Xperia Z2 Wifi - Settings for 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz?

[WillHarris23067]

Sorry if this is a dumb question. I'm just about to ditch the crappy router that came free from my ISP and buy a decent dual band Netgear one.

Question is i seem to remember brousing the WIFI settings on my phone a while back and seeing a way of manually setting it to receive only 2.4 or 5Ghz, which i think i did to 2.4Ghz as that was the only frequency my router transmitted (not sure why i did that, but anyway). If i buy a 2.4 / 5Ghz dual band router will i have to set the phone so that it automatically chooses the frequency or does the phone do that itself anyway (i.e. does the Z2 automatically choose the best / fastest frequency)?

Cheers in advance.

[Thommo]

As far as I'm aware your router or routers can use only one band - The 5.0Ghz is called Wireless N so if some devices aren't N compatible then they may not work

[Thommo]

Just to add if your home broadband is faster than 54Mbps then the N setting is best - Slower or just above 54 then stick to the other setting as there will be no point

[WillHarris23067]

Ok thanks Thommo.

Reading advice on Netgear's website you can get 'simultaneous' and 'selectable' dual band routers (i.e. simultaneous routers broadcast in both bands at the same time so it depends on the device as to whether it automatically or manually defaults to 2.4 or 5Ghz). All of Netgear's latest dual band routers are simultaneous type:

http://www.netgear.com/landing/dual-band.aspx 

Just wondered if the Z2 (D6503) selects the band automatically or manually. If manually i was wondering how can you select the particular band uses.

May be getting this wrong but that's my basic understanding of it.

[WillHarris23067]

Sorry i think that web link is dead. I've attached a copy of the article.

[Thommo]

If they do broadcast on both bands at the same time then if the N band is stronger with the better signal then your device should auto switch to that

[WillHarris23067]

Perfect, many thanks.

As i say it's strange as i was sure i stumbled across a setting on the Z2 that allows it to be switched between auto or manual selection but either it's been omitted on a firmware update or i dreamt it!.

Cheers for your help and advice.

[BeadyEye]

I forget where I saw it but yes you are correct. There is an option somewhere to select between the two bands. I can't remember if it was on here, XDA, or google plus where I saw it but I remember seeing the option for it. Keep searching you'll find it I'm sure.

[WillHarris23067]

Many thanks i knew i hadn't dreamt it!

I found this image online but the article didn't explain how to get to this setting (aarrgghhh!). I reckon it's been written out of the latest firmware as i can't seem to access this screen from any of the available wifi settings...

[SergioPL1]

Hi @WillHarris23067 . I'm dealing with dual band wireless network setup for around a year.

Generally speaking - you can have simultaneous 2.4 and 5 GHz on some routers. I do on Asus RT-N66U. The problem with dual band is that the phone, tablet or most PC can't use them both at the same time. They can connect either on 2.4 or 5 GHz.

When you set up both bands to use the same SSID the device will apply normal wireless roaming rules. Stick with the last frequency used or connect to another band if wireless signal is lower that roaming cut off. I'm not sure if Android is aware that 5 GHz band is faster but from my observations on Z1, Z2, Z3 devices it is not. Same applies for Windows 8.1. The only OS that (maybe accidentaly) connected mostly to 5 GHz network was OSX 10.10.

So your device may start on 5 GHz but if you leave room where your AP stands it will probably switch over to 2.4 GHz. And since 2.4 GHz is always higher level signal than 5GHz (2.4 is less susceptible to any walls etc) your device will stick to that frequency.

Another solution, which I prefer is to set up two, separate SSIDs (altough they can have the same password). One for 2.4 GHz network and another for 5 GHz network.

Under 5 GHz connect all devices that are fast, have multiple antennas and support N or AC networks (PCs, notebooks, game console).

On 2.4 GHz band connect lower speed devices like mobile phones and all B/G devices.

Then on your Xperia you can switch over to 5 GHz for example to use Playstation Remote Play feature and switch back to 2.4 GHz when you want to have stable and reliable network access in other rooms than the room with AP.

Remember to use WPA2-EAP PSK (Preshared Key) security scheme as a minimum. Forget about WEP and WPA-TKIP as they were already exploited.