Thoughts on Wireless and Gaming

[pailhead]

Ok.. right now I'm using cat5 for all the computers and I've gotten to the point of wanting to get rid of the wires and goe wireless. Now I'm an avid gamer and play alot on the weekends having fun with Battlefield 1942.

If I was to make the switch to a wireless setup how would my gaming be? Would it still be as smooth as silk as it is now or can I expect some lag and no more low pings?

Also one of my systems in the house is an iMac and that will need to be connected as well, since I can't throw a card in there I was thinking of getting a USB wireless NIC. Anyone had any experience with USB NIC's and how do they do?

Thanks for the time everyone...

Jason

 

[madthumbs]

I use a wireless setup for gaming. Pings seem the same, games play the same. I even have a moderate signal strength. For the iMac, you could look into a wireless bridge.

 

[ktwebb]

As long as the device has a driver for whatever MAC OS your using then yeah, it will work. If it doesn't then no, it won't.

As far as latency. Non-issue if your WLAN is setup/designed correctly. No radio interference from 2.4 Ghz phones, or other AP's in close proximity. Reasonable expectations on the distance you can place the client from the AP and so forth. If your SNR and signal strength are good and your wireless environment is sound then there is not introduced latency by a WLAN.

 

[pailhead]

Good to hear.. thanks for the feedback fellas.. My gaming PC will be right where the router will be so my signal strength should be good. With the MAC it'll be on the other side of the second floor but I think the signal should still be quite good.

Any disadvantages of using a USB NIC compared to using a wireless bridge for the mac?

Thanks again...

 

[lartmander]

Because of the distance from where you are, it shouldn't matter. Keep in mind, if you're using a cable modem, you're looking at a bandwidth of at most 1-2 meg usage at a time. Worst case wireless with 11b at 11mbps, you're looking at 6 mbps consisitent throughput (maybe 2-3 if you're in a noisy WiFI area).

USB's don't have as great a range (relative to the wireless bridge), so don't vere away to far from your AP =)

 

[ktwebb]

6 Mbps is a best case scenario for .11b gear, not the worst. Might eek out a few extra KB under the very best conditions. USB is generally a good solution for wireless clients as you can move them around for better coverage.

 

[johncatral]

It seems my latency is pretty high with my new system. I was wondering why this is the case but do you guys think that having WEP enabled will kill my connection speed thus contributing to the high latency?

- JOhn