confused about wireless cards

i'm confused about the wireless cards. what's the difference between all 3?

Intel®3945 802.11a/g Mini-card [Included in Price]
Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini-Card [add $20]
Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card [add $60 or $2/month1]

wireless n is supported in canada right? isnt wireless n backwards compatible? shouldnt it be able to run on any network where the intel 3945 or the dell 1490 is used? and where it will merely take advantage of the wireless n if your wireless has it?

i'm pretty confused after hearing word that its not compatiable with most networks and isnt compatible in canada. i'm planning to call dell today and im wondering whether i should stick with the wireless n or switch to a different one?

advantages? disadvantages of each?

thanks

 

N supports better speeds. N also takes advantage of older routers as it supports more than what the router outputs. N eliminates the bottleneck.

However, for a long time, G isn't going to hold you back, so if you're desperate for cash, get G.

 

If you're cost sensitive, then the default option if going to last you hte life of this notebook just fine. N is going to get you faster throughput and better distance, as Kierkes notes, but you're also going to have to buy a more expensive router to support that in your home. For most users, it's not a worthwhile expense right now. In corporate settings and a few other cases it's an easier case to make.

 

Well, I myself have a 54G router at home, and I have better speeds with my N adapter than I did with a G. It's a bottleneck issue, as I was scraping my adapter speeds against my router speeds. The N better utilizes what there is, allowing it to use more of what the G router sends out than what I did with my G adapter. But I know I'm not seeing N's full capability, and I wonder how much it will speed up if I were to get an N router.

However, that would suck for the rest of the computers in my house.

 

There is a lot of variation in 11g hardware. It seams to be known that most routers work better with a matching mfg card. My builtin 11g Raylink has the worst distance I have ever seen. Will not even stay connected less than 10' from the AP. But my matching PCMCI card will cover my whole house on low power. My setup is suppose to have a 330' range. Cover my needs.

I do not like the idea that the 11n hardware does not have replaceable antennas. My AP came with the high gains, the reason for the good range. The reason we are not seeing a range increase, when compared to good hardware.