The xs360 wi-fi USB adapter is not that bad of a deal...

aaronspink said:
How about I move next door and bring my cordless phone with me? Then we can figure out what is truely the failed wireless standard. Both B and G are wiped out by even a moderately powerfull cordless phone.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.
Click to expand...

You damn right you're speaking for yourself Aaron. ;)

I'm in an apartment surrounded by cordless phones, microwaves, and electronics above me, below me, to the side of me, inside my apartment obviously, etc... and I see no less than seventeen b/g networks I can access. So... I don't know - this is some kind of phone you own!
 
Shifty Geezer said:
Which is surely some 90+% of the Joe Public market. It wouldn't be hard to package a 'a' WiFi adaptor with MCE logos and film graphics to effectively communicate customers need the more expensive variety for MCE streaming, while the 'b/g' adaptor is all that's needed for internet access over a home network.
Click to expand...
I find that funny given that early on in this discussion we couldn't even agree what use the A standard is for. If 90% percent of Joe Technical Internet Forum couldn't figure this out without some debate (still ongoing?) what chance does Joe Public have. By the way--the graphic would have to show hidef movie versus non-hidef, so you'd need something more than just a simple movie graphic.

In my mind, the adapter is really worthless and MS might as well have not relaesed one, since I think a wireless to ethernet bridge can be much less expensive and in the end you need to pair up components so that they work in your wireless network environment. The MS one is really designed for plug-n-play, minimal thought purchase and setup. For this, people are paying a 20$ premium. But I'm pretty sure there is a market for that kind of thing.

.Sis
 
aaronspink said:
How about I move next door and bring my cordless phone with me? Then we can figure out what is truely the failed wireless standard. Both B and G are wiped out by even a moderately powerfull cordless phone.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.
Click to expand...

My cordless phone goes 4 blocks with no problem
 
1)Not everyone's cordless phones are the same...
2)The 5.8Ghz phones won't effect b/g networks but can play hell with the a ones.
3)The 2.4Ghz phones won't effect a networks but can play hell with the b/g ones.
4)Not everyone's homes are arranged the same way (signal propagation!!)...

I've seen wireless networks that work just fine around microwaves and wirless phones and I've seen others that stop working instantly when a phone rings or a microwave turns on and I've seen others still that you can't get work right no matter what you do, so don't be so quick to dismiss potential problems with wireless networks and other devices people or to down play the importance of supporting all 3 802.11x standards...

That being said, the price is still kinda high even though most 3rd party a/b/g adapters don't cost much less.

/Can't even walk outside the house without the phone getting all staticy in my area, cell phone usage sucks too, but my Linksys 802.11g router/NIC haven't let me down yet though my MS MN-730 router had occasional connection issues...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Stop the presses!

Media Center actually supports both G and A wireless standards.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mce/expert/bowman_extenders.mspx

"Although wired Ethernet is recommended, Microsoft recognizes that many users may prefer wireless. The Microsoft specification for the standalone Media Center Extender therefore includes 802.11a/g dual band wireless. If you plan to use wireless, a router that supports both 802.11a and 802.11g is ideal. You can learn more about 802.11a and 802.11b in my earlier column on 802.11a Wireless Networking with Windows XP and about 802.11g wireless in Raising the Speed Limit with 802.11g Wireless Networking and Windows XP. The Media Center Extender comes with everything you'll need for making a wireless connection using both 802.11a and 802.11g.
...

The presence of an 802.11b device on a mixed 802.11b/g network will slow down your network. The 2.4 GHz band in which 802.11b/g wireless operates is also used by cordless telephones, microwave ovens, and other devices. Also, 802.11b/g has proliferated to the point that many neighborhoods are saturated with wireless access points and routers close enough to disrupt your own network. I use Netstumbler to try to find the best channel to configure on my wireless equipment. You can see how saturated my neighborhood is in the figure below.

...

You may already have laptops, PDAs, or other devices that use wireless on a home network. All the computers and devices share the wireless bandwidth of the wireless radio inside your wireless router or access point. 802.11a is not as widely used and over shorter distances of 20–30 feet has greater sustained throughput than 802.11g. For these reasons, 802.11a is the preferred type of wireless connectivity for the Media Center Extender."
 
She also touched on the fact that G does not quite cut it:

"I don't find 802.11g fast enough for Xbox Live gaming and I was not happy with the Media Center live or recorded TV performance of 802.11g wireless using the Media Center Extender for Xbox kit. I experienced some network congestion and dropouts. Here is an explanation of network throughput versus maximum data rate to help you understand network performance.

For better wireless performance, I configured both the DI-784 and the DWL-G820 to use Atheros Super G modes. "


And the difference between theoretical and actual throughput:

"When looking at wireless designations such as 54 Mbps or 11 Mbps, a good rule of thumb is that the actual maximum throughput under the best conditions will be the designated theoretical number divided by two. So if you look at a wireless 802.11g or 802.11a product that is advertised at 54 Mbps, you won't see speeds of 54 Mbps. Divide by 2 and the number is 27. If you achieve 22 Mbps, you've got a great connection. The slower 802.11b wireless with an 11 Mbps data rate actually supplies at best a 5 to 6 Mbps throughput and should not be considered for use in Media Center networks. Streaming TV requires a minimum of 6 Mbps and will not work on a "b" wireless connection."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top