802.11b/g vs. 802.11g Wireless

What's the difference between built-in 802.11b/g wireless and 802.11g Wireless without the "g" as part of the description?

thanks.

 

B will give you transfer rates at a max of 11 Mb/s. G gives you a max of 45 Mb/s. ALL the "g" equipment will fall back to "b" if it is connecting to a "b" only device. In other words, a "b" only device, if it connects to a "g" device can only give you a transfer rate of 11 Mb/s max.

But keep this in mind. If you are connecting via DSL to the internet, the "b" speed is more than adequate since the DSL connection is much slower than 11 Mb/s.

If you are connecting among devices on an internal network, then the connection speed will be that of the slower device. So if both computers have 'g' devices you can get transfer rates at the max. rated - 45 Mb/s

Oops ... yes ... it should be 54 Mb/s

 

G is 54mbps not 45mbps and yes, if you do have a certain internet that is over 11mbps then you do need a G wireless card. BUT! Make sure you have a router to handle all your computers besides the one. Your wireless card doesnt matter with the other computers. Just the router has to handle all the computers

 

Yup, both the above guys seem to have answered your question. My 2 cents is that you posted this in the wrong forum, so...away it goes (to the land of Wireless and Networking).

 

My apologies. I've never owned a laptop before, and I've never used anything wireless before (except a phone). I obviously missed that forum. I'm new to these forums too.

I'm trying my best here, to find out answers to questions. Most of the stuff is so way over my head, so I appreciate it when someone can explain things on a simple level.

I guess my question really should hav been. I have a 802.11g Wireless on my laptop. Am I missing something by not having a b/g card?

Thanks everyone for the help!

 

Digicam,

Manufacturers pretty much have stopped the branding of their wireless products with the B symbol possibly for 2 reasons:

1. Putting the G only reduces some confusion some may have with the technology. With only G listed, people will know it's a G based WLAN card.

2. They don't want to associate the older technology with their products. Also, they assume everybody currently knows that G based products are backwards compatible with B.

I think I have answered your question with those 2 point above. The G card in your notebook is a B/G compatible card. You're not missing anything.

-Vb-

 

Thank you. A related question.

Sometimes when I'm in the area of a wireless hot spot, it connects and disconnects. Yet my son-in-laws new iBook stays connected at times when mine does not. He suggested I get an extra antenna but the folks at Best Buy told me it would do no good, that the "hot spot" needs to boost their signal at their end.

So, I didn't buy a antenna. Now I see that the new Averatec 3700 has a "
A built-in high-speed wireless LAN with dual-antenna." Is the "dual antenna" advertisng hype, or will it really extend the boost and range of the wireless LAN? And, if so, why wouldn't an extra antenna help my 3270?

thanks so much.

 

An extra antenna will help with signal strength by increasing the field of detection to give more coverage, but you can't add an additional one to your notebook since you're using the internal (built-in) wireless card.

There could be other reasons why you can't keep the connections:

1. Your settings for your wireless lan card are not optimized. You can try going into the properties of your Wireless card and see if it has any power settings or signal strength. You may want to set power management (for the card) to low/off and signal strength/power to maximum. You may also want to try changing your supported types to B only, B+G or G only. These features may help to be more compatible with the hotspots. Setting to B only should make it compatible with all hotspots, unless they made their router accept only G connections.

2. You may also want to try upgrading the drivers for your WLAN card. Do you know what brand it is? If it's Intel, goto the Intel site and download the lastest drivers for your card. The new Intel drivers are supposted to address some connectivity problems.

When you connect to a hotspot and stay connected, what is your connection strength? If it's low, what happens if you move around? If it gets stronger, it's possible you're out of range of the router (I think coverage area can be set on the router to either have a long or short signal) or it's just possible the reception on your notebook is a bit on the low side.

-Vb-

 

you should also clarify what you mean by "stays connected"

do you mean that you can connect, get onto the internet, and surf around, and then it dies?

or do you mean, that it sees the wireless network, but you can't actually connect to it?

if it's the former, then follow venombite's advice

if it's the latter, then it means the hotspot is probably one you have to pay to log onto

 

You mean go to the device manager to do this? If you mean to adjust things in the Advanced tab, I haven't the foggiest idea what any of that stuff is.

Well, I tried to install the 3.0.4.0 driver as jcjam recommended in this thread:

http://www.averatecforums.com/showthread.php?t=2683

I installed the driver and it rendered my wireless system useless. I tried to rollback to the original driver, but that didn't work either. Thank goodness I didn't follow the "advice" about shutting off system restore to get a little more speed out of my laptop. I set a restore point prior to attempting to install the new driver and so I was able to restore my computer wirless connection to the original, working state. Thanfully, I'm back online.

@#$! I wish you didn't have to be a technical brain surgeon to do this stuff. It sucks!

It's very good when I'm at home. The laptop is well within the range of the router any place in the house. But when we're at our vacation home, it's low or very low.

Forgive me for being so frustrated...I just am!! This is not to diminish my appreciation for everyones help.

 

On the power saving mode, it is set to contantly awake. My other options are: Fast and Max. What should I change it to, if anything? Unless I don't understand the terms, I see nothing about increasing the signal strength. It just lists Antenna TX or RX Diversity. I can see where to change the wireless mode, but I won't try that until we return to our vacation home, where I experience the problem. Again, part of my confusion over this is that my son-in-law does not have the same connection problems when he brings his ibook to our place.

 

I believe that 3.0.4.0 driver is for the Turion laptops (64-bit) but someone correct me if I am wrong. And it is for the RaLink wireless device. If yours is not a RaLink it will not work, nor will it work with the non-64bit systems.

At your vacation home is it YOUR router in the vacation house you're trying to maintain a connection with or a public hotspot?

If your wireless type is RaLink, as mine is, I've found it to be the least sensitive of any built-ins that I've used. It works well in a home environment or my local library, but if you're on the fringe of a hotspot where other laptops have no problem, the RaLink will. Driver ver. is 3.0.3.0. Good on you that you did a restore point before trying the other driver. That's a good habit to keep even when trying out software.

There are two options to overcome the poor RaLink - both of which I have used.
1). Get a usb wireless adapter - I recently bought a Linksys 'b' version for $5 at Best Buy
2). Get a pcmcia wireless adapter. This fits in the card slot of the laptop. A good one is the Proxim Orinoco Gold, about $30. This has, in addition to its own internal antenna, a connector for an external antenna.

An external antenna WILL increase the ability of the wireless adapter to find (and hold) a wireless signal. The USB types usually already have an external antenna. The advantage of the USB types is that it is not physically fixed to the laptop so you can put it on, say, a ledge or window sill to pickup the best signal. And you can use it with a desktop system if needed.

BTW, I've never had to "twiddle" with any "settings" for the wireless. The two I mentioned above worked right out of the box.

 

The adapter provider is Ralink Technology and the driver is dated 9/9/2004. I don't think my 3270 is 64bit.

A hotspot.

Forgive my ignorance once again, but will using either one of the adapters you mention, override the built-in adapter? Or will I somehow have to disable it?

Is this an either or situation? Get one of the external wireless adapters you mention above or get an external antenna?

Thank you, Chutsman, you've given me an extraordinary amount of help at this board, and I greatly appreciate it. As you can plainly see, I know nothing about this stuff. In the past, I learned the hard way the consequences of not setting a restore point.

 

Unless it says Turion on a sticker somewhere it isn't 64 bit. The date of the 3.0.3.0 driver is 4/21/2005 so it looks like you should update the RaLink driver.

Ah! That explains why one laptop's wireless works and your 3270 doesn't. You're probably on the fringe of the signal. Or the RaLink is just being RaLink.

If the 3270 is like my 3250 there is a small round button next to the power button that will turn on/off the internal wireless.

An external antenna alone has to have the wireless adapter to plug into which would make the adapter more sensitive. If I were you, I would get the usb type which already has an external antenna. The Linksys 'b' I bought is very small - only a little bigger than a pack of cards - and has about a 5 foot cord that plugs into the usb port. It is powered by the usb port so no power wallwart is needed. And if you travel a lot, it will come in handy.

You're welcome ... we were all in your situation at one time or another ... I'll let you in on a little secret - don't let anyone else know ... when I got my 3250 I didn't know about the on/off switch for the internal wireless adapter. And, of course, there was no manual with this Averatec. But I learned from the Averatec forum and on this one for other things.

Let us know if by updating the driver the wireless works any better.

 

The one at the Averatec site has a different date:

3200 SERIES / AV3270-EE1 / WLAN
WLAN version 2.2.6.0 (0MB)
File Updated 4/13/2005

The listings of drivers at the Ralink are so confusing. I not only feel like I'll really mess up something, but don't know which one to choose.

http://www.ralinktech.com/supp-1.htm

I may just leave this for a few days.

thanks again.

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH! See, I told you I don't know much about notebooks/laptops. lol

Do you recall the name and model #?

I think I'll call Averatec and see if they can help me. As I said above, I don't want to mess up.

 

On that RaLinkTech link you gave, the driver is second from the top and is the only one with the version number 3.0.3.0 .. it is slightly newer than the one I have, probably a minor update, but I am going to get it. I hadn't checked since I downloaded the one I have, as my adapter was working as well as can be expected of RaLink.

The model of the Linksys 'b' usb adapter is WUSB11. Let me see if I can include a picture from the side of the box. If it doesn't show up then I couldn't.

 

Thanks. I'll try the driver. I see Amazon has the same adapter, with rebate, for $19.95/no shipping. But since I don't need it until the next time we go to our vacation home, I think I'll look for sales in the paper. We go there often to spend time with our 26 mos. old grandson. Oh, and you shouldn't have mentioned $5.00. Now I'm spoiled. ;-)

The USB ports on the 3270 are 2.O. Should I get one with 2.0 capability, or doesn't it matter?

I'll cross my fingers and try installing the driver...after I make a restore point. :O

 

If there is no hurry, just wait for sales in the weekly flyers from the likes of Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. ... 26 month grandson eh ... somehow I don't think you are the one that is spoiled. We have a 16 month g.daughter and 4 week old g.son whom we are with now in Killeen, TX.

USB 1.1 is capable of 12 Mb/s while USB 2 can go 480 Mb/s. So just like the 'b' vs. 'g' scenario, for internet work, USB 1.1 is adequate. But if you get something like an external USB hard drive or one of those flash/thumb drives, then you would want it to be USB 2. Most external enclosures are usb 2 nowadays, but if you ever buy a flash drive be sure they are usb 2 - some are not.

 

I'm in no hurry. Plus I want to see if the new driver helps improve things (haven't installed it yet).

Well, I suppose we spoiled him after visiting for the entire month of August. My husband and I are seriously considering selling our house, getting a smaller place and living six months here and there. We've lived in Sso FL for a long time, and the hurricane season is getting to be a bit too much for folks our age. The eye of two hurricanes came directly over out town last year, within three weeks. Tough, but I have no complaints after seeing the damage, destruction and death of Katrina!

I bought my first one recently and love it. I rarely put things in my pockets, but did when we took care of our grandson. Without thinking, I threw my jeans into the wash with the drive in a pocket. Fortunately, I remembered about 5 minutes later. To my surprise, it's still working perfectly.

 

Just to let you know I installed the driver tonight. At first I didn't think I got it right, but all I had to do was enter the network key. Hope it works better next time we visit grandson. btw, I spoke with Averatec today and it seems the most you can expect out of the battery, on average, is 2 hours.

THANKS again everyone!

 

To test it, hop on down to your nearest Panera Bread store. They usually have free wireless.

 

When you updated the driver, did it install a Ralink wireless utility? What is it for? Thanks!

 

Yes, you should have had that utility all along. There is an icon for it in the Tray (next to the time). The icon is green with a letter K. The color of the K will either be Red, Orange or Green to indicate the strength of the signal. See attached pic. Red is a low signal, but still works - as you can see from mine.

When you 2-click it, a window pops up. Under the Site Survey tab you can see what wireless services there are around you. The Link Status tab shows you the signal strength etc. of the signal you connect to. Use this when you are in a fringe area to re-orient your laptop (or the usb wireless adapter, when you get one ) to catch the best signal.

 

Seems like I'm not the only one who finds it annoying.

http://61.222.76.235/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=1029

It never showed before I updated the driver. I disabled it via msconfig.

But I can also do that using the system tray icon of the wireless computer. I suppose it provides a lot of other helpful information but it's over my head. I can still open it manually if I want.

 

Oh, did you mean that the RaLink is appearing opened on your screen when you boot? That doesn't happen here - it only appears in the Tray. If that is what you mean, there must be something in its preferences/options to stop that. I have not checked.

 

It is possible to replace the inbuilt wireless adapter if you're having problems. If you can find a notebook specialist, they may be willing to do it for you. It's called a MiniPCI wireless adaptor. Some of the advanced ones also have built in bluetooth, although this is rarer and probably at the cost of signal stregnth.

Alternatively, you could buy your favourite hotspot a new high-power antenna. I've found the 9dBi ones on eBay do an excellent job. I'm sure they'd appreciate it .

The other thing is that RF (Radio) can be extremely finniky. This aint the IT world no more. If you always sit in the same place, try switching seats/laptops with your Grandson and see if there is any difference.

Apple being a high-quality brand, and Averatec being a budget brand, the Apple is also more likely to have a more powerful inbuilt antenna. This is probably a major factor here.