2.4 GHz or 5 GHz ...

[MacManiac]

We lost our internet connection this morning and I rang Cyta. In talking to the engineer he said the line was unstable and that he would send out someone to look at things. He altered the settings at their end and said I would get about 7 Mb which should be stable until help arrived.

About an hour later two Cyta engineers (the same ones who identified the cable chewed by the mouse) arrived and had a close look. One disappeared down to the nearby junction box and fiddled with connections, and then returned. The internet was now working and he asked if they could come into the house. They double-checked the router and asked whether our devices were logged into the 2.4 GHz or the 5 GHz WiFi. They were all connected to 2.4 GHz. He told me to change to the 5 GHz WiFi connection as it was more efficient with the 30 Mb download speed we had.

We had never had more than 25 Mb download speed (and happy with that). Using the 5 GHz circuit our download speeds were between 31 x 33 Mb. Coincidence perhaps but I thought I would pass this on to forum members.

[The Aquila]

I was recommended by the Cyta Engineer to connect to the 5GHz for anything in the house but for anything being used outside in the garden then use the 2.4 as it has a greater range.

[Dominic]

With the newer Cyta routers you can actually have four wireless networks at the same time: 2 2.4 and 2 5.

Why would you want more than one? In our case, we have one that our daughter can use, which has limited hours etc. The other one is for Mum and Dad.

2.4 is better if you have older wifi equipment, as they might not be capable of 5. It doesn't hurt to have both though, to cover all your bases.

[J B]

The man in the pub told me that 2.4 was slower, but with a further range whereas 5 was faster with less range.