Need reassuring please...

I've just ordered a laptop with an "Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card" claiming to be backwards compatible with everything, and stumbled across a load of threads saying it's troublesome and that 11g is a safer bet for now. The laptop has only been in pre-production for one day so I've got time to change the order if necessary. Should I be changing to an 11g card or am I safe to use the n successfully at a/b/g networks etc.?

 

it is a better idea to just order the straight a/b/g or simply g support, you can always add a expresscard later if it comes to it

 

Basically what i'm getting at is will I be ok running this card in a g based network?

 

In my opinion there should be no problems at least not caused by the N thing Most of problems we deal on this forum are reported by people with G cards and G networks. It's incompatibility for sure- drivers, errors in firmwares, OS problems, differences in implementation of certain things by manufacturers.
You can encounter the same problems (or not) but probably for the same reasons you would with G network.
I assume you've ordered a SantaRosa notebook- meaning Intel N card. If so you can count on Intel to issue driver updates if any serious problems are encountered.
It's more producer than technology dependant- I mean you get better support from Intel for N than you can get from D-Link for G.

 

That's great thanks, i'm not too clued up on wireless networking really and I jumped in balls first and thought I'd made a mistake.

 

The point is we cannot assure you that it's gonna work fine but it's not plagued by problems as far as I know and Intel is not the kind of producer that would let the whole SantaRosa family to suffer because lack of some software update.
What's more router/AP's producers test compatibility of their gear with the most common Wi-Fi cards and Santa Rosa compatibility is not sth you can easily omit.
So you are not taking any significant risk in my opinion- not much greater than when buying any computer gear.

 

Oh yea I realise there's always gonna be compatibility problems with certain products, I just didn't want to buy into a a card that was plagued with bugs.