Wireless - Not sure I understand why 5Ghz is better..

[FuzzyReets]

Hi folks. So I'm a bit confused about what is so great about the 5Ghz wireless. I have a dual band router and I have always used the 2.4 band. This is because I did testing about a year ago and determined that all the places in my house that I use my wireless on a regular basis produce less speed in network tests I have done when using 5Ghz instead of 2.4Ghz. I understand that the higher frequencies have less object penetration and shorter distances so should I conclude that 5Ghz band is only better when I'm right near it? Also, when I'm close to my router and doing my tests, I see the same speeds from both bands so theoretically I never really see a difference. The only thought I had was that maybe using the 5Ghz band provides better error correction or better stability in some way. Am I missing something? Thanks.

 

[Jamsan]

Interference. Everyone and their mother uses 2.4ghz - WiFi, (some) cordless phones, garage door openers, etc. With 5ghz, you're more likely to have a cleaner spectrum without outside interference to bog down your bandwidth.

If you're in an area without much 2.4ghz interference around, then you won't benefit much from 5ghz, based on the drawbacks (reduce range, limiting penetration capabilities).

 

[bearxor]

The main advantage of the 5ghz band is that it's not as cluttered. The 2.4ghz band can get interference from a lot of different sources, like other wifi networks, cordless phones your neighbors may have, even fluorescent lights can interfere in the 2.4 range.

Now, you're right about the wavelength and that 2.4ghz signals travel through things better than 5ghz. If you're perfectly happy with 2.4 in your area, fine. The only other consideration may be how many device you have on your wifi network. The radio in a lot of these routers aren't going to handle a lot of devices very well. So if you can split your traffic between 2.4 and 5, your network will be overall much happier.

In my neighborhood, when I moved in to it in 2009, I was the only 5ghz network for a mile or so. Now, I get about a half dozen 5ghz networks siting in my bathtub . The 5ghz band is becoming exceedingly cluttered as well.

 

[FuzzyReets]

okay so there is no real different technology used or error correction that makes using 5Ghz better. It's just a different frequency that's not as popular yet so it's less cluttered but has some drawbacks in itself. If I test both from the same area and the 2.4 is faster than I should stick with that. Right?

 

[Jamsan]

okay so there is no real different technology used or error correction that makes using 5Ghz better. It's just a different frequency that's not as popular yet so it's less cluttered but has some drawbacks in itself. If I test both from the same area and the 2.4 is faster than I should stick with that. Right?

I'll let the deeper technical guys chime in on that one, but that's how I'd sum it up - especially in a residential setting.

 

[JackMDS]

The most important Variable in Electronic transmission of Data is Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR).

A clean signal that has half the power will do better than stronger Signal that has on it a lot of noise.

Powerline Network (as an example) is problematic because the electrical line has more noise than data when used for meaningful transmission.

Since there are much more WIFI operating on 2.4GHz there is much more noise on the Signal coming from the near by Wireless Routers, thus the SNR is No so good.

As an example in my office I can see about 30 Wireless Routers all working on 2.4GHz while I am the only one that have Dual Band (2.5GHz & 5GHz). Needless to say that my Wireless network works much better on the 5GHz.

On the other hand 5GHz travels less distance and can be blocked more than 2.4GHz by obstructions (walls furniture and other object that impede electronic signals).

The way to evaluate WIFI Signal is Not by looking at he bars or at the numbers shown in the Status menus.

The best way is to measure the transfer rate of a 100MB file (or 500 MB if you have really fast Wireless) between a Wireless and a wired computer on a Gigabyte capable wired Network.

The best I ever got is 55MB/sec (B=Byte) when the Wireless Router and Wireless Computer are in the same Room 6 feet a part. Usually I get sustain transfer between 30 -35 MB/sec.

If I use in the same environment 2.4GHz at 802.11n, I get around 10-15 MB/sec.

B= Byte b=bit 1Byte= 8bits