54 or 108?

[jbubrisk]

So you guys said that the WRT54G Linksys router is solid, but would it make a big performance difference if I get a router that is G-super (108mb?) It will be running off high speed internet, and other than the 3 connections to the internet, there wont be much network traffic. Thanks! (I like to play games, download, send files, etc)

 

[Bodine]

If all you are doing is surfing the internet (regardless of how many people are surfing) then you might as well get 802.11B. 11Mbps is faster than your internet connection, even degraded The only real reason to get G/N routers is if you do a lot of transfers behind the router. Live/streaming video, large file xfers, LAN games, etc.

Also, I don't have any experience with the "Super"G routers, but I've read they don't work as well as advertised. Also, you typically need to pair the wireless router with the "SuperG" card from the same manufacturer or it'll just serve normal 54Mbps.

 

[ScottMac]

To add to Bodine's message:

You'll never see anywhere near 108. Chances are you won't even see 54.

The "super" protocols use the entire 2.4 spectrum .... meaning that *any* other users in your neighborhood, on any channel, will interfere with (and be interfered by) your system.

The signaling rate on all of the wireless systems is not the data transfer rate. On 802.11b, you're usually good to get ~5 Mbps, on 802.11g, it falls in somewhere around 22 mbps, and Super g, in an area with outher users, probably less than that.

Super G was included in the 802.11g spec because the committee couldn't get enough votes to remove it. At that point, it became a sales & marketing tool and nothing more.

FWIW

Scott

 

[skyking]

I regularly push a ~36 Gb backup image across 802.11g, in about 230 minutes. That jives with ScottMac's assessment of speed.

 

[ktwebb]

Originally posted by: Bodine
If all you are doing is surfing the internet (regardless of how many people are surfing) then you might as well get 802.11B. 11Mbps is faster than your internet connection, even degraded The only real reason to get G/N routers is if you do a lot of transfers behind the router. Live/streaming video, large file xfers, LAN games, etc.

Well, no, of course that isn't the only reason to get .11g gear. Besides the fact you can get .11g hardware so cheap these days anyway, the days of a broadband connection not saturating a wireless LAN (with .11b stuff) are going away. 6 Mb is what's available in my area at the moment. FIOS and so on. Plenty of ISP possiblilities out there that would bottleneck a single user 802.11b WLAN. Add he said there would be three connections hitting it and we know 802.11 is a shared medium, well you get the point. The truth is, unless 20 or 30 bucks is a very big deal to you (I'll concede it may be to some) there isn't a compelling reason to get 802.11b wireless equipment anymore.