| AZApoker wrote: |> Depending on how fast the network card on the laptop supports, some are |> faster then other, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong. |>
| | What I read is that 802.11b is 11Mps and 802.11g is 54 Mps but the | actual rate is half of that.
Or worse.
Since both transmit and receive is on the same frequency, it is not possible to transmit continuously. In addition to not transmitting when any other node is transmitting, there are additional time gaps needed to deal with issues like reflections.
Additionally, if the communication is between 2 nodes that use an access point, then things will be far worse because every frame of data is transmitted twice on the channel.
| My question was independent to the Wi-Fi card, does the speed from | comcast slow down? I guess it doesn't.
If you have sufficient speed to keep up with whatever burst rate you get from Comcast, then the answer is no. But do keep in mind that cable is more "bursty" than something like DSL. You can get a lot of speed at once, then not much at all another time while one or more of your neighbors are pulling down a big web page, or MP3, or movie.
As long as the cable mode is attached at the access point or otherwise reaches it by wire instead of wireless, then radio path to the laptop should not see the doubling effect of node-to-node through access point.
But you still can see slowdowns due to others using the same, or even nearby, channel.
802.11b is almost certainly going to slow down those speed bursts you could get from cable. A good 802.11g installation in a rural location probably won't.