Logically, having little channel width and a lot of interference, the main drawback of 2.4 GHz networks is that the connection speed that we can achieve is much lower than that of 5 GHz. Choosing the Wi-Fi channel is critical in this frequency band, although normally the routers have activated an “Auto” mode that is in charge of analyzing the Wi-Fi networks around us, and they select an optimal automatic channel, based on the Wi-Fi 4 standard, this option is available in the vast majority of routers. In addition, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks go further than 5GHz networks, so we will suffer from even more interference and packet loss.
Since, for example, in a large city we will have many neighbors each with its 2.4 GHz Wifi. With so few channels, it will cause us to have a lot of interference with the networks of our neighbors. The 2.4 GHz WiFi band works from 2,412 MHz (channel 1) to 2,472 MHz (channel 13), and we would have a new channel every 5 MHz, each Wi-Fi network occupies 20MHz of channel width, or 40MHz of channel width, so we would be occupying the entire electromagnetic spectrum available. The disadvantages of this frequency band is that we will only be able to use channels 1 to 13. In this sense, it should be noted that it would be very strange to find a house with a router that did not comply with the 802.11n standard at least, although the most normal thing nowadays is that it supports the Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) standard. The first fiber optic routers that have not yet been replaced by simultaneous dual-band (2 WiFi).The operators ADSL routers and almost any ADSL2 + router that we buy.Currently, they are operating exclusively in the 2.4 GHz band ( no 2 WiFi) there would be two kinds of equipment: Following the thread of the standards that we explained above, these would basically be those that can operate on our router in the 2.4 GHz band:ĭepending on the standard used, we will have a higher speed or a lower speed, we must remember that we can achieve speeds between 11Mbps of the 802.11b standard, and up to 1148Mbps of the Wi-Fi 6 standard. When we talk about the 2 WiFis, one of them is the 2.4GHz networks. The 2.4 GHz band, the beginning of everything This standard is the present and future of today’s Wi-Fi networks, and very soon we will see in a massive way operator routers that use Wi-Fi 6 or also known as 802.11ax. In addition, in the 5GHz band we have 160MHz of channel width, to achieve speeds of up to 4.8Gbps with four antennas. In this case, we have quite important differences from the previous standards, now we have bidirectional MU-MIMO to increase overall network performance, OFDMA to allow connection of multiple devices and transmit simultaneously without loss of speed, power saving features, BSS Color to mitigate interference from neighboring Wi-Fi networks, and we even have high more wireless speed. An example that some of you may have had at home is the Zyxel Prestige 650.įinally, mention the 802.11ax standard that is designed to operate in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. In practice, the maximum transmission speed with this Standard is approximately 5.9 Mbit / s over TCP and 7.1 Mbit / s over UDP. The maximum transmission speed is 11 Mbps, and it works in the 2.4 GHz band. The next one that we are going to discuss is the 802.11b standard that was also ratified in 1999. It has not been a standard that has been used in the routers that we have at home. It has a range of 20 km with special radii.
The data rate is reduced to 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9 or 6 Mbit / s if necessary. This standard operates in the 5 GHz band with a maximum speed of 54 Mbit / s. The 802.11a revision was approved in 1999.
Let’s briefly talk about the 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac and ax standards. In this case, I will only comment on the ones that have been used the most in the routers that we have in our homes. The 802.11 standard is a family of wireless standards created by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The 802.11 standard and how it has influenced the Wi-Fi speed of our routers So you can check and understand how our home routers have evolved in the last 20 years. Next, I will briefly explain the 802.11 standard.