Go for B or pay a lot more for G?

[GHoosdum]

The entire building for the College of Business Administration at my school is filled with WAPs for 802.11b. I need to get a WiFi card for my notebook. A local store has B cards for about 20 bucks each on sale. I'd have to pay about $80 for a (backward compatible) 802.11g card... but if I ever go wireless at home I'd probably go with a 54G wireless hub... should I pay the $20 now and wait until wireless at home, or go whole hog and pay the $80 now... in other words, do you think 54G PCMCIA cards will drop in price by at least 20 bucks in the next few months?

Thanks!

[primesuspect]

It's tough.. G networks are indeed rolling out at coffee shops and stuff, but I'm sure prices will drop in a few months.. It's a tough call. My inclincation is go G and then you won't have to worry about it for a while.

[mmonnin]

Toms: 802.11g Need-To-Know: Part 1 (http://www.tomshardware.com/network/20030310/index.html)
Toms: 802.11g Need-To-Know: Part 2 (http://www.tomshardware.com/network/20030317/index.html)

[shwaip]

since the b cards are relatively cheap near you, you may as well just get one, and buy a 'g' card if you ever wireless network your house, or need one for some other reason

[Thrax]

Buy G. Think ahead.

You can use the B, and G is going to be the dominant standard because A sucks.

[Black Hawk]

What's the diffrence between them all?

[GHoosdum]

802.11b operates at 11Mbps
802.11a is faster but not widely supported, because it's not compatible with B.
802.11g is the newest standard, operates at 54Mbps, and is backward compatible with B.

Wireless ethernet rocks! Plus, it gives me an excuse to say "WAP" (Wireless Access Point).

WAPWAPWAPWAP.... okay, I've had too much coffee! :p

[Thrax]

A is a dying standard. Do not invest in it.

G is being ratified with stronger penetrating strength. G encompasses both 11mips and 54mips standards.

G EASILY gets full potential, and I have the network bandwidth benchies to prove it.

[kanezfan]

go G. soon enough you will be glad you did when the other two are dead or dying or gone. G baby!!!

[primesuspect]

The only attractive thing about A was that 5ghz band usage, but as everyone else has said : A is dead... Get G.

[hpr]

ok, so i take it i should spend the extra 20bucks on a G access point even though my lappy has B built in (relatively)?! and then geta CD if I feel the need to later on, or if i wirelessly network some computers upstairs?!

[Jake]

Keep in mind, the final ratified standard for 802.11g REDUCES the bandwidth from 54Mb to 20Mb. Therefore, 802.11a might not be so dead as everyone thinks. Especially if the new tri-mode (802.11a, b, and g) wireless devices become popular.

D-Link's AirXpert (http://www.dlink.com/products/wireless/airXpert.asp) line of wireless products is affordable, reliable, and very easy to set up. You can buy direct from them, or get links to their many online resellers. Now, I'm sure there are other manufacturers who make this sort of thing, I just happen to use D-Link wireless gear, so that's what I happen to know about (and have sold quite a few of my customers), but I'm not affiliated with them in any way, so I'm fairly unbiased. ;)

[Tropical]

go b if you don't have money, you can always put a firewall in your computer. go g if you have money , it's the new standard for the computing community. go a after they update the thing and becomes more cooler than b or g.

[Thrax]

That's ok, it's going to take forever for unratified G products to flush from inventories.

I'll take it.

[Enverex]

Mainstream term of WAP = Crappy Internet on Mobile Phones.

NS

[betabob999]

80 for a g card? dang i can pick those up for 39 to 49 here... and sometimes fond -n- cards on sale for 89.99. that is a linksys d-link is about 5 bucks cheaper but netgear is about 59 for a g card.. i

for 60. you can get a super g card for a notebook also

[Thrax]

This thread is 4 years old...

[Leonardo]

I was reading along, scratching my head, peering at the monitor screen with my head at an angle. "Go with G...it's the new standard...," and so forth. "What's with these guys?" I asked myself, "They're acting like 'G' just came out or something." Then it struck me that I should read the post dates!

ouch