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Forum Discussion
5ghz wifi connection to RBR40
I have Verizon FiOS 1 gigabit internet connectivity at my home and a dual frequency wifi adapter in my computer. When I try to a speedtest, the download/upload speed are nowhere near the available s...
Just the designation of a "dual band WiFi adapter" could indicate something old from the early days in Wi-Fi 2 (802.11a) or Wi-Fi 3 (802.11g) on the 5 GHz band - what makes a PHY rate of max 54 Mbit/s or net data rates in the 35..40 Mbit/s range. First thing to check is the exact make/model of that wireless adapter in your computer.
Of course, there could be other issues, e.g. an Orbi satellite far away from the Orbi router. But before we're looking into that let's try to find the weakest part in the link - the wireless client adapter.
Hello,
My laptop is connected to a Trendnet TEW-684UB adapter which is an older unit but is dual band 2.4ghz/5ghz. I took my laptop to a couple of friend's homes who both had FiOS 1gb connections to their home. One friend had a FiOs Quantum dual band router. When I tried to wirelessly connect to it, I noticed that there were two possible connections, i.e., 2.4ghz and 5ghz. I sat down about 25 feet away in his family room and first tried to connect wirelessly to the 2.4ghz and then initiated a speedtest. I got about 35/35 speeds. I then connected to the 5ghz, initiated another speedtest, and got 230/240 speeds.
I then went to my second friend's home and he's using an ASUS RT-68U dual band router. Once again, sitting about 25 feet away in his living room, I tried to wirelessly connect to it. In doing a search of available networks, I was able to see the ASUS router on my laptop and once again saw a 2.4 ghz and a 5ghz available connections. I initiated a connection and a speedtest to the 2.4ghz connection and got 45/40 speeds. I then did the same, but connected to the 5ghz and got 250/235 speeds.
So my question is why I don't I see two available connections to my Orbi like I did with my friends' FiOS Quantum and ASUS rourters? Is there a setting in the Orbi that must be made so that the dual band connections are visible to my laptop and can allow me to connect to either the 2.4ghz or 5ghz?
Guidance and help would be much appreciated!
killians913 wrote:Hello,
So my question is why I don't I see two available connections to my Orbi like I did with my friends' FiOS Quantum and ASUS rourters? Is there a setting in the Orbi that must be made so that the dual band connections are visible to my laptop and can allow me to connect to either the 2.4ghz or 5ghz?
The Orbi only broadcast 1 SSID for both 2.4 and 5Ghz networks. Your device will choose what best fits it, based on support and distance.
There are complicated ways to separate the 2, but is not supported by Netgear. It would be nice in the future if Netgear would incorporate that feature in the GUI or app, as some prefer to never connect to 2.4Ghz when their device supports 5Ghz.
With that said, the only time a 5Ghz device would connect to 2.4Ghz is if the 5Ghz signal falls below a threshold and could be unstable.
You should be able to go into your device network settings and force 5Ghz only. I'm running WIN 10, and it is in device manager.
There are no technical or operational reasons for configuring different SSIDs (network names) for a network connecting to the same LAN or VLAN.
What you see offered on the computer are not different bands - just different names - historically applied with extensions like "_24G" and "_5G" or the like.it could be also Bob and Alice. This configuration style is a relict of the past.
Compare to the FM radio in your car. On your grandpa's FM radio you tuned to a frequency to hear a station. Driving a few miles, grandma had to change the frequency or scan until they was able to hear the same station again. Somewhere around 1990 the RDS System (Radio Data System) in Europe, respectively RBDS (Radio Broadcast Data System) was added to the transmitters and the receivers. Beyond the ability to dynamically switch to a station sending out traffic information, it contains the ability to transmit alternative frequencies for the same station. So your fathers RDS/RBDS radio was able to scan the alternate frequencies in the background and dynamically switch to the more appropriate transmitter (technically requiring a different frequency on FM to avoid interference) so mom and dad were able to listen the same station more or less seamlessly.
IEEE 802.11k has added a very similar feature like the RDS/RBDS alternate frequency feature - Radio Resource Management - around 2007, and the more mainstream version for mobile WiFi in 2012. It does gives the wireless client information on the other WiFi radios on air allowing to connect to the same network. Apple has the support in their devices since around the iPhone 4S. All decent wireless client adapters are supporting this nowadays. You can walk around doing VoIP calls or walk Youtube on the notebook and seamlessly roam between the access point radios, e.g. on your Orbi system. Your (newer) wireless client does take care of everything. If the 802.11n dual band Trendnet adapter does - I don't know - probably not. Time to consider a replacement.
If they are just different names for the same device and not different bands, please help me understand why when I connect to the "5ghz" name vice the "2.4ghz" name and run a speedtest, I get a huge difference in speed??
killians913 wrote:If they are just different names for the same device and not different bands, please help me understand why when I connect to the "5ghz" name vice the "2.4ghz" name and run a speedtest, I get a huge difference in speed??
The 2 networks are different with regard to 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz connections. Separating them has advantages and disadvantages. When separated you can choose which network you want to connect to which is good. But it can be bad if you force 5G on your device and you move to far away, you will lose a data connection. But if you have auto detect and both networks are combined, like on the Orbi and many other new routers, the 5G network will auto switch to 2.4Ghz to extend the distance before disconnect.
I have a love/hate going with both scenarios. For phones, tablets, laptops and any other moveable device, I prefer auto detect. For cameras, fixed PCs, printers, scanners, etc., I prefer being able to select the proper band based on signal strength and support.
The reason you seen two different SSIDs at your friends places is that there routers are not running smart connect. Orbi wifi systems are based using Smart Connect which configures 1 SSID name for the 2.4 and 5Ghz radios. These are not officially seperable on Orbi. So the Orbi system provides the wireless signal to connect too. Its up to the wireless device to pick and choose which frequency it will connect to. Orbi doesn't pick the frequency. You can help the wifi device out some by lowering the power output of the RBR on 2.4Ghz to help the wifi device steer more towards the 5Ghz signal. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
killians913 wrote:Hello,
My laptop is connected to a Trendnet TEW-684UB adapter which is an older unit but is dual band 2.4ghz/5ghz. I took my laptop to a couple of friend's homes who both had FiOS 1gb connections to their home. One friend had a FiOs Quantum dual band router. When I tried to wirelessly connect to it, I noticed that there were two possible connections, i.e., 2.4ghz and 5ghz. I sat down about 25 feet away in his family room and first tried to connect wirelessly to the 2.4ghz and then initiated a speedtest. I got about 35/35 speeds. I then connected to the 5ghz, initiated another speedtest, and got 230/240 speeds.
I then went to my second friend's home and he's using an ASUS RT-68U dual band router. Once again, sitting about 25 feet away in his living room, I tried to wirelessly connect to it. In doing a search of available networks, I was able to see the ASUS router on my laptop and once again saw a 2.4 ghz and a 5ghz available connections. I initiated a connection and a speedtest to the 2.4ghz connection and got 45/40 speeds. I then did the same, but connected to the 5ghz and got 250/235 speeds.
So my question is why I don't I see two available connections to my Orbi like I did with my friends' FiOS Quantum and ASUS rourters? Is there a setting in the Orbi that must be made so that the dual band connections are visible to my laptop and can allow me to connect to either the 2.4ghz or 5ghz?
Guidance and help would be much appreciated!
So are you saying that if I were physically closer to the Orbi that it would switch from 2.4 to 5 and I would be getting much higher download/upload speeds?
Based on distance, single, noise and how the device is designed, yes. So to try this out, turn down the power on the 2.4Ghz radio on the RBR from 100% to 25%. Then test your device normally from where you sit or closer. See where it changes. You may have to temporarily disable the wifi radio on the device to force it to the 5Ghz radio if it doesn't do it on it's own.
