802.11n 5Ghz?

Gimpymoo · 13 Aug 2011 at 14:55

For the majority, what are the benefits over 2.4Ghz if your airwaves are not crowded with 2.4 in the first place?

Am I right in thinking 5Ghz is not any stronger than 2.4Ghz, specifically, if you allready have bad reception where you are in the house on wifi 2.4Ghz, is 5Ghz going to change that?

Dist · 13 Aug 2011 at 15:06

Even if 2.4 GHz is not crowded with WiFi devices from other users there are still lots of other devices that transmit on that frequency range. So as well as the benefits of the fact that 5 GHz uses non-overlapping channels and there is less interference from non WiFi devices, the regulations in europe also allow for a greater transmit power on the 5 GHz bands than what is allowed on the 2.4 GHz bands.

It should be noted though that just because a greater transmit power is allowed that doesn't mean WiFi devices on 5 GHz will fully take advantage of that, they may just transmit at the same power level regardless of if you are using 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz.

Gimpymoo · 13 Aug 2011 at 16:18

Thanks for the reply.

So, in a real world scenario, what difference does it make to the majority?

ChrisD. · 13 Aug 2011 at 16:39

In my place, I get much better speeds and stability with 5GHz but fortunately neither mine or the lasses phone can support it.

monkeyspank · 13 Aug 2011 at 17:05

If you get a router with simultaneous dual band radios on then you have the best of both worlds

Dist · 13 Aug 2011 at 19:51

Gimpymoo said:
Thanks for the reply.

So, in a real world scenario, what difference does it make to the majority?

WiFi is not that predictable, it varies GREATLY from person to person depending on the situation. If you have an awful connection then switching to 5 GHz may not help, but in some cases it will provide a noticible improvement.

If you can use 5 GHz you should, but not all devices support it so it may not be an option, and unless you have a real need for a chance at a better WiFi connection then I would say don't go out of you way to try and get a 802.11n 5 GHz enabled environment.

My uni project is on Wi-Fi and covers this and from my testing I can say that 5 GHz only provided me with a few Mb/s extra in throughput and stability was only marginally improved, but that being said I've also seen reports of it performing much better than what I have experienced.

Sorry I can't give a better answer, but 5 GHz may or may not make a difference, but at the very least it won't have a negative effect.

As monkeyspank said a simultaneus dual band router like a linksys e3000 can be useful as it allows you to have both a 2.4 GHz 802.11g(or 802.11n) network and a 5 GHz (802.11n only) network running side by side and your devices can connect to the 5 GHz network if possible, if not the 2.4 GHz network is still there.