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Home Network Question

by lanfear63
5 replies
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I recently purchased a new i5 laptop. Very fast and all the latest spec., including the wifi card.

In the house I have fibre optic internet at 100 megs per second. I also have a netgear simultaneous dualband router broadcasting at 5mhz and 2.4mhz at the same time.. About 6 devices were connected to the 5mhz band which just involved choosing it from the list of available networks, It shows up the 2.4 option as well as the 5.

So, got the laptop home and connected straight away to the 5mhz. Several days later I powered it up the laptop, no connection on the 5. Connected to the 2.4 no problem so still have very fast wireless internet on it.

But, why does it throw me off the 5 now?. My wife bought a new iPhone and ipad in between times and connected them to it, but now they are not.

So, could it be that their are a maximum amount of connections you can make to a 5mhz frequency. Did the router allocate slots for them which are still there even if they are disconnected now.

I am at a loss? Perhaps the wifi card in the laptop went sour on it but connects perfectly to the 2.4. Have made no changes to the laptops settings as far as I can see.

Scant info on this googling it so any ideas, suggestions would be appreciated.

Stuff connected currently

Sat box
Roku box (for Netflix)
Apps tv (for Netflix)
Ipad when on
Mac laptop when on
  • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
    Here we go,

    First of all, that is probably 2.4 and 5 GHZ (gigahertz). These are the frequencies that the router transmits and receives information from your devices.

    The two frequencies have little to do with your overall Internet speed to your ISP from your router.

    The two frequencies DO have different capabilities. I would suspect the 5 GHZ range to drop off quicker that the 2.4 GHZ.

    The reason there are 2 frequencies is to help reduce interference from other devices. If there is interference on the 2.4 GHZ channel, the router tries to connect to your device at 5.0 GHZ. (I know that some Bluetooth devices interfere with 2.4 GHZ transmissions.)

    I really don't think you have a problem. If everything is "hook'n up" on 2.4 GHZ, you're good to go.

    Hope this helps,

    Joe Mobley
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      Originally Posted by Joe Mobley View Post

      Here we go,

      First of all, that is probably 2.4 and 5 GHZ (gigahertz). These are the frequencies that the router transmits and receives information from your devices.

      The two frequencies have little to do with your overall Internet speed to your ISP from your router.

      The two frequencies DO have different capabilities. I would suspect the 5 GHZ range to drop off quicker that the 2.4 GHZ.

      The reason there are 2 frequencies is to help reduce interference from other devices. If there is interference on the 2.4 GHZ channel, the router tries to connect to your device at 5.0 GHZ. (I know that some Bluetooth devices interfere with 2.4 GHZ transmissions.)

      I really don't think you have a problem. If everything is "hook'n up" on 2.4 GHZ, you're good to go.

      Hope this helps,

      Joe Mobley
      I often get those 2 mixed up when writing it down (thanks for the correction). Yes, know about the drop-off thru walls, the distance being shorter to connect. And the lack of interference on 5.

      But, very close to the router. No real complaints about the speed on 2.4 either, just wanted to know why it worked and now suddenly it stopped?
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      • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
        Do you have something that you know interferes with 2.4GHZ? Maybe Bluetooth or an old 2.4GHZ router? Fire it up close to the router and see what happens. Some of your devices might "move."

        Joe Mobley
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        • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
          Originally Posted by Joe Mobley View Post

          Do you have something that you know interferes with 2.4GHZ? Maybe Bluetooth or an old 2.4GHZ router? Fire it up close to the router and see what happens. Some of your devices might "move."

          Joe Mobley
          Fired it up very close, still will not connect to the 5ghz. No, nothing ever interfered with the 2.4. Was always good.

          I think their is some small improvement using 5ghz overall, a speed test showed a faster connection though in practice, with the internet speeds I have its not a big deal. Perhaps downloading stuff?

          I just am perplexed as to why it suddenly packed up connecting.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Well, first of all, they both probably DO have different abilities, so speed MAY degrade. Regardless, speed, and even connectability degrade based on distance, obstructions, interference, etc....

    *****NONE***** of this stuff is SO reliable that you can trust it to always work at the maximum distance at a given rate. WHY? Because MANY are using the same frequency. That automatically causes SOME problems, but there can be collisions(where one signal interferes with another, and your connection must resend the packet) that slow things down more, etc.... Even WEATHER could affect it to some degree.

    The first thing I did was determine the maximum distance that I could use things at, and try to make sure I provided as much of a safety margin as possible. Luckily, it covers pretty much my whole property, and a bit over that. STILL, don't expect the border to always work.

    Steve
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