Difference between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and how to check whether your laptop or desktop support 5 GHz

 

Difference between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and how to check whether your laptop or desktop support 5 GHz

 

2.4 GHz VS 5 GHz

 

Hello everyone, have you ever purchased a new Wi-Fi router and you notice that the router has both 2.4 gigahertz and 5 gigahertz frequency bands?  Or maybe your existing router has both of them and did you ever wonder why some routers have these dual bands?

 

So that's what we're going to talk about, Now a frequency band is how wireless data is transmitted between devices these bands are radio waves that carry the data and these bands are either 2.4 gigahertz or 5 gigahertz

Now a lot of Wi-Fi routers will only transmit one of these bands, which would be the 2.4 bands and that's because it's the most common frequency and these are called single band routers But a lot of newer Wi-Fi routers will transmit both the 2.4 and 5 gigahertz bands And these are called dual band Wi-Fi routers

 

Now, the 2.4 band works pretty well It's the standard band But the problem is that it's not just a standard band that's used in Wi-Fi routers It's also, the standard band that's used in a lot of other devices, things like microwave ovens, cordless phones, Bluetooth devices, and wireless cameras, all used a 2.4 gigahertz band  and this became a problem because of the fact that so many other devices use the 2.4 bands, the signal became overcrowded and was causing a lot of interference with Wi-Fi signals and when this happens it slows down the Wi-Fi network speed and Sometimes could cause you to lose connection to the Wi-Fi router

So that is why the 5 gigahertz band was added the 5 gigahertz band is a newer band And so it's not as commonly used as the 2.4, so it's used by fewer devices, And because it's used by fewer devices, the 5 gigahertz is not as crowded so there is no interference or minimal interference so using the 5 gigahertz would relieve the problem related to slow network speeds and connection drops that will be caused by interference from other devices

 

Another reason why the 2.4 is more vulnerable to interference is because of the difference in wireless channels

Now if you're not familiar with what a wireless channel is, a wireless channel is just a way to fine-tune and alter a frequency sometimes you might need to change to a different channel If you are experiencing interference from different wireless devices and changing to a different channel will give you that ability

The 2.4 gigahertz band has 11 channels to choose from but of these 11 channels Only 3 are non-overlapping so basically you have three solid channels to choose from. 

But the 5 gigahertz has more channels.  It has 25 non-overlapping channels.

And some other differences between a 2.4 and 5 gigahertz band is the speed and the range that they cover. 

The 2.4 gigahertz band Transmits data at a slower speed than the 5 gigahertz But it does have a longer range than the 5 gigahertz. 

The 5 gigahertz band transmits data at a faster speed Than a 2.4 but it has a shorter range. 

The 5 gigahertz has a shorter range because it has a higher frequency and higher frequencies have a harder time penetrating solid objects, such as floors and walls in a building

 

So the question is, which band do you want to actually use?   And that really depends on your situation. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. 

The advantage of a 2.4 gigahertz is

• It has a further range  
• It can penetrate solid objects better

 

However, the disadvantage that it has is

• That it's more vulnerable to interference because so many other devices use the same band.
• It’s also slower than the 5 gigahertz.  

 

And the advantage of the 5 gigahertz is

• That it has a higher transfer speed  
• It’s less vulnerable to interference

 

However, the disadvantage that it has is

• At the same time, it does have a shorter range.
• It has a harder time penetrating through solid objects. 

 

And if you're interested in getting a dual-band Wi-Fi router I'll put a link of a dual-band Wi-Fi router that I personally recommend

• TP-Link AC1750 
• Tenda AC5 AC1200 
• TP-Link AC750 Dual Band Wireless Cable Router

 

How to check my laptop or desktop support 5 GHz or not?

If you have a WiFi adapter or laptop with a WiFi connection and you want to find out whether it supports GHz, I am going to tell you how you can find out what category Wireless in your laptop like it is it in 2.4 gigahertz frequency or is it in 5 gigahertz frequency so let's take a look how to find out that

 

• So for that, you have to go on the search icon

 

• And type here CMD and click on that 

 

• After that type here a command

 

Command:-   netsh wlan show driver

 

• And in special space driver and it will appear what category in your Wi-Fi adapter will be supported

 

 

See this chart to check whether your laptop or desktop support 5 GHz or not

IEEE Standard	Frequency/Medium	Speed
802.11a	5GHz	Up to 54Mbps
802.11b	2.4GHz	Up to 11Mbps
802.11g	2.4GHz	Up to 54Mbps
802.11n	2.4GHz/5GHz	Up to 600Mbps
802.11ac	5 GHz	Up to 1300 Mbps

 

Note:-

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