802.11g and 802.11b compatability

July 6, 2005 12:20 PM

Stupid and probably very simple networking question: how compatible are the 802.11g and 802.11b protocols? Can a 802.11b networking card and 802.11g router be used together harmoniously?
posted by Dreama to computers & internet (5 comments total)

The short answer is yes. 802.11g is backwards-compatible with b, though my AirPort documentation suggests that overall network speed is less than 54 mbps when in b/g mode.
posted by mcwetboy at 12:29 PM on July 6, 2005

An 802.11g router will handle both b and g. The drawback is that if you have a g device it will run at the lower b speed.
posted by Ferrari328 at 12:30 PM on July 6, 2005

Not only that, but most 802.11g routers can run in 802.11b mode.
posted by atrazine at 12:31 PM on July 6, 2005

Yes, mostly. 802.11g routers are backwards-compatible with 802.11b cards, as long as they aren't too old. The 11b standard called for support of 8 different data rates, but 11g supports 12. If the 11b card isn't running recent firmware, it might not be able to join an 11g network.
posted by pmbuko at 12:32 PM on July 6, 2005

I thought the spec was that it'll run at G in B/G mode until a B client connects, then everything drops to B.
posted by fishfucker at 3:02 PM on July 6, 2005