What speed does 54mbps network to 10/100mbps at?

[bowtomecha]

The new 54mbps wireless "G" systems that will be coming out... how compatible are they with 10mbps and 100mbps cards? If my laptop with a wireless 54mbps card and and my desktop with an ethernet 10/100mbps card are networked through say the new Linksys 802.11g router, what speed will they connect to? Are there going to be upgraded cards for PCI slots that reach that speed? Or am I going to be stuck at 10mbps anyways? Or does it automatically work somehow? If not then what purpose does getting a "G" system have for me? Would I need to get a wireless 54mbps PCI card for my desktop in the future? Im figuring that since my internet connection doesnt go above1.5mbps the only need for the extra speed is when swapping files faster on two locally networked computers.

[MJShimek]

I would say for what you are doing, G would be a waste of money, unless you are running some kind of server with huge multimedia or graphic files, 802.11b should work just ducky!

[oshea85]

Your 11b/a/g access point most likely has a 10/100 ethernet port on it (that's how you plug it into your network, right?). 10/100 Ethernet NICs (whether they are on an AP or a switch) will (or maybe I should say "should") autonegotiate their speed and duplex settings, most likely to 100 Mbps/full duplex.

Just because a NIC can 'talk' at 100 Mbps doesn't mean that 100 Mbps of data is going across it at all times. 100 Mbps is the MAC layer data rate, not throughput.

I've used a Cisco 11a AP connected to a Linksys home gateway/switch, and benchmarked around 19-20 Mbps throughput.

I expected something around 25 Mpbs; I hear that Linksys switches are not really full duplex?