What is wireless spectrum and frequency band and Understanding of channel selection?

What is a Wireless Spectrum?

Most wireless products use the following Wi-Fi spectrums: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac. These Wi-Fi spectra are established by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a non-profit organization also known as the IEEE. This is why you’ll often see “IEEE 801.11a/b/g/n” on retail boxes for wireless devices, routers, etc.

 

 

What is a WiFi frequency band?

There are basically two frequency bands used for Wi-Fi technology, 2.4GHz and 5GHz. 2.4GHz has been around longer. It’s also an unregulated frequency. As a result, vendors can manufacture 2.4GHz devices less expensively than regulated spectrum like the 5GHz band. The downside to this “unregulated” band is that manufacturers use it for everything: cordless phones, baby monitors, microwaves, garage door openers, etc. 5GHz is a regulated frequency which costs manufacturers more to produce.

The 2.4GHz band offers better range. It handles obstacles better than 5.0GHz. However, 5GHz offers much faster throughput for maximum performance. It just doesn’t handle obstructions and channel noise quite as well. However, keep in mind that because there are more 2.4GHz wireless networks, the frequency channels can become crowded in some areas.

Interference and obstructions greatly affect the range and quality of a wireless signal. Interference often comes from noise created by other wireless routers, cordless phones, baby monitors, etc. Obstructions are physical obstacles like walls and trees or large metal objects such as a refrigerator.

Remember this when troubleshooting because it may not be just one thing causing problems. It could be that there are too many devices using the same frequency. It could also be multiple obstacles, inadequate antenna gain, or a little of everything.

Choosing 2.4 ghz vs 5 ghz Wifi

In short, you should choose 5 ghz for your 802.11 Band for simple reasons. It operates at much faster speed with the latest technology.

2.4 ghz vs 5 ghz Wireless Interference

5 ghz has less signal interference.

The idea is that more devices in your house operate at 2.4 ghz. The wifi networks owned by your neighbors have a higher probability of running on 2.4 ghz so that the wifi signals can interfere with one another. The reasons can be that neighbors still have 2.4 ghz devices that they need to support.

If you choose to use 5 ghz over 2.4 ghz , because of the shorter range on the 5 ghz wifi, your 5 ghz network has less chances of interfering with neighbor’s 5 ghz.

2.4 ghz vs 5 ghz Data Throughput

5 ghz offers faster speed since more data can be transferred via the 5 ghz band. This means you should always pick 5 ghz if your device is close to the router that you are hosting the network with.

2.4 ghz vs 5ghz Support comparison.

2.4 ghz supports more devices (backward compatible).

5 ghz is a more recent technology whereas the older devices only support 2.4 ghz. So if you are still using older devices, your real only option is to let your network support 2.4 ghz. Unless you want to bridge devices using other routers. But then again when you have mixes of 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz, you are likely to bring down the overall performance of the network.