Tom's Hardware > Forum > General Networking > Network General Discussions > which one to buy 802.11b or 802.11a???

which one to buy 802.11b or 802.11a???

Forum General Networking : Network General Discussions - which one to buy 802.11b or 802.11a???

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df1603   06-21-2002 at 11:27:39 PM

I am planning to install a network back home to share DSL between PC and laptop and don’t know which solution to buy. Salesguy in bestbuy was trying to sell me 802.11a but the price is way higher then 802.11b. I was told that the older solution is slow, not reliable, and so on. I never used wireless network before and I would appreciate some help. Shall I invest in new but pricey 802.11a or go with well-established 802.11b. What model/brand would you recommend? Can I mix different access points and cards. Also I need something easy to install and configure...Thanx

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Stick_e_Mouse   06-22-2002 at 01:40:55 AM
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>>I was told that the older solution is slow, not reliable

yes, the "older" solution is slower compared to the 802.11a standard, but it is NOT unreliable. it has been the standard for quite some years now.

>>Shall I invest in new but pricey 802.11a or go with well-established 802.11b.
wheather to go for the newer 802.11a standard totally depends on your needs....do WANT faster connections, or NEED faster connections.

>>What model/brand would you recommend?
Anything with a Lucent Chip is GREAT...I perefer the Wavelan and Orinoco cards.

>>Can I mix different access points and cards.
Yes, as long as they all use the SAME frequency (either 802.11b or 802.11a).
Though you cannot mix 802.11a in a 802.11b network, and verse-visa.

<b><font color=blue>Via chipsets, SiS chipsets -- all the same...all made in TAIWAN!
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by StIcK_E_MoUsE on 06/21/02 04:42 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

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hammerhead   06-22-2002 at 04:49:03 AM
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With regard to reliabilty. As stick e mouse said, 802.11b is fine, certainly is in my experience.

As for speed, if sharing DSL between two machines is all you need, 802.11b fits the bill.

Here in the UK, 802.11a and 802.11g aren't available yet, and I'm holding off going wireless because of that. However, my network consists of six machines with fairly heavy network traffic, so the difference between 11Mbps and 54Mbps is an issue.

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