Do I Need The Newest Standard Wireless ?

I am new to the networking scene - so bear with me here:

I just bought a laptop and I would like to install a wireless network at home.I currently have a dedicated cable modem connection at home into my desktop. My new notebook, like all others, has the newest network standard which I think is "g." That is an 84 megabyte connection or thereabouts I think. Do I need that kind of speed? I am currently at public library on a 54 meg connection which seems to be fine. Does a single computer really use all that bandwidth? Or is that just overhead? I would like to go cheap and not buy the newest hardware if that is possible. I would do most of my intensive internet stuff like gaming on my desktop anyway.

Thanks for any input.

 

802.11g is 54Mbps, not 84. Regardless of connection speed, throughput is about half of that.


So yeah, you do want that speed, and its slow vs. wired.

 

I think most cable connections are around 5 Mbps, and up to 10Mbps, as far as home packages go. Therefore, 54Mbps is plenty. The place where you will notice a difference is when you are transfering files from computer to computer. The weakest link will determine the transfer rate. Which would be 54Mbps, or 11Mbps if you have 802.11b. Having said that, there is little difference in price between a B router, and a G router, so you might as well go for G. Watch the Best Buy/Circuit City/CompUSA ads. Every week there is at least one type of router on sale. Sometimes as low as $15-20.