[MLB-WIRELESS] 802.11 and 802.11b

[Matthew Boyd]

Okay, hows this for a scenario,
I set up an 802.11b access point in my building, most people there 
would probably not see the point of spending 300ish on an 802.11b card, 
however.. $70 for a 802.11 would probably be something that a few 
people wouldn't mind trying, cheap entry to the wireless world and 
still pretty fast.

Assuming that the access point could communicate with the 2mbit(802.11) 
cards, is it then forced to use 802.11 for all conections? or, can it 
operate in both modes at the same time. Would the 2mbit cards spread 
the load across the full 11mbit range of the access point or would it 
flood a particular section of it? I'm thinking probably more the 
latter. Also, would the ping times be acceptable for gaming with say 5-
10 people all using 802.11 withing say 100m of each other?

I'm thinking about the sort of services I might provide through my AP, 
or even if its worth running as an AP, I'm initially thinking (in the 
neighbourhood) of running a game and file server (quake, etc) and if I 
can ever get cheap net bandwidth, then a mail server.

Anyone have any idea which cards are DS/FH?

Matt

> Be careful here.  802.11 isn't a single standard, but effectively 
> has 2 sub
> standards - FH and DS.  AFAIK, 2Mbps DS (direct sequence) can 
> communicatewith 802.11b cards (which are DS AFAIK), at the 1 and 2 
> Mbps bit rates.
> 
> However, 802.11 can also be used on FH (frequency hopping) 
> hardware.  This
> is _NOT_ compatible with the higher speed cards (again, AFAIK, YMMV).
> 
> > Or, should 2Mbit be confined to west Melb and east Melb kept 
> > 11Mbit?  ;) 
> > <Flame retardant clothing on>
> 
> Given where I am, the lower speeds are the more practical anyway (see
> below).
> > 
> > Mind you, 802.11 should get better range than 802.11b (due to 
> > the higher 
> > process gain.)
> 
> Indeed, there is a law called Shannon's Law that determines how 
> much data
> can be pumped down a given channel - and lower bitrates can always 
> survive a
> noisier channel (i.e. better range).
> 
> Well, if 2Mbps gear is available for $80....  tempting to have a 
> play.  I
> don't have a need for a super huge pipe out (that's what sloptus 
> cable is
> for ;) ), and my interests in WLANS are more experimental than 
> anything.Yes, I think this old stuff has a place. :)
> 


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