What to expect from a Wireless network
The 802.11b standard may be described as offering 11 Mbps, but in reality users would normally see speeds of around 5 Mbps due to the overheads associated with networking. Performance would be further reduced by the introduction of encryption for the connection.
These speeds are more than adequate for an ADSL connection. Likewise, they would also be suitable for streaming audio between machines on a network.
If you expect to be streaming DVD-quality video, you should look at the faster 802.11g standard – or use a Wired network. The 802.11g is classed as 54 Mbps, with a similar scale of reduction as the 802.11b standard.
Prices of 802.11g hardware have reduced greatly in the past year, to the point that it would generally be worth opting for 802.11g in preference over 802.11b as their is no significant difference in price.