5GHz channel question

[bodean]

Should the channel on my router for 5GHz be 20, 40, or 20/40/80?

I have N wireless, and a couple B/G wireless.

 

[KGB7]

What is the difference between 20 and 40?

 

[stevech]

20/40/80 is the width of the channel you choose, in MHz.
Use 20MHz as a rule.
If you have a user device that supports 40MHz (few do) and NEEDS that extra high speed potential-only, choose 40, in the 5GHz band.

Wider channel, if user device compatible, brings the disadvantage of needed stronger signals.

 

[bodean]

20/40/80 is the width of the channel you choose, in MHz.
Use 20MHz as a rule.
If you have a user device that supports 40MHz (few do) and NEEDS that extra high speed potential-only, choose 40, in the 5GHz band.

Wider channel, if user device compatible, brings the disadvantage of needed stronger signals.

Wouldn't devices like my xbox one, or Dish Hopper, which use wireless, benefit from the 40MHz over the 20MHz?

 

[KGB7]

Wouldn't devices like my xbox one, or Dish Hopper, which use wireless, benefit from the 40MHz over the 20MHz?

If the wifi card supports 40mhz. I cant even find specs on the wireless specs for xbox one.

 

[stevech]

Wouldn't devices like my xbox one, or Dish Hopper, which use wireless, benefit from the 40MHz over the 20MHz?

No. First, they probably support only 20MHz and probably not 5GHz.
Second, they don't need all of 20, much less 40MHz channel capacity.

 

[remixedcat]

What is the difference between 20 and 40?

Channel width is either 20Mhz or 40Mhz for 802.11 2.4Ghz b/g/n and 20Mhz,40Mhz,80Mhz,or 160Mhz for 802.11 for 5Ghz a/n/ac.

40Mhz is two 20Mhz channels bonded together to create a higher bandwidth. However it will often select a overlapping channel as the secondary channel it bonds to, creating interference with other 2.4Ghz devices and networks.

For 2.4Ghz I recommend a 20Mhz channel width if you live in a congested area and only use 40Mhz when you don't have any neighbors that are close or a lot of other non 802.11 based 2.4Ghz interference.

5Ghz you can pretty much leave at 40Mhz for non .ac devices and 80 or 160Mhz for .ac devices. The range isn't as long so you don't have to worry about neighbors so much.

 

[KGB7]

Channel width is either 20Mhz or 40Mhz for 802.11 2.4Ghz b/g/n and 20Mhz,40Mhz,80Mhz,or 160Mhz for 802.11 for 5Ghz a/n/ac.

40Mhz is two 20Mhz channels bonded together to create a higher bandwidth. However it will often select a overlapping channel as the secondary channel it bonds to, creating interference with other 2.4Ghz devices and networks.

For 2.4Ghz I recommend a 20Mhz channel width if you live in a congested area and only use 40Mhz when you don't have any neighbors that are close or a lot of other non 802.11 based 2.4Ghz interference.

5Ghz you can pretty much leave at 40Mhz for non .ac devices and 80 or 160Mhz for .ac devices. The range isn't as long so you don't have to worry about neighbors so much.

I know the difference, i wanted OP to do his own home work.

 

[remixedcat]

Oh ok. .....

 

[KGB7]

No. First, they probably support only 20MHz and probably not 5GHz.
Second, they don't need all of 20, much less 40MHz channel capacity.

Both have 5Ghz, but there is lack of info if they support anything above 20Mhz, let alone what make or model each one uses for wifi.

 

[bodean]

Thanks for the insightful replies. One final question. Having both 5 and 2.4 ssid when does one choose which to use. I would assume I always want to be using and connecting to the 5ghz.
Does it basically come down to if my device isn't streaming media or transferring large files (ie. iphone/ipad) then stick to the 2.4GHZ ssid? For streaming media and moving large files, always connect to the 5GHz (Ie. laptop, media streaming device, xbox one).

 

[remixedcat]

Depends on if the router/ap has band steering or allows seperate names.

 

[bodean]

It's an asus ac66u

 

[stevech]

Thanks for the insightful replies. One final question. Having both 5 and 2.4 ssid when does one choose which to use. I would assume I always want to be using and connecting to the 5ghz.
Does it basically come down to if my device isn't streaming media or transferring large files (ie. iphone/ipad) then stick to the 2.4GHZ ssid? For streaming media and moving large files, always connect to the 5GHz (Ie. laptop, media streaming device, xbox one).

First, for handheld devices, it would be the access device with a good, or best, signal strength. If each access device (access point or the one WiFi router) has a unique SSID, the user can choose, since most client / user devices don't make optimal choices.

It's unlikely that you are stuck with a situation where 2.4GHz channels 1, 6 and 11 are ALL frequently heavily used for streaming by either your own users, or those of neighbors' operating with 3 channels of yours. So it's rare that 5GHz is a significant benefit.

 

[KGB7]

Thanks for the insightful replies. One final question. Having both 5 and 2.4 ssid when does one choose which to use. I would assume I always want to be using and connecting to the 5ghz.
Does it basically come down to if my device isn't streaming media or transferring large files (ie. iphone/ipad) then stick to the 2.4GHZ ssid? For streaming media and moving large files, always connect to the 5GHz (Ie. laptop, media streaming device, xbox one).

Depends on how many devices you have on your wifi home network and how congested your neighborhood is with wifi routers.

So if you have 10 wifi devices on your home wifi, then least important ones( phones and tablets) that use less bandwidth should be connected to 2.4Ghz. And the more bandwidth hungry devices go on to 5Ghz band.

At the end of the day, its about balancing the total bandwidth what your router can supply simultaneously to all devices. So grab a pen and paper and do the math.

Also dont forget that 5Ghz band travels about half the distance of 2.4ghz band. So you might have no choice but use 2.4ghz band for devices that can use 5Ghz band. The larger the distance, the weaker the signal the slower the speed becomes.