kdb209
Registered User
- Jan 26, 2005
- 14,870
- 6
To clarify... The primary differences between the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz wireless frequencies are range and bandwidth. 5GHz provides faster data rates at a shorter distance, whereas 2.4GHz offers coverage for farther distances, but may perform at slower speeds.
The other big difference is congestion - there are a lot more 2.4GHz devices out there.
2.4GHz was basically unusable in my condo, even 5 ft and one wall away I would sometimes get < 1-2 Mbs. Using a wifi analyzer app on my phone I could see that there were multiple networks (sometimes 20-30+) in use on all of the 2.4GHz channels (1,6,11, and most of the others). The 5GHz channels were largely empty.
I upgraded to an 2.4GHz/5GHz 801.3ac router - clear sailing on 5GHz - my full ISP 30Mbs in most of my unit and >400Mbs LAN bandwidth.