2.4ghz half the speed of 5ghz

[#1]

Using two devices that have both 2.4gh and 5 ghz capabilities the speed is different.  the 5ghz wifi speeds of nearly 70Mbps download.  But with 2.4ghz the download is only around 40Mbps

Technical team are looking into it but say it is unusual.  However I have found similar problems posted in various places on the web. 

[#2]

@Trixiemay 

Welcome to the forum.

This is not unusual at all. Speed on the two different bands is dependent on many factors such as distance, interference fron other transmitters using the same channel, performance of device wireless interfaces etc. You can mess about changing channels on the 2.4 GHz band if you want but my advice is not to worry about it and just use whichever works best.

[#3]

@Baldrick1 

Tested with no other devices connected to the 2.4ghz.  The channel (6) had no other neighbours using it.  Device was within inches (whoops 5cm) of the router.  Only conclusion can be that (given other variables were removed) something in the router is preventing the speed being transferred to the 2.4ghz channels?

[#4]

@Trixiemay 

Could be. Alternatively it could be a limitation with the 2.4GHz adapter in your device or other sources of interference. For example, I have seen a cordless phone kill 2.4GHz speed.

Short of trying another router you will never know, but why bother?

[#5]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

@Trixiemay 

Could be. Alternatively it could be a limitation with the 2.4GHz adapter ...

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Looks like that is it.  Tested with Belkin wifi adaptor (2.4ghz) in the laptop  download speed well into the 60's.  But here is the strange thing ...
With built in wifi the ping is between 22 - 28 ms finding local server
but
With Belkin wifi adaptor ping is upwards of 38ms and finds a server that is a much greater distance.

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

@Trixiemay 

...

Short of trying another router you will never know, but why bother?

---

Because we are paying for 72Mbps

Laptop uses Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter.  Found this

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For an 802.11n connection to run at its maximum speed, Wireless-N broadband routers and network adapters must be linked and running in what's called channel bonding mode.

802.11n and Channel Bonding

In 802.11n, bonding uses two adjacent Wi-Fi channels simultaneously to double the bandwidth of the wireless link compared to 802.11b/g. The 802.11n standard specifies 300 Mbps theoretical bandwidth is available when using channel bonding. Without it, about 50 percent of this bandwidth is lost (actually slightly more due to protocol overhead considerations), and in those cases,
https://www.lifewire.com/get-300-mbps-speed-on-802-11n-network-818267

[#6]

@Trixiemay 

Actually you are paying for up to 80 Mbps to be delivered to your router. There is no guarantee whatsoever with respect to wireless speed.

[#7]

Well yeah but 78 is reaching the router

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Full quote of preceding post removed as per Forum rules.

[#8]

And if you wish to use this to its maximum the answer has to be hard wire your device via an Ethernet cable.

[#9]

Or use my Belkin dongle or buy a new laptop.  Looking to see if the onboard Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter cn be jiggled.  Or by my own router

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Full quote of preceding post removed as per Forum rules.

[#10]

Interestingly, I had a problem recently with a Samsung tablet and channel 6. I noticed that the tablet was getting a bit slow responding and did a speed test which showed a download of about 2Mb. A laptop and phone in exactly the same location showed download of 36Mb (I'm on a 40Mb FTTC connection). So suspecting the tablet maybe needed a cache clear (Android), i tried that and no improvement, strange!. Anyway I have a spare router, usually just used as a network switch, so I enabled the 5Ghz wifi on that and connected the tablet, bingo, 36Mb. So not a basic performance problem , just a wifi issue. So checked with Wifi analyser to see what neighbouring routers around. Couldn't see much difference between signal strengths for local ones on channels 1 & 6 but much higher strengths for others on channel 11. So, just out of interest tried changing router to channel 1, Bingo, now 36Mb on tablet!all other devices still ok as well

So as @Baldrick1  says there are so many things that can affect wifi speeds, the only way to guarantee max speed is to use a wired connection

[#11]

I never got upwards of ~38Mb/s on 2.4Ghz until I was using Wireless N at both ends. Then it gave speeds comparable to 5Ghz Wireless AC of ~70Mb/s with a link speed of ~144Mb/s.

Looking at things with the WiFi Analyser app Wireless N bonds 2x 20Mhz channels to double the speed of standard 2.4Ghz 1x 20Mhz channel in a similar way to 5Ghz AC bonding 4x 20Mhz channels to give you 80Mhz of bandwidth with a downstream speed of ~70Mb/s but a higher link speed of ~800Mb/s