2.4Ghz = 2Mbps D/L whereas 5Ghz = 100Mbps - Help??

BenEadir

Hi,

I have a 100Mb fibre connection from UPC going into an Asus RT-N66U router which has been flawless since I installed it a couple of years ago. I have a new Android phone (www.oneplus.net) and I was surprised when I was only able to get less than 2Mbps download speed when connected to the 2.4Ghz band. I switched connection to the 5Ghz band and it flies at 100Mbps. I tried switching between the two bands and retesting and everytime the results are the same. the 2.4Ghz band is less than 2Mbps whereas the 5Ghz band is close to or over 100Mbps, see below.

2.4Ghz band



5Ghz band



Any ideas why this would be the case? The ping times are also very different. On the 2.4Ghz band its always over 100ms whereas on the 5Ghz its always less than 20ms.

PaddyTheNth

Someone more knowledgeable can correct me, but my thoughts would be:

• The 5Ghz frequency has a much higher max throughput than the 2.4Ghz frequency
• You would generally expect to get more than 2Mbps on the 2.4Ghz frequency
• The 2.4Ghz frequency is much more likely to have competing signals on it (neighbours wifi, microwaves, garage door openers, even some wireless mice) which can reduce your throughput
• Wireless radios in routers tend to transmit/receive at the speed/standard of the slowest connected device, so if you have an old piece of equipment (early smartphone/old pc) connected to the 2.4Ghz SSID the connection for all devices on that SSID may be throttled to the speed of that old device
  

So I'd either be looking for an old device connected to the 2.4Ghz SSID or a source of interference.

Kensington

How many 2.4GHz networks are around you?
And how many 5GHz?

gouche

I'd say wireless interference in 2.4 is your issue here.
Low speeds and high ping are a sure sign.

Download inSSIDer and scan around the 2.4GHz range and try to find a clean bit of spectrum then change your routers frequency to a more suitable one.

BenEadir

PaddyTheNth wrote: »

[*]You would generally expect to get more than 2Mbps on the 2.4Ghz frequency

I am able to get 35Mbps on the 2.4Ghz band running the exact same test at the same time from the same location on my old phone :mad:

PaddyTheNth wrote: »

[*]The 2.4Ghz frequency is much more likely to have competing signals on it (neighbours wifi, microwaves, garage door openers, even some wireless mice) which can reduce your throughput

So I'd either be looking for an old device connected to the 2.4Ghz SSID or a source of interference.

I used the inSSIDer app to set up my router so my 2.4Ghz network is set to channels 4 to 8 to avoid interference from other 2.4Ghz netwroks nearby and the 5Ghz network sits all by itself on channels 36 to 40. I'm pretty sure interference isn't an issue.

I assume if I'm getting 35Mbps on my old phone interference and an old device throttling the overall output speed of the router aren't issues.

I guess it must be something related to the radio in the nice new shiny smartphone :mad:

BenEadir

gouche wrote: »

Download inSSIDer and scan around the 2.4GHz range and try to find a clean bit of spectrum then change your routers frequency to a more suitable one.

Done and just re-checked.



My 2.4Ghz network is sitting all alone with my neighbours overlapping each other.

Must be an issue with my new phone!!!

PaddyTheNth

BenThere wrote: »

I guess it must be something related to the radio in the nice new shiny smartphone :mad:

Fairly reasonable assumption.

Might be worth poking around in the router control panel and to see what protocol the new phone is connecting with (on 2.4) and what max speed the router is giving that connection.

It would also be worth connecting to another 2.4Ghz network using different router/access point hardware on the off-chance it is some unusual sort of hardware conflict.

Only other thing I can think of is turning off Bluetooth on the new phone, restarting it and trying again. This thread seems to point to some evidence of a vague memory of some Bluetooth-related wifi issues I've heard about.

BenEadir

PaddyTheNth wrote: »

Might be worth poking around in the router control panel and to see what protocol the new phone is connecting with (on 2.4) and what max speed the router is giving that connection

That's beyond my capability I'm afraid. I can log into the router control panel no problem and I can see the dozen or so devices on the wireless network but that's about it. Clicking on them doesn't bring up any info ref how they are connecting or the speed they are connecting at etc.

I'll try it on another 2.4Ghz network and do the Bluetooth trick also.

BenEadir

PaddyTheNth wrote: »

Only other thing I can think of is turning off Bluetooth on the new phone, restarting it and trying again. This thread seems to point to some evidence of a vague memory of some Bluetooth-related wifi issues I've heard about.

Well knock me down with a feather!!! turned off Bluetooth, rebooted phone, switched to the 2.4Ghz network and bingo, download speed was 53Mbps and upload 11Mbps. Problem identified if not sorted!!

I guess CyanogenMod will deal with it in a future FW update as it's obviously a known issue.

Cheers Paddy.

ED E

BT and a rake of other things use frequencies around 2.4Ghz. My connection on my ultrabook slows down when I turn on my bluetooth headset as its a shared antenna, probably the same with the OPO. Just use 5Ghz, keep the 2.4 for older devices.