Wireless bg vs. wireless abg - What's the difference and what should I get?

I have no idea what the differences are here, but basically I just want to know what works the best. Wireless abg seems to cost more..does it generally work better? The people at the local computer store said no one uses "a" and it's a really poor signal anyway. What's your opinion and what do you think I should get?

 

Well, the different letters are just differnt types of wireless networks. The G and A will offer the fastest wireless transfer speeds of up to 54 MBS. But, 802.11A networks are just an emerging technology. Don't expect to see speeds that fast though when you are connecting to a wireless network. I would just get the wireless AB and G card, it should only be $10.00 or so more, so you are covered in all situations. Its likey you will only see B and G networks, but like I said before it shouldn't be too expensive of an upgrade.

 

There's a networking section you should really post to, and Nick (our wireless expert) can help you out.

But in brief, "a" has less range (intentionally--it was designed for an office environment where they would be many closely spaced transmitters).

The only reason to get "a" is if you live in a dense apartment block and all available b/g frequencies are filled. I am told this rarely happens, but since I was the first in my apartment building with wireless, I guess I wouldn't know.

Once again, the people in the wireless section can help you more than I can.

 

Thanks SpacemanSpiff

There is a guide in the wireless forum.

(The networking forum is about 5 forums under Hardware)

And there is a complete guide if you want to know more on wireless.

A - 5GHz (less interferences), but a shorter range, 54Mbps
G - 2.4GHz, longer signal, 54Mbps
B - 2.4GHz, decent signal, 11 Mbps.

I prefer G at the moment.

 

Thanks for all the info. I've been hearing different things..like some say "a" is outdated and won't be used much and some say it's going to be used more in the future. Anyone know about that? I'm going to look into the networking post you mentioned.

 

A is one of the newer wireless technologies. Of course there is the newly N type of network. But that is not needed at all right now, so dont worry about that.

B is outdated, not G, A.

For you, i would get a G router. G in my opinion is decent enough.

I also have a "What router should i buy" guide as well to help you out.

Also, you don't need to create another post in wireless. A mod will move it there for you in a matter of minutes.