First of all 802.11N is not yet an accepted standard, so there are still lots of incompatibilities and no guarantee that they will all work together when some version of the standard is accepted. But, theoretically, 802.11 N routers are supposed to be backward compatible with 802.11g devices. The key words here are "supposed to be". In addition, an 802.11g wireless adapter will only connect to the router at the 54 Mbps 802.11g speed. Furthermore, the internet connection speed will not be any higher than your ISP allows. Even for the fastest cable broadband connections of 25 Mbps, this is still slower than 802.11g's 54 Mbps, so there will be no change in internet connecdtion speed.
Save your $$ I have a 802.11n router. I also installed the 802.11n card in my laptop. It kept disconnecting my internet connection so I put the 802.11g card back in. But even when it was in and running, I didn't notice any difference. So stay with what you have.
Also - on the standards issue. Volcano is correct the standard isn't finalised yet. You are reasonably safe buying Draft 2 kit though as it is guaranteed to be compatible with the final version of the draft n standard.
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
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March 30th, 2008 04:00
First of all 802.11N is not yet an accepted standard, so there are still lots of incompatibilities and no guarantee that they will all work together when some version of the standard is accepted. But, theoretically, 802.11 N routers are supposed to be backward compatible with 802.11g devices. The key words here are "supposed to be". In addition, an 802.11g wireless adapter will only connect to the router at the 54 Mbps 802.11g speed. Furthermore, the internet connection speed will not be any higher than your ISP allows. Even for the fastest cable broadband connections of 25 Mbps, this is still slower than 802.11g's 54 Mbps, so there will be no change in internet connecdtion speed.
Steve
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
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March 30th, 2008 05:00
In my opinion yes.
Steve
dbtmellis
132 Posts
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March 30th, 2008 05:00
Oditius
2 Intern
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808 Posts
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March 30th, 2008 11:00
ClaireGG
5 Posts
0
March 31st, 2008 13:00
Hi,
Most but not all 802.11n (wireless n) routers are backwards compatible. You can find a list of which 802.11n routers are backwards compatible here: http://www.wirelessnrouters.co.uk/router_detail.html
Also - on the standards issue. Volcano is correct the standard isn't finalised yet. You are reasonably safe buying Draft 2 kit though as it is guaranteed to be compatible with the final version of the draft n standard.
Claire
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Wireless n routers information: www.wirelessnrouters.co.uk
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