Router: 2.4GHz or 5GHz?

Router: 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz?

There are some differences between routers with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz:

• Range: Even though 5 GHz promises a lot, the range is less compared to 2.4 GHz. If the WLAN reaches everywhere in your own four walls, you can make the switch. Alternatively, you can solve this problem with a repeater.

• Support: For both router and receiver to receive a signal over the 5 GHz frequency, they must support the 802.11n or 802.11ac standard. If one of your slightly older computers does not support this standard, the 5 GHz network is already ruled out.

• Interference: Networks with 5 GHz are not as susceptible to interference. Especially in private use, you will quickly find numerous other WLANs in the immediate vicinity, most of which transmit at 2.4 GHz. The 5 GHz frequency is usually used much less frequently.

• Conclusion: If your WLAN is unstable, too slow or your neighbours are interfering, you should switch to 5 GHz.

Router: How to switch to the 5GHz band

In general, the router itself decides whether your smartphone, tablet or PC connects to the router via the 2.4 or 5 GHz frequency. If you want to choose between the greater range of the 2.4 GHz frequency and the faster transmission of the 5 GHz frequency yourself, this is perfectly possible in modern routers. The following instructions refer to a current FritzBox.

• Open the user interface of the FritzBox and activate the extended view if necessary.

• Switch to the category “Wireless network” in the menu on the left, and you will find the WLAN names for the 2.4 and 5 GHz WLAN in the middle.

• Simply give the 5 GHz WLAN a new name here. Simply append the suffix “5 GHz” to the old name.

• Click the “Apply” button at the bottom to make both networks visible separately.

• If, for example, a laptop is very close to the router, the faster 5 GHz frequency is worthwhile. If you use the laptop at a very great distance from the router, the 2.4 GHz frequency is better suited.

Advantages and disadvantages of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz

Although the 2.4GHz standard is much older, it has some advantages over the new 5 GHz standard

• In particular, a router with 2.4 GHz masters the penetration of walls a bit better. In theory, the range in the 2.4 GHz network is also higher, but in practice it usually looks different because of the numerous interference factors. If you still use many older devices, the use of 2.4 GHz is also indispensable, as these often do not support 5 GHz.
  • Due to the small number of only 13 channels, there are in theory only 3 overlap-free channels in the 2.4 GHz network. This is a huge disadvantage compared to the 5 GHz network, which allows up to 19 overlap-free channels and thus a much more interference-free network. In addition, other devices, for example Bluetooth devices, also transmit at 2.4 GHz and thus interfere with the network.

    That’s why you should switch off 2.4 GHz at the router

    Unless you are using very old equipment that only supports the 2.4 GHz, you can only use the 5 GHz network and disable the 2.4 GHz network

    • It is best to check in the user interface of your router which connected devices use which network. Due to the high load on the 2.4 GHz network, most devices use the 5 GHz network anyway. Even if you do not use the 2.4 GHz network, it is constantly in radio operation. This in turn interferes with the 5 GHz network.
    • Disable the 2.4 GHz and observe whether the affected devices function worse on the 5 GHz network. Also check whether the range has decreased. If this is not the case, you can safely do without the 2.4 GHz in future.