Difference Between Wireless B and Wireless G

Wireless B vs Wireless G

Wireless standards have slowly evolved as the technology behind them got better and better. Two of the sequential wireless standards are Wireless B and Wireless G. The main difference between Wireless B and Wireless G is speed. The theoretical maximum speed of Wireless G is set at 54Mbps. This is almost 5 times faster than the 11Mbps maximum of Wireless B. Of course, the actual speed is much lower for both, but Wireless G is still much faster than Wireless B.

The added speed of Wireless G is not really felt when it comes to browsing the Internet as the speed most Internet service providers have is well below the speed provided by both standards. The true benefit comes in moving files across your own network as you can really see the difference in transfer times. Network gaming or LAN parties should also benefit from the higher speed of Wireless G.

A topic that dominated the creation of the Wireless G standard is interoperability with older Wireless B devices. Because of this, the Wireless G standard also uses the 2.4Ghz frequency range that Wireless B uses. As a result, Wireless G access points and routers are capable of communicating with Wireless B only devices. Wireless B only routers and access points are not capable of communicating with Wireless G only devices so Wireless G devices always included a way to revert to Wireless B if the router calls for it. Keep in mind that having a single device that is only compatible with Wireless B in a Wireless G network would slow down the entire network. So although it is possible, it is not advisable to mix Wireless G and Wireless B devices in a network.

Wireless B devices and routers are now pretty rare. Even Wireless G is soon to be replaced with the newer Wireless N which is yet to be finalized. Despite that, there are already Wireless N products based on the draft. When choosing a wireless router, it is better to get the one that is compatible with the latest standard. The price difference is often not that big, and using the latest standard ensures that all your devices in the foreseeable future would work with that router.

Summary:

Wireless G is much faster than Wireless B.
Wireless G routers can work with Wireless B devices and vice versa.

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