Dual Band Routers - How do they work?

Drifter

Drifter

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Please educate me if I'm wrong. I am getting a dual band router,with 2.4 Ghz and 5Ghz Wifi bands. My intention is to use the 5Ghz for streaming video, and the 2.4Ghz for other devices.

Do I set up two WiFi profiles on the router with different SSID's, or how does it work?

Ok Ok, enough giggling about the technically challenged question, but we all have to learn.
 
Do your streaming devices support 5Ghz though ?

I'm sure you can do this but make sure the router supports multiple SSID's, I have one router that does and haven't seen many others that do.
 
Yes you can setup different SSID's. I'm doing exactly what you want to do.

5GHz for streaming and 2.4Ghz for all the other devices - phones, tablets etc.
 
Brilliant thanks. I'm picking up a TP-Link AC1750 Archer D7 Dual Band modem/router tomorrow.
 
Got the same router a few days ago. You can use two ssids. Actually way more. I setup mine with 3 ssids. 2.4ghz and 5ghz on the main network.Used the same network name just with a 5 after one of them. Then another ssid on 2.4ghz for guest access with only internet. Very easy to manage who gets how much bandwith with the TP-link smartphone app.
 
Generally 5ghz doesn't have the same range as 2.4ghz.

It's main benefit is really just that many other people aren't using it so it's uncontested.

You also need the client devices to be 5GHz to make use of it.

I just run a "SSID" and then a "SSID_5" on my network.

My 5Ghz network is about 1 bar less at the further reaches than the 2.4ghz.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Generally 5ghz doesn't have the same range as 2.4ghz.

It's main benefit is really just that many other people aren't using it so it's uncontested.

You also need the client devices to be 5GHz to make use of it.

I just run a "SSID" and then a "SSID_5" on my network.
Click to expand...

It's got better range for long distance point to point applications. If you do a scan outdoors in the 5ghz spectrum, you'll notice that it really is pretty crowded, to such an extent that it may be difficult to even set up a point to point with a sustained 50Mbps throughput.
The fact that 2.4Ghz is crowded should not really affect your Internet experience?
 
Already answered but yes, I do exactly the same with my Archer D7, I have a home network 2.4 and a home network 5 set up, some devices on 2.4 and others on the 5.
 
sh3rIIf said:
Really? Can't say that I've noticed. To me both bands are the same but i didn't exactly do any scientific experiments.
Click to expand...

True. As the frequency of the signal increase the tendency to be obstructed by solid objects also increases.
 
ngwe23 said:
True. As the frequency of the signal increase the tendency to be obstructed by solid objects also increases.
Click to expand...

It will probably still work indoors, and fairly well, but as you move further away in the house, ie. more walls in the way, your signal will drastically degrade, compared to 2.4Ghz

EDIT: Example, we have radios running on the 80GHz frequency, but they have to have 5GHz backup links, they don't even like rain drops.
 
Sure. it is not a on/off switch. I don't think I implied that at all. A 5GHz signal will go through walls but it will suffer more attenuation as it does so.
 
Slootvreter said:
It's got better range for long distance point to point applications. If you do a scan outdoors in the 5ghz spectrum, you'll notice that it really is pretty crowded, to such an extent that it may be difficult to even set up a point to point with a sustained 50Mbps throughput.
The fact that 2.4Ghz is crowded should not really affect your Internet experience?
Click to expand...

Yes, I was specifically commenting with regards to the indoor context of the conversation.

Wireless is going to be a problem for you internet experience if you are running some ninja fiber. For us mere mortals on DSL it's not a big issue.
 
Would a cabled connection be faster than 5Ghz?
 
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