a/b/g

Hey, just wanted to know what added benefits the Intel 2915 a/b/g wireless card has over the 2200 b/g?? I know b/g is pretty much required nowadays, and I was wondering if this "a" thing was gonna be important in the near future too?? If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it!! Thanks

 

'a' is only useful in an large office/school environment, as that connection is not widely used.

Also, the 2200 does indeed have some 'problems' or so I've heard.

The 'next' connection would supposedly be 'n'

 

Alright, I have the 2200 in my current laptop, and I have no problem with it. I just went ahead and got it in the XPS I have ordered, and wasn't sure if the 2915 would have been a better choice. Doesn't sound like it though, so thanks for the relpy!!

 

A never took off, the only reason it's in there is for marketing purposes. Intel doesn't want to have other cards perceived to be better because their card is lacking 802.11a.

 

Yeah, A is not really used anywhere due to the limited range of its broadcast compared to B/G so it may be nice to have but its not really worth anything extra unless you actually plan on using it for a special reason

 

Don't know about 'a' but you should not use 'b' since transmitted data can be easily intercepted - no encryption, there ways to crack the key in minutes, MAC filtering will not save you from experiences crackers and IP may be spoofed. So far only 'g' offers relatively save connection, use WPA2 if you can. That's the situation for today

 

this is not true. g is no more secure than b.

 

Do you know way to read transmitted data when WPA is used? I know how it works with WEP - that's the only thing that 'b' has.

 

Consider using 802.11b if:

• Range requirements are significant. For larger facilities, such as a warehouse or department store, 802.11b will provide the least costly solution because of fewer access points.

• You already have a large investment in 802.11b devices. The relatively high costs associated with migrating from a large-scale 802.11b system to 802.11a will be difficult to sell to the company's financial decision makers.

• End users are sparsely populated. If there are relatively few end users that need to roam throughout the entire facility, then 802.11b will likely meet performance requirements because there are fewer end users competing for each access point's total throughput. Unless there are significant needs for very high performance per end user, then 802.11a would probably be overkill in this situation.

Consider using 802.11a if:

• There's need for much higher performance. By far the top driver for choosing 802.11a is the need to support higher end applications involving video, voice, and the transmission of large images and files. For these applications, 802.11b probably won't be able to keep up.

• Significant RF interference is present within the 2.4 GHz band. The growing use of 2.4 GHz wireless phones and Bluetooth devices could crowd the radio spectrum within your facility and significantly decrease the performance of 802.11b wireless LANs. The use of 802.11a operating in the 5 GHz band will avoid this interference.

• End users are densely populated. Places such as computer labs, airports, and convention centers need to support lots of end users in a common area competing for the same access point, with each user sharing the total throughput. The use of 802.11a will handle a higher concentration of end users by offering greater total throughput.

Taken from http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/961181