Question on Wireless

Guys, I am almost on the verge of placing order for my IBM ThinkPad T42. I have a question regarding the wireless connectivity.

This model says it has Intel 2200BG. My question is, how is this 2200BG compatible, if it is, to 802.11 family and what are the differences/similarities? Should I buy 802.11a/b/g card also along with the 2200BG which comes with the notebook.

A lot of articles are available on 802.11 a/b/g. But I couldn't find one on 2200BG. Please advice.

 

well basically with that Intel card you'll be able to receive radio signals from 802.11b and 802.11g wireless access points. To be honest, it's all you really need, 802.11a is so rarely used that it's not much of a value add. No, don't go buying two wireless cards for your laptop!

 

Yep. Just to make it clear, 2200BG is the Intel model number for the card that supports the 802.11B and 802.11G wireless specifications. With that card, you will be compatible with essentially all of the wireless networks out there.

 

Thanks a lot for your inputs.

My another (may be a basic) question in the same context:

Intel quotes there are 30000 hotspots around the world for these wi-fi internet access from public places. Setting up wireless network at home is nothing but setting up a new hotspot at home (in simple terms, just another wireless router, if I am right).

Now the question is:
Is there any available technology in the wireless notebook market which can be used, if not already in use, by today's laptops to access internet using some kind of towers (just like cellular phone towers) without Wi-Fi hot-spots.
If there is no such technology, then fundamentally, how does the latest cellular device "Black-berry" access internet without any wires or hot-spots supporting it.

Any info appreciated....
Thanks......

 

Actually, almost every cell phone vendor has a product that allows computers to access the Internet by dialing up wirelessly. I think the best deal available currently is with T-Mobile - they charge a flat $30 per month for unlimited access. The technology they use (it varies depending on the type of cell phone infrastructure) is called GPRS and you get about 44 kbps, so it is slightly slower than a typical land based dial-up. But you can access the Internet from anywhere you have a GSM cell phone signal. There is a high speed (just over 1 mbps) technology called EDGE but it has not been deployed very widely yet and there is some question as to when it might become routinely available.

 

Thanks for the information.

 

There is this new wireless card that Intel has introduced. This is called as "Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG". This is supposed to support 802.11 a, b and g classes upto 54MBPS.

Any information on this new wireless card and is it worth spending dollars for this?

Thanks

 

In my opinion the A is pretty much worthless in the US 90+% of all wireless is B or G and since A has a shorter range than the rest your chances of using it are even smaller.

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Yeah, A never took hold and is largely a dying protocol. Paying extra for it is silly in almost all cases.

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