Originally posted by: matsuhisai'm kinda new to wireless networking and i had a quick question...
is the usb as fast as the pci in terms of dl'ing speed??
also, is one more reliable than the other??
thanks...
To help answer your question ...
The MAXIMUM throughputs are:
(
Bps=BYTES per second, bps=bits per second
Files are refered to in BYTES, but data transfer is refered to in BITS
1 BYTE = 8 BITS)
Bus Speeds (from PCIsig.com / USB.org / PCMCIA.org )
PCI (2.0 32bit 33Mhz) is 132MBps (1056Mbps) (obviously, 66Mhz etc increase this significantly)
USB HighSpeed (USB 2.0) is 60MBps (480Mbps)
PCCard (32bit PCCards) is 33MBps (264Mbps)
PCMCIA (16bit PCCards) is 10MBps (80Mbps)
USB Fast (USB 1.1) is 1.5MBps (12Mbps)
Network Speeds (from 54g.org)
802.11g running TCP/IP is 3+MBps (24+Mbps)
802.11b/g mixed running TCP/IP is 2.25+Mbps (10+Mbps)
802.11b running TCP/IP is 0.5MBps (5Mbps)
Maximum speed of Cable/DSL download 375KBps (3Mbps)
So to answer your question,
If you are only surfin the net, then it doesn't matter what adapter you use, they are all faster than the cable/dsl line ...
If you have a "B" or a "B+G" environment, it doesn't what adapter, since USB / PCI / PCCard / MPCI all exceed the capability of the wireless network.
If you have a "G" exclusive environment, then you want to avoid USB Fast (USB 1.1) ... If you have a machine with USB Fast (USB 1.1) then you'll need to upgrade the USB ports if you want to use a USB adapter ... other than that, it is a moot point what method you use ...
For connectivity (reliability) issues, most people prefer either USB on a lead, or a PCI (with a seperate antenna) ... the reason, being fairly obvious ... there is lots of furniture and metal around a PCI Slot / USB port, both of which will reduce signal strength / quality ... Personally, If you have USB HighSpeed (USB 2.0) capability, then go for that, since then you can move it easily from machine to machine if you desire (and its usually cheaper than a PCI + seperate antenna ...)
One difference between "B" and "G" that doesn't get a lot of attention is the signal strength issue ... "G" equipment has a much higher sensitivity, and therefore a longer range than "B" ... but in a regular appartment, or a small house, thats a minor issue.
Hope this is of some help ... (and hopefully it wasn't too technical and that there aren't too many technical errors in this post )
@shley