Broadcast 5Ghz Through Wifi Extender From 2.4ghz Router?

[phsiao1214]

Hi Everyone,

I have the Verizon Fios Dual Band router, which is supposed to support 5ghz network since it's a dual band.

However, I went into the wireless setting (basic) and did not find anything for 5ghz.

I bought a Netgear EX6200, which is able to broadcast both 2.4ghz and 5ghz.

I'd like to know if my Verizon Fios router does indeed have 5ghz. If not, is it possible to turn a 2.4ghz signal to 5ghz using my Netgear extender?

 

[Math Geek]

that router is only rated for "n" speeds which does not support 5 ghz. in other words it is only a 2.4 ghz router.

you need to get the updated Fios router to be able to connect via 5 ghz band. the model is G1100 and looks like this
https://www.verizon.com/home/accessories/fios-quantum-gateway/

think i paid $100 from verizon for mine when i upgraded to the GB connection.

as to your second question, no, the other router won't magically turn your 2.4 ghz into a 5 ghz signal. and even if it does you won't see the speed gains from it since the source is still a 2.4 ghz one. it'll be limited to the speeds a 2.4 ghz router can give. the 5 ghz signal will give better speeds but has a shorter range, so there is a tradeoff. those higher speeds of course are dependent on the speeds you pay for. if you are already seeing max speeds on the 2.4 ghz band, then moving to 5 ghz will do nothing except lower the range of the signal!!

 

[terry4536]

Hi Math Geek. I agree using 5 GHz on an extender will gain you nothing in this situation.

 

[phsiao1214]

that router is only rated for "n" speeds which does not support 5 ghz. in other words it is only a 2.4 ghz router.

you need to get the updated Fios router to be able to connect via 5 ghz band. the model is G1100 and looks like this
https://www.verizon.com/home/accessories/fios-quantum-gateway/

think i paid $100 from verizon for mine when i upgraded to the GB connection.

as to your second question, no, the other router won't magically turn your 2.4 ghz into a 5 ghz signal. and even if it does you won't see the speed gains from it since the source is still a 2.4 ghz one. it'll be limited to the speeds a 2.4 ghz router can give. the 5 ghz signal will give better speeds but has a shorter range, so there is a tradeoff. those higher speeds of course are dependent on the speeds you pay for. if you are already seeing max speeds on the 2.4 ghz band, then moving to 5 ghz will do nothing except lower the range of the signal!!

thank you, I thought dual band means it'll accept 2 gigahertz and 5 gigahertz at the same time?

 

[Math Geek]

dual band means it can talk to 2 different things at once not necessarily from both 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz bands. it allows the router to handle more connections at one time from all the various devices you have seeking to connect to it.

it is a desirable feature for sure but does not mean both 2.4 and 5 ghz is covered. what speeds do you pay for? i used that router you have as high as 100/100 fios connection and had no issues maxing the speeds. if you have higher speeds than that then i'd suggest the quantum router from them.

other option could be to connect the ethernet from your fios router to your much better netgear router and let that handle the wifi. turn off the wifi in the fios router and let the netgear one handle all the work. this will allow for both 2.4 and 5 ghz and keep you from buying yet another router. but again unless you have fast access you won't get any gain from the 5 ghz but rather lower the range you can get it. the 2,.4 ghz will also broadcast as normal for devices that can't handle the 5 ghz

 

[phsiao1214]

dual band means it can talk to 2 different things at once not necessarily from both 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz bands. it allows the router to handle more connections at one time from all the various devices you have seeking to connect to it.

it is a desirable feature for sure but does not mean both 2.4 and 5 ghz is covered. what speeds do you pay for? i used that router you have as high as 100/100 fios connection and had no issues maxing the speeds. if you have higher speeds than that then i'd suggest the quantum router from them.

other option could be to connect the ethernet from your fios router to your much better netgear router and let that handle the wifi. turn off the wifi in the fios router and let the netgear one handle all the work. this will allow for both 2.4 and 5 ghz and keep you from buying yet another router. but again unless you have fast access you won't get any gain from the 5 ghz but rather lower the range you can get it. the 2,.4 ghz will also broadcast as normal for devices that can't handle the 5 ghz

Thanks Math Geek.

I'm paying for the 50/50 and currently get around 12mbps download average through the 2.4ghz. I live in a 2-story home and the Fios is tucked away in the bedroom closet downstairs. The Netgear extender is upstairs to give me better speeds in my room upstairs. I can't even connect to my Fios router from upstairs...

Your recommendation is to use wired connection from the Fios router to the Netgear and turn off the Fios? If it's turned off, what would be the point of using the wired connection?

Or can I replace the Fios altogether with the Netgear instead?

 

[Math Geek]

i meant to turn off the wifi from the fios router. the ethernet would still be turned on. was thinking the netgear router could supply the whole house with wifi. but considering where you're hiding the fios router, you may want to keep both turned on so those downstairs can connect to the fios router and you can connect to your netgear router upstairs which sounds like you are already doing in some form or another.

in the end i am not sure how much better you can get than you already are except to connect the netgear router by ethernet through the floor somehow so it is not dependent on the same weak wifi signal you are struggling with.

you could go with one of those powerline extenders to get a better signal upstairs. it plugs into an outlet by the router and then sends the signal through the wiring to another one plugged into an outlet upstairs. then it sends out wifi from there. considering your issues, this is probably the best solution for you rather than another router that is dependent on the wifi signal from downstairs.

 

[Ironarmygeneral]

In a general sense, if your router is 2.4GHz and your extender/extending router is 5GHz, your 2.4GHz router will be a bottleneck. So probably not. Your best bet would be relocating your whole setup to a central and unblocked location and replacing your main router with a 5GHz one that fits your needs and if you still need an extender, to make sure the extender supports 5G.

 

[phsiao1214]

In a general sense, if your router is 2.4GHz and your extender/extending router is 5GHz, your 2.4GHz router will be a bottleneck. So probably not. Your best bet would be relocating your whole setup to a central and unblocked location and replacing your main router with a 5GHz one that fits your needs and if you still need an extender, to make sure the extender supports 5G.

Thank you, I learned something

 

[Ironarmygeneral]

In a general sense, if your router is 2.4GHz and your extender/extending router is 5GHz, your 2.4GHz router will be a bottleneck. So probably not. Your best bet would be relocating your whole setup to a central and unblocked location and replacing your main router with a 5GHz one that fits your needs and if you still need an extender, to make sure the extender supports 5G.

Thank you, I learned something

NP

 

[polypeptide4]

If I understand correctly, wireless-n functions at half-duplex, while wireless-ac (5ghz) does not. So in principle the max wifi speeds you can get on 2.4 ghz is half of what your subscription allows. This alone is a good reason to get a 5ghz router, to get speeds closer to what you pay for, on wifi. 5ghz comes closer to wired connection speeds. Is this wrong?

Another interesting issue is that extenders/repeaters further halve the effective bandwidth, because they communicate backwards and forwards on the same frequency.
A workaround is how some dual band repeaters have a "high speed mode", where they "extend" only one frequency band by dedicating the other band to communicate backwards with the router. Your new extender likely has this setting too.
I wonder if you can find this setting, and make it transmit on 5ghz... Maybe a good experiment, you might get double your current (extended) wifi speed.