i am looking into installing a wireless netowork into my house, do i want 802.11b or 802.11g??? any input would be appreciated

You have the potential for greater throughput with the g variant and the routers are not much more pricewise.
Pretty easy to figure out the rest.
Not to mention most g routers are also b compatible.

I have 802.11B in my house. The bandwidth is 11mb/s which was actually an improvement upon my old 10mb/s hub. I like it, but if you have the cash go for the G. It's really just a personal decision.

Whether you'll notice the difference between B and G will depend on what you use it for. If cash is really tight and you only use your computer for email, you might wanna go with B. For any other scenario, I'd agree with godfoot in saying that the little extra you spend for G is worth it for more speed.

By the way, you probably won't get anywhere near the advertised speeds for either B or G. Those numbers are just the theoretical limits and don't take into account interference, walls, and signal strength fading with distance.

Anymore, you should be able to get a wireless G router and card for $50-$75 total. Maybe $20-30 total for B. Just keep watching techbargains.com for the right deal. (For instance, right now they list a Netgear G router for $34.84; or a Belkin B router or card for $9.99 each).

I have both in my house a B network downstairs and G upstairs now in my experience the G seemed more powerful and by more powerful I mean. . . say I was out in the backyard about 35 yards away from both access points the G would allow for faster browsing. When your signal drops so does your speeds so if you can afford G go for it. If you cant afford G go with B as long as you are not trying to cover a big area.

Nobody seems to have mentioned A anybody around here use that is there even any reason to. But i G and my friend has B and G is noticably more powerful and even feels faster when transferring files etc.
Off Topic: whats a good program for benching network throughput?

G, no contest. its compatible with A and B. so theres the answer.

what happened to the 5.4 ghz stuff? i havent seen any 5.4 ghz stuff on the store shelves lately except for one pc card.

Quote: Originally Posted by carbongraphite what happened to the 5.4 ghz stuff? i havent seen any 5.4 ghz stuff on the store shelves lately except for one pc card.

It doesn't penetrate walls well, it was really only used in open office settings in the days before 2.4GHz based wi-fi was at comparable speeds.

ok....thx for the advice...i will be lookin at G compatible stuffs within the next couple of days. might post updates if i get around to it