N B & G devices on an N network - overall speed?

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I've been doing a bit of searching and have not found a clear answer for this yet.
if you connect a 'g' device to an 'n' network, the network will only function at 'g' speeds.

Does this mean that if i have a Airport Express with 802.11N and my Macbook on N, but my desktop is on G and my windows laptop is on B, the speed of the entire network, even between the Airport and Macbook, will be dropped to B, due to the Windows laptop running on B?
 
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It usually depends on the router, but most new routers don't downgrade the entire network speed if you add non-N devices. N is essentially only useful for increased speed between networked computers and increased range. While the B and G devices can't take advantage of the former, they can most certainly take advantage of the latter.

With an Airport Extreme, your network speed will only drop when you are transferring files between an N device and a B/G device. However, if you were to add another N device or an external hard drive to the Airport Extreme, then you would be running at N speeds, regardless of the fact that you have B and G devices on the network.
 
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Thanks for the insight Kash. A bit of a relief to know i do not need to go out and buy N adapters for the rest of my gear.
 

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