2.4GHZ OR NOT 2.4GHZ?
FROM WORKING OUTSIDE TO CLEARING 5GHZ TRAFFIC JAMS, WE EXPLAIN WHY THERE’S LIFE IN THE OLD 2.4GHZ BAND YET
Every router in this month’s Labs supports wireless networking in two different frequency ranges: the 2.4GHz radio band and the 5GHz band. In our reviews, however, we’ve focused solely on performance in the 5GHz range, because that’s what you’ll probably be using 99% of the time. The higher frequency means connections are faster and 5GHz radio transmissions are also less susceptible to radio interference from home appliances and other sources.
You might wonder why 2.4GHz connections are still supported at all. Partly it’s to ensure compatibility with older devices as 5GHz support was only added to the Wi-Fi spec with the 802.11n specification in 2009.
However, 2.4GHz networking also has some practical advantages. For one, the hardware is cheaper, so simple IoT-type devices such as smart plugs and lights often work on the 2.4GHz band. Second, it’s a fact of physics that lower-frequency waves travel further, so all things being equal a 2.4GHz network should have better range than a 5GHz one.
For these reasons, 2.4GHz networking remains as part of the Wi-Fi 6 specification – and it even gets a speed boost. In Wi-Fi 5,
2.4GHz connections were limited to 600Mbits/sec, but nearly half of the routers in this month’s Labs support the new top rate of 1,200Mbits/sec.
That’s enough to make you wonder whether it’s worth giving 2.4GHz a try. To find out, we took this month’s Labs winning router – the Netgear Nighthawk RAX80 – and repeated our Wi-Fi 6 download tests using its 2.4GHz radio. The results are in the small table to the right.
There’s clearly no contest in terms of raw performance – even the slowest download on the 5GHz band was faster than anything 2.4GHz could muster. At the same time, it’s noticeable that the 2.4GHz signal drops off more gently with distance, which suggests it could well extend to parts of your home where 5GHz just doesn’t cut it.
I confirmed this for myself by going out onto the terrace behind my home and repeating the tests.
This time the 5GHz signal collapsed to a jerky 1.2MB/sec, while 2.4GHz network kept up a glitch-free 4.8MB/sec. It’s not the world’s fastest connection, but when the summer comes around it will be fine for getting some work done in the sunshine.
There’s one other reason why you might want to make use of your 2.4GHz network: to minimise the non-essential traffic going over your main radio. For example, if you have a smart TV near your router, you might find it can stream video perfectly well over a 2.4GHz connection. That instantly frees up a chunk of airspace and bandwidth for other devices.
In my own case, I use a NAS appliance with a 2.4GHz connection to the router for family backups. The wireless approach means that the NAS can be conveniently tucked away in the utility room, where I don’t have to hear its drives chuntering away, and our personal devices are unaffected as they’re all on the 5GHz network. Realistically, 2.4GHz provision is going to be a low priority when choosing a router. However, it’s not nothing: when you have that second radio just sitting there, you might as well see if you can use it to improve the connection in awkward areas, or lighten the load on your primary wireless network.
“When you have that second radio just sitting there, you might as well see if you can use it to improve the connection”