802.11g CF Cards available?

[ricksfiona]

I was wondering if anyone had seen 802.11g CF Cards yet. I thought I saw one on this site but not sure. Did a quick search and didn't see any. Thanks.

[Jason Dunn]

I'm not aware of any yet - none of the vendors who announced 802.11g products (like D-Link) announced "g" versions of their CF products.

[Janak Parekh]

You realize that Pocket PCs won't be able to handle the added bandwidth anyway, right? I'd aim for a "b" card for now.

--janak

[sgyee]

I also find it highly unlikely that we will see CF versions of 802.11g. The increased bandwidth is something that the CF bus could not handle.

[ricksfiona]

You realize that Pocket PCs won't be able to handle the added bandwidth anyway, right? I'd aim for a "b" card for now.

--janak
I didn't think the PPC couldn't handle the bandwidth, but it would be nice to have devices talking the same protocol. Especially if there was only a $10 difference or so....

[Zanne]

You realize that Pocket PCs won't be able to handle the added bandwidth anyway, right? I'd aim for a "b" card for now.

--janak
I didn't think the PPC couldn't handle the bandwidth, but it would be nice to have devices talking the same protocol. Especially if there was only a $10 difference or so....

I was under the impression that all 'g' devices are backwards compatible with 'b' devices, so I don't quite see the point in worrying over which of the two protocols your PPC is using, especially if both will produce the same speed on the PPC... Am I missing something? Wouldn't a 'g' CF card just be more costly?

[ricksfiona]

You realize that Pocket PCs won't be able to handle the added bandwidth anyway, right? I'd aim for a "b" card for now.

--janak
I didn't think the PPC couldn't handle the bandwidth, but it would be nice to have devices talking the same protocol. Especially if there was only a $10 difference or so....

I was under the impression that all 'g' devices are backwards compatible with 'b' devices, so I don't quite see the point in worrying over which of the two protocols your PPC is using, especially if both will produce the same speed on the PPC... Am I missing something? Wouldn't a 'g' CF card just be more costly?
Yes, 'g' devices are backward compatible with 'b' devices. But, there is a conversion process that's happening to make things compatible AND/OR you MAY be missing some protocol enhancements of the 'g' devices (encryption, range, whatever).

[FredMurphy]

[Yes, 'g' devices are backward compatible with 'b' devices. But, there is a conversion process that's happening to make things compatible AND/OR you MAY be missing some protocol enhancements of the 'g' devices (encryption, range, whatever).
I'd worry about that IF it happens. No point stressing over it now. Anyway, there's so many 'b' Public APs popping up and 'b' cards around that I can see this being supported as the lowest common denominator for quite a while yet.

[tnantz]

I dunno if this is right, but if you have a 802.11g protocol network, and you jump on it with an 802.11b card, will it not bring the entire network down to the lowest speed, ie the "b" card?

Basically, will the network not operate at the top speed for all devices, which would limit the speed to "b" card capabilities?

[Eitel]

Well, "g" only comes in 32bit CardBus, and the Pocket PC 2002 only supports 16bit and it won't work with CardBus.

[FredMurphy]

I dunno if this is right, but if you have a 802.11g protocol network, and you jump on it with an 802.11b card, will it not bring the entire network down to the lowest speed, ie the "b" card?

Basically, will the network not operate at the top speed for all devices, which would limit the speed to "b" card capabilities?
It seems with some of the currenly available 802.11g devices this is the case. Others have been reported as conveniently ignoring the 802.11b device to keep speeds up for everyone else. Seems it's still a bit early and some interoperability issues as usual! Found some stuff on The Register (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/29250.html).

Well, "g" only comes in 32bit CardBus, and the Pocket PC 2002 only supports 16bit and it won't work with CardBus.
Is there any reason why this won't change in the future? Surely the protocol from card to card (802.11g) is independent of the protocol from device to card (CardBus in this case).

[don dre]

I dunno if this is right, but if you have a 802.11g protocol network, and you jump on it with an 802.11b card, will it not bring the entire network down to the lowest speed, ie the "b" card?
I assume this refers to ad-hoc networks. I would imagine that the speed woudl only be reduced if your card was going through a "b" card. Otherwise, the access point would treat each card individually. correct me if I'm wrong please (like I need to ask.)

[cgavula]

A lot of it depends on the individual AP (base station). SOme do and some don't - that is when they work at all.

Keep in mind that the "g" standard isn't a standard yet. All these vendors releasing products are doing so based on working papers. There are a lot of problems being reported with the different "g" APs and cards not talking to each other and with the "g" APs not talking AT ALL to many different "b" chipsets. This means there's a lot of confusion right now and, quite frankly, unless you buy cards/APs from the same vendor you are not all that likely to get a combination that works.

So I don't feel the $10 more is really just $10 more - it's also all the invested time and effort to find a combination that works together. Otherwise tell yourself you have a proprietary, single vendor solution, and don't try to make different products work together.

Not worth the grief yet, in my opinion. I'd buy "b" now and re-examine "g" in 6 months or a year.

--Chris