80211G amd 80211B living together?

[Phillip Dyson]

I know that G is backwards compatible with B.
But everywhere that I have read or heard it discussed, I've been told that a G network will slow down when a B device is present.

I'm thinking about upgrading to a G router but my PDA and girlfriend's powerbook have B build in.

My question is: Is this slow down specific to certain routers (linksys or netgear) or is it across the board.

thanks

[Gibby]

I have not noticed any slowness with my D-Link Wireless-G Router when running my two laptops along with my two Siemens SX66 devices. Everything runs smoothly. The PDA's will only run as fast as their wireless cards will allow them to (802.11-b) while my laptops are still running at their normal wireless-G speeds.

[dean_shan]

On a G only network your speed is 54Mbs. On a G/B network the G cards will run at 24Mbs.

[Radimus]

the deal is the radio for B and G are the same, and therefore cannot be used at the same time.

Devices that are A and G have 2 radios that can be used simultainously (sp). There are a FEW B/G access points with 2 radios, and G/N have 4 G radios in parallel.

the simplest thing to do is to buy a cheap B router for $20 or $30 dollars, and let the b only devices use that and have the B/G router configured to G only

[ethancaine]

My PC and laptop both operate on 802.11g at 54 MBps with an average (tested) throughput of about 38MBps. My PPC runs on 802.11b and I have not noticed any lag associated with it. Keep in mind that no matter what router / NIC combination you use, you'll never acheive an actual throughput of rated speed because of network overhaed, interference, system lag, etc. similar to your ISP's rated speed and what you actually get. Unless you are transferring very large files (5Mb or more) I don't believe you'll notice any major transfer speed loss.

[Sven Johannsen]

the simplest thing to do is to buy a cheap B router for $20 or $30 dollars, and let the b only devices use that and have the B/G router configured to G only

Actually the simplest thing to do is to buy the G router which you were planning on, and keep the B one you already have to support the PDA and powerbook. It might be a little tricky to set up the combined router/switch/AP to act as just an Access Point, but it is doable.

[ethancaine]

the simplest thing to do is to buy a cheap B router for $20 or $30 dollars, and let the b only devices use that and have the B/G router configured to G only

Actually the simplest thing to do is to buy the G router which you were planning on, and keep the B one you already have to support the PDA and powerbook. It might be a little tricky to set up the combined router/switch/AP to act as just an Access Point, but it is doable.

I agree. My Linksys WRT54G wireless router has an option in the setup to use it as an access point. Very easy.

[CCollins]

In simple terms, when a "g" network sees a "b" station, it must kick in a protection mechanism (RTS-CTS) so the two can co-exist. Using RTS-CTS will add significant overhead to your connection, thus killing your throughput. This is in the standard, so affects all devices.

The "g" AP only has to "hear" any "b" station to start using the protection mechanism, so make sure you can set it on a channel with no overlap (and even then you may get harmonics that start it.)

Radimus, B and G cards are not the same. G cards are backwards compatible and they operate in the same 2.4 Ghz range. Also, some vendors cannot operate A and B/G simultaneously, so make sure to check before purchasing.

Keep in mind, this shouldn't really affect you if your purpose is to access the internet with only a 1.5 Mbps connection at best.

Your best be would be to stick with the 11b wireless router, unless you want to upgrade for bragging rights. :)

For more info on this topic, refer to the CWAP official study guide.

- Casey Collins
CWNA, CWSP, CWAP

[Phillip Dyson]

Okay, I'm ready to put some of your suggestions into play.

Here's what I currently have.
Wireless B router hooked up to the cable modem.

Here's my shopping list so far.
Wireless G router.
Wireless G AccessPoint (to sit next to my TV for MediaMVP)


My thought as suggested above is to set up the G router for G only devices and keep the B router for B only devices. The B router one will probably also have a print server on it.

Then, run a cable from the B router to the G router. In theory this should allow everyone to co-exist happily together will still reaching their full potential respectively.

Is this reasonable? Or am it making it too complicated?

thanks

[Eitel]

It can be done. This is currently my setup...

One Belkin Wireless G Router, connected to a Comcast cable modem. The Belking provides DHCP, but it doesn;t allow any wireless clients to connect to it. Then, I have one Netgear B router connected to the Belkin. It has a different IP range as the Belkin, since it doesn't have the option to be used only as an AP. Then, in my room, I have another Belkin G router. This router is connected as a Bridge to the first Belkin, and it allows wireless clients to connect to it. Kind of a mess, but it works great.

[Phillip Dyson]

It can be done. This is currently my setup...

One Belkin Wireless G Router, connected to a Comcast cable modem. The Belking provides DHCP, but it doesn;t allow any wireless clients to connect to it. Then, I have one Netgear B router connected to the Belkin. It has a different IP range as the Belkin, since it doesn't have the option to be used only as an AP. Then, in my room, I have another Belkin G router. This router is connected as a Bridge to the first Belkin, and it allows wireless clients to connect to it. Kind of a mess, but it works great.

Curious, but couldn't you accomplish this with just 2 routers? One connected to Comcast and the other hard wired to it. Then both excepting wireless connections but with different SSIDs?

[Eitel]

Well, I have that. With the G connected to Comcast, and the B wired to the G, both with different SSID's.

In the Belkin that I have in the room, I have a TiVo connected to it. When I did this, TiVo still didn't support G, so I had to plug a wired USB adapter to the TiVo, and to the G router and bridge it to the other one so it could connect.

[Phillip Dyson]

Okay I've purchased the G router.
But I'm having problems with the internet connection.

I have a notebook trying to connect to the B router to access the internet but its not working. I also can't seem to run ipconfig /release successfully.

My set up is this:
G Router connected to Comcast.
Ip: 192.168.1.2
Ips starting at 192.168.1.200

The B router is connected to the G router.
Ip: 192.168.1.1
Ips starting at 192.168.100


I've tried various combinations on the B router. Changing from gateway to router and disabling the DHCP server, but haven't found that right combination.

Whats your set up and how do you manage the ip address?

thanks