Use 5GHz WiFi on devices that support it, such as newer smartphones, tablets, laptops, and smart home gadgets.
Use 5GHz WiFi on devices that support it, such as newer smartphones, tablets, laptops, and smart home gadgets.
Hello everyone, my cousin is offering me his router as he relocates abroad. He mentioned it supports both 2.4 and 5GHz bands, while my current setup only uses 2.4GHz. Since I’m new to 5GHz and haven’t used one before, I’m a bit uncertain. He told me his router is brand new compared to my old one, which is about four years old. Recently, I started thinking about which devices should use each band.
A few months ago, I was trying to decide between 2.4GHz and 5GHz for various gadgets, but I got distracted and didn’t finalize it. Now I’m a bit confused. In my room, I have an AC with WiFi and a printer that also connects wirelessly. The room next to mine is shared with my parents, who also have the same AC unit. Across from my room is the kitchen, equipped with a smart TV that supports WiFi.
I’m wondering whether I should use 2.4GHz for the ACs and printer since they’re not active much, and set the TV to 5GHz because it needs faster speeds for streaming and other services. Alternatively, I could flip it—put the ACs and printer on 5GHz and the TV on 2.4GHz—to avoid congestion. But I haven’t checked if my ACs and printer support 5GHz yet, so this might be either a good idea or not.
In the meantime, most people in my household use 2.4GHz (my mom, dad, brother, and my backup phone). I’ll likely use 5GHz for my main phone and laptop when they need more power, and guests will stick with 2.4GHz. The WiFi is fine for casual use.
Please share your thoughts on this setup. Also, keep in mind that my room is near the kitchen and parents’ room, so the router will be in my space. The distance between rooms is about five meters or less, which means walls are mostly blocking the signal. Since 5GHz has a shorter range, I’m thinking carefully about placement.
The two bands can be combined automatically; devices will match their preferred connection. You still have the choice to split them and assign each device a specific band, but it seems unnecessary in most cases. If you choose that path, consider moving non-data-heavy traffic to the 2.4GHz channel—it provides better stability and range without sacrificing speed. Even then, the reduced speed is likely to fall short of what your internet service offers. Without heavy internal data needs, separating bands probably won’t add value.
The issue lies in how devices handle band selection. Without a mesh configuration, moving beyond 5GHz and entering 2.4GHz can lock you in place unless you actively change it. Splitting bands doesn’t completely solve the problem; setting 5GHz as default or automatic while keeping 2.4GHz manual helps prevent this. If seamless connectivity matters, this approach may feel drawback. Sometimes 2.4GHz is used when 5GHz signals are weak, but speed remains better on 5GHz. You might also prefer keeping some devices on 2.4GHz to preserve bandwidth for high-bandwidth needs, since more devices on a single SSID increase performance risks. Overall, combined bands simplify things, but manual splitting often delivers optimal results.
Thanks for the response. It's not always guaranteed that devices will automatically join the stable WiFi network; they often pick their own channels. I wanted to keep control over which devices connect, especially since having too many devices on the same network can cause problems. From the beginning I considered splitting between 2.4 and 5GHz bands, but I don't want everything to become disorganized. I plan to monitor how it performs with both bands for a few weeks. If improvement isn't seen, I'll go ahead and merge them into one network.