802.11b vs 802.11a & g

[ciscoroyzhang]

Hi there,   any one can give me some idea on the best practise about the choosing the WLAN 802.11 protocols.

I know that the in WLAN network, all device shares the same access point in half duplex, so using 11g, it would give us 45mbps to share than 11mbps (11b).  therefore, I would think it is good practitice to turn off 11b on all APs, but is there any disavantage by doing so? 

also on the cisco Wireless Lan Controlller web interfarce,  Wireless --> 802.11a/n --> network, how to  setup the DATA RATES. by default the 1 to 5.5 mbps has been disalbed. 6 to 9 mbps are mandatory, then 12 to 54 mbps supported what is the difference and impact by changing those premeter.

thanks.   roy

[Leo Laohoo]

I would think it is good practitice to turn off 11b on all APs, but is there any disavantage by doing so?

You should know what your clients before you embark in this activities.  There are still some clients, such as old laptops or USB adaptors to medical equipments to brand new hand-held bar code scanners, that will read nothing but 802.11b and on 1, 2 or 5.5 Mbps data rates.

The reason why these clients are still prevalent is because of the cost to purchase these wireless cards from storage houses.