What's the speed of an 802.11g ad-hoc network?

[Daniel Kelly \(AKA Jack\)]

Hi,

I want to build a pure 802.11g ad-hoc network. Will this run faster than
11Mbit/s?

It's a simple question. Even after trying for weeks no-one can give me a
simple answer. Please help!!!

In particular, I'm considering buying a D-Link DWL-G520 and a DWL-G650. I
know that Belkin 802.11g gear will run at 54Mbit/s in ad-hoc mode but I'd
rather buy D-link equipment.

Please please please help!

Many thanks in advance,
Jack

 

[Matt Hayes]

Hi,

I want to build a pure 802.11g ad-hoc network. Will this run faster than
11Mbit/s?

It's a simple question. Even after trying for weeks no-one can give me a
simple answer. Please help!!!

In particular, I'm considering buying a D-Link DWL-G520 and a DWL-G650. I
know that Belkin 802.11g gear will run at 54Mbit/s in ad-hoc mode but I'd
rather buy D-link equipment.

Please please please help!

Many thanks in advance,
Jack

Well, 802.11g runs at 54mbps.. so I would think, yes.

But since I don't use ad-hoc mode, I have no real idea. Give it a try and
find out.. just hold on to the receipts

Matt

 

[Jim]

Jack,

802.11g *will* run approx 5 times faster than an 802.11b, given the same
conditions. But that's NOT a guarantee it will run 11mbps or better! Since
b & g use the same 2.4GHz freq, their general behavior will be quite
similar. BUT, if the 802.11b was never capable of more than, say...,
1.5mbps, there's no reason to assume 802.11g (given the same conditions)
will perform any better than 7.5mbps (5 x 1.5). That's just common sense.
So don't look at the absolute numbers here when comparing standards,
consider their RELATIVE speeds (B mode = 1x (11mbps), G mode = 5x, SuperG =
10x). Btw, beats me where D-Link comes up w/ 15x for SuperG, by my calc's,
11 (802.11b) x 15 = 165?!

IOW, we can't guarantee throughput of ANY amount without considering the
conditions, but we can make a general statement that when comparing one to
the other, the 802.11g should perform approx. 5 times faster than 802.11b
under the SAME conditions. I can tell you from my own experience having
upgraded from 802.11b (D-Link DI-614+, infrustructure mode, DWL-120 and
DWL-650 clients) to 802.11g (D-Link DI-624, infrastructure mode, DWL-G520
and DWL-G650 clients) this is true. I was previously getting about 4.8mbps
w/ 802.11b, but since upgrading to 802.11g (SuperG), I'm getting 25-27mbps,
with bursts of 35-40mbps on occasion. I'm using SuperG mode, so this is
clearly "boosting" my performance even a little more.

At first glance, 27mbps may not seem all that great, but don't believe all
the hype, I consider my results quite common. The "marketing" numbers are
GROSSLY exaggerated.

HTH

Jim

 

[Daniel Kelly \(AKA Jack\)]

Dear Jim,

Thanks loads for your reply.

I didn't express myself properly in my first post... I know 802.11g adapters
SHOULD run faster than 802.11b adapters. However, the D-Link FAQ suggests
(rather ambiguously) that their 802.11g equipment won't run any faster than
11Mbit/s in ad-hoc mode. Which sucks! I've phoned d-link twice and got two
different answers to the question "will the G650 and G520 run faster than
11Mbit/s in ad-hoc mode?".

But, Jim, you might be able to answer this question for me once and for all!
Have you ever tried running your G650 and G520 in ad-hoc mode? If so, did
you get speeds greater than 11Mbit/s (assuming the conditions were good).

Many thanks,
Jack

 

[Jim]

http://support.dlink.com/faq/view.a.../ DWL-G630 / DWL-G510 / DWL-AG520 / DWL-AG650

Ok, now I understand your concern, I assume you ran across the above FAQ.
Frankly, I never noticed this "exception" before, either from D-Link or
suggested in other similar 802.11g products from other vendors, or (more
importantly), complaints from users. So I did a Yahoo search and ran across
this:

http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/N101258.asp

Interesting, so this seems to be an official position by Netgear too, but it
does indicate >11mbps is possible. Unfortunately, I don't have access to
the DWL-G650 since it's on my wife's PC, and she's currently away on
business But even if I had the device in-hand, there's another
problem -- the firmware and (more importantly) the chipsets used on these
devices is always changing, esp. w/ D-Link hardware (notice all the rev's
they employ, can drive you nuts!). The DWL-G650 has already been revised
THREE (3) times (and it's relatively new), with multiple versions in each
case! It's a total crap-shoot which version you'll get (unless, perhaps,
you buy B&M).

Anyway, wish I had better news, you may be forced to simply experiment. I
suggest buying the products from places that will refund, even if the
product has been opened, like Circuit City or Best Buy, never had any
problems whatsoever. Best I can suggest.

HTH

Jim

 

[Daniel Kelly \(AKA Jack\)]

Hi Jim,

Thanks so much for your very informative reply - I never knew that Netgear
had the same views. I think I will follow your advice and buy the devices
from a place that will do refunds. If I do buy then I'll post again with my
news.

Thanks,
Jack