Do 2.4ghz versus 5ghz antennas matter?

[corthirteenth]

So, I have a dual band network card in my Desktop. My Toshiba Satellite also has a dual-band network card, as well as my Nexus 6. I also have an old Dell Inspiron with 2.4 Ghz only.

My modem is an Arris Surfboard from TWC. I am one story up and about 20 feet from the modem.

ALL the mobile devices get GREAT connection and speeds from this location. My Toshiba on 5ghz can hit almost 100 megs sometimes.

My desktop however RARELY gets over 25 megs on the same 5ghz connection.

I tried aiming the back of my desktop towards the direction of the modem, and saw immeasurable change. I decided to buy a 1.5 foot antenna to screw into one of the jacks on the back of my network card.. I can't tell if it's helping or not.

My desktop often shows full bars on reception BUT will NEVER get 100megs like my Toshiba and the performance difference is noticeable for page and video loading. As of right now I show 4 bars on my 5ghz connection but I only get a 3 (yes 3) meg DL rating on speedtest!

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/5433760560

My question is: Do I need to make sure the antenna I connect to the back of my network card is also rated for dual band? Does that matter? I am very ignorant of how all this works, and googling this question dumped me into a realm of terms and technical specs that were over my head.

I see that the back of my network card has two antenna jacks but neither has an external label. Would one be for 2.4 and the other for 5? Should I buy an antenna rated for 5ghz and then make sure it's connected to the correct jack IF the jacks matter?

Thanks

 

[bill001g]

In general unless you are using some huge antenna designed for outdoor use there is not much difference in ability of the antenna to use 2.4g or 5g.

The optimum antenna length is some multiple of the frequency. When you are talking shorter antenna like in the 6inch range the difference in the optimum length is very small. Most times they pick some number in between. In the end it likely doesn't matter much since there are also small variations in the manufacturing process. This is one of those thing that if you had extremely sensitive test equipment you could see a difference but a real world person can not.

Pretty much if you were to get the larger 9dbi antenna it will be the best you can do. I suspect since you already get fairly strong signal levels it is something else. There likely is interference but when one device works and another does not it is close to impossible to figure out what. This is the difference between signal strength and signal quality.

If you replace antenna you must replace both. In most modern cards it actually transmits multiple overlapping signals using all the antenna at the same time. This does not mean it uses 2.4g and 5g at the same time it is for example transmitting 2 5g signals.

You have already tried the recommended fix of antenna cable extensions so I don't know what to suggest. Laptops have the antenna behind the screen and the mother boards tend to be more shielded.

 

[corthirteenth]

In general unless you are using some huge antenna designed for outdoor use there is not much difference in ability of the antenna to use 2.4g or 5g.

The optimum antenna length is some multiple of the frequency. When you are talking shorter antenna like in the 6inch range the difference in the optimum length is very small. Most times they pick some number in between. In the end it likely doesn't matter much since there are also small variations in the manufacturing process. This is one of those thing that if you had extremely sensitive test equipment you could see a difference but a real world person can not.

Pretty much if you were to get the larger 9dbi antenna it will be the best you can do. I suspect since you already get fairly strong signal levels it is something else. There likely is interference but when one device works and another does not it is close to impossible to figure out what. This is the difference between signal strength and signal quality.

If you replace antenna you must replace both. In most modern cards it actually transmits multiple overlapping signals using all the antenna at the same time. This does not mean it uses 2.4g and 5g at the same time it is for example transmitting 2 5g signals.

You have already tried the recommended fix of antenna cable extensions so I don't know what to suggest. Laptops have the antenna behind the screen and the mother boards tend to be more shielded.

Thanks for the response. So I know for sure it's a hardware issue on my desktop. I connected my Nexus 6 to my 5ghz WiFi signal then tethered it to my PC. Sure enough, it speed tested 95mbps down and 25mbps up!

I'm running a Rosewill N600PCE Dual band network card with updated drivers and two antennas, one six inch and another 12 inch. Both in line of sight to the modem. When I use this card I get a whopping 5mbps down.. 30 seconds later I can get 95mbps with my phone tethered without getting up from my chair.

Any ideas?

 

[bill001g]

If you run different size antenna you break the mimo function. It will only run a single feed still it should be higher than 5m.

Wifi is almost magic when it comes to works and what does not. Since you can't actually see the radio waves it is hard to troubleshoot.