Wireless cards - 'N' compatibility...

Looking for a bit of help...

I'm just about to buy a new Dell laptop.
I've have the option to upgrade the wireless card to a "1505 Wireless-N".

At the moment all my wireless equipment is b/g, if I go for the 'n' card (to try and future proof myself) will it be backwards compatible with my b/g router (ST 585v6)?

I've tried and failed to find the answer on the Dell website!

Thanks in advance...

It should work fine with 802.11b/g kit. The question will be if the card can support the future ratified standard, if it can't then it won't be able to connect to future 802.11n access points.

You would need to ensure that the card is upgradeable to the full, ratified, 802.11n standard as and when it becomes available - preferably you need some sort of guarantee from Dell that it will work with the ratified standards.

Thanks for that. After doing some more reading I've found similar concerns about the final 'n' standard.

I also contacted Dell who assured me it would be backwards compatible.
This was before you mentioned about asking for a guarantee which would probably get a 'non-answer' to anyway.

Just got to decide if it's worth paying the extra (not a lot) for something that I might not use. The plan would be to upgrade my WAP to 'n' in the hope that it would have better wireless range in my house than the current b/g kit.

Perhaps I would be better off sticking with what I've got and going for some Home Plugs that a lot of people here seem to rate?

Unless you are into a lot of moving big files wirelessly around your local network then I cannot see much point. Speed of access to the internet will be dicated by the much slower connection between the router and your ISP.

As I mentioned, I'm only interested in attempting on improving the wireless range in my house - speed's not an issue.

Hi

In reply to:

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As I mentioned, I'm only interested in attempting on improving the wireless range in my house - speed's not an issue.

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Draft N doesn't really extend range. It uses the same power outputs and frequencies as normal wireless, and walls that were blocking standard wireless before will still block draft N.

What draft N will do is give you a faster connection (hopefully) than you would get on g at the same distance, but it will not suddenly provide a signal where you couldn't get one before.

You may be lucky and find you do get a signal where it was blocked before but this will be down to newer draft N gear having a few more aerials (or better ones) that allow it to find a path through, and not because it is using draft N.

Regards

Phil

Edited by deleted (Thu 26-Jun-08 12:14:30)

Thanks for all the comments.

I've just ordered my laptop with a 'normal' b/g wireless card.
I'll look into improving my wireless coverage with a home plug thingie or perhaps resiting my WAP.

I'm surprised, Draft N should increase range. One of my friends installed a draft N router, and can now get the signal at the other end of his road on a normal G laptop.

N uses MIMO which is designed to increase speed & range:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIMO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_N

(edit to add second link)

Edited by jchamier (Fri 27-Jun-08 07:17:42)

what is the rationale for it increasing range. You have a regulatory limit on the transmit power, 100 mW or 20 dBm EIRP from memory.

At the other end is a receiver with a sensitivity of (say) -90 dBm also requiring a certain SNR.

So the range is determined by the loss of 110 dB traversing the distance and any obstructions.

Which of these numbers change with Draft N ?

I believe it has something to do with the number of channels used. By using multiple channels and lots of clever algorithms it is possible to take a number of weak signals and combine them together into a single data stream where a single weak signal would fail to work.

Just because 802.11g doesn't work at a distance doesn't mean there is no signal - just that it isn't strong enough for 802.11g to make sense of it. 802.11n is more intelligent and capable of using the extra channels to fill in the gaps.