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OorPancake t1_j527vq0 wrote

Reply to comment by invenio78 in TIL that cheap, un-shielded USB drive enclosures drastically reduce Bluetooth range by SomeGuyNamedJay

Short answer: You are probably confusing Range with Attenuation.

For pure LOS, 5GHz has a 6dB loss over 2.4Ghz but is more than compensated by increased maximum permitted power levels, and obviously higher throughput via modern protocols.

[My day job is surveying, troubleshooting and planning wireless networks...almost 20 years now.]

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invenio78 t1_j52ai9n wrote

I'll take your word for it. But on my home network, I run a 2.4ghz band and a 5 ghz band. In my farthest room from the router, I can connect to the 2.4ghz but typically not to the 5ghz. I thought I read somewhere to do 2.4ghz if you want to maximize range. Was that BS and it's just a fluke, or is there something to it?

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RobinsShaman t1_j52f0ca wrote

I think 2.4 has less range but can penetrate walls easier. 5g has a longer range but can't penetrate walls as easy. It's strange.

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invenio78 t1_j52fbmp wrote

Ok, maybe that is it because the signal has to go through multiple walls and to another floor of the house.

I could swear that I did read it somewhere to go 2.4ghz if you are having trouble connecting to 5ghz. I didn't make it up myself.

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OorPancake t1_j52hetf wrote

It's not.

2.4GHz suffers from less attenuation (it penetrates walls better) due to the longer wavelength, but the cost is a reduction in data rates. That's why it's seen as a legacy standard these days..it's low(frequency) and slow(data rate). But I'm not saying you should disable it on your home router though, it's fine as a fallback (maybe split your SSID's though).

In Enterprise deployments though, it's all about coverage with 5GHz

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