in a mixed environment the router will broadcast in B to all devices on the network.

 

[cubanb]

if you are using this for the xbox and happen to have xbox media player, than it is important to get G and video streaming from your cpu does not work properly over B. It is not fast enough.

 

[mrklaw]

Get G. Price difference is minimal over B.

If you already have a B network, then keep that until you can afford to replace it bit by bit (router first).

I have a b network, and its plenty for internet, but streaming files to Xbox (as cuban says) is not reliable, so G would be better for me (and I will upgrade over time). Not necessarily just for xbox, but other video streaming will come around like the media players for MP3, so G is good future proofing for LAN AV type stuff.