Korean Job Discussion Forums

[KAMAKAZI]

What do a/b/g/n mean?

What are the differences and best for us here in Korea with laptops?

Thx

[asparker]

802.11 a/b/g/n are all the different standards set for compatibility.

A came first, B second, and so on...

802.11n is the new standard. I think it's set to be finalized next year. Since it's not yet finished, current 802.11n devices are labeled 'draft-n' or 'pre-n'. This doesn't really matter though; most if not all 'pre-n' and 'draft-n' devices sold today should be fully compatible with the official 802.11n standard.

Why more than one standard?
Basically, they get faster with each iteration. B devices ran at about 11 Mbps and G run at a max of 54 Mbps. 802.11n is the future. Now it now runs at a max of like 300 Mbps but theoretically it'll go as high as 600 Mbps.

Compatiblity
G is backwards compatible with B and A. N is backwards compatible with everything. This means that if you've got a notebook with 802.11g, it can connect to A, B or G networks. If you've got a notebook with 802.11n, it can connect to A, B, G or N networks. If though, you've got a notebook with 802.11g, you will not be able to connect to an 802.11n network.

What this means to you?
B/G networks are the most common now. If you buy a notebook with B/G compatibility, you should be good to go 99% of the time. In the future, public N networks will start to become more common but because of the proliferation of B/G only devices, you probably don't have to worry about any compatibility issues for a long time yet.

Most Internet connections are only about 10 Mbps so having a 300 Mbps capable device doesn't really do anything different. The real reason to buy a computer with 802.11n capabilities now is for home networking. If you have large files on one computer and want to transfer them wirelessly to another computer, having faster speeds is really nice. Or if you have an xbox 360 or something like that hooked up to your tv and you want to stream movies wirelessly to it from a computer, having that extra speed means less waiting time and smoother playback.

The other benefit is distance. N networks are able to travel about twice as far as A, B and G networks are. This can make a big difference if the walls in your house are made of concrete which blocks wifi signals quite a bit.

Basically, anything you buy now will have B/G and that's really probably all you need but if you can get N, and it's not too much more, go for it. You'll be more prepared for the future and you'll get better transfer speeds if you have an 802.11n network at home.

It's confusing, I know. Check out the wikipedia article on 802.11 tech if you want to know more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11

[DCJames]

ok, now explain gigabit LANs.

[bassexpander]

I all honesty, I've owned 5 different routers from Linksys, D-Link, Belkin, Zio, and an off brand. The cheaper/popular routers have often worked the best. The newest routers are often VERY buggy, and disgustingly disappointing. I will never purchase a new router until the bugs are worked out (usually in 6 months).

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, and just want decent enough speed for surfing, a D-Link DIR-300 will run you 35,000 won. I've had pretty good luck with it. Belkins have worked well, too, but you have to turn off their firewall as they are often too strong and will mess up video and audio streams. They may have worked this out, however. You can buy a Belkin Wireless G router (very small cube-shaped) for about 40,000 won. I've bought several for friends, and they've all worked flawlessly once the Firewall is disabled.

[asparker]

[bassexpander]

I don't get it... you're putting out "N" from that Linksys?

[pkang0202]

[WK2008]

Clearly asparker gave a very good explanation, and fairly thorough, but I'd quibble with a couple points:

802.11a and 802.11b came out at the same time, as I recall. They're just two different ways to use the spectrum. b isn't an improvement over a.

g is definitely an improvement over a/b.

n is a VAST improvement over g, with the weakness that it's not a standard quite yet (maybe end of 2009 or start of 2010?). What you buy now, make sure it works together, and that you don't mind the risk that it'll become obselete once the standard does come out.

Finally, I think asparker underplayed the importance of distance improvements. For the average user, the 802.11a and 802.11b networks are plenty fast, and no speed improvements are needed. It's the ability to extend your network reliably to that second or third floor bedroom, or perhaps even to the guest house or pool house -- that's what 802.11n buys you. If you're big into gaming, use Ethernet, is my view.

[bassexpander]

In my opinion, you don't need to bother with N (I suppose a gamer might be a different story). We're in Korea, and who wants to be blasting their signal all over the block for any prying Korean with a computer to try to hack into?

[OneWayTraffic]

That's what MAC address filtering is for. A bit hard to hack into a router that won't connect you isn't it?

[bassexpander]