Is there a difference between 5-1 and 5-2 GHz bands?

[Hoggorm]

Hi,

I'm having issues connecting some devices to the 5-2 band even though they do connect to the 5-1 band.

I have a 2018 LG TV that loses internet every few minutes when connected to the 5-2 band. 5-1 is fine.

What is going on really...?

[cyberlipe]

one is low power 5ghz, the other is high power 5ghz.
not sure which is which.

[Hoggorm]

one is low power 5ghz, the other is high power 5ghz.
not sure which is which.

I see... I do not think that is relevant to the problem I'm facing as the devices has been tested just meters away from the router. There must be other differences that make it harder for a device to use the 5-2 band.

[JustinThyme]

Do you have QoS enabled? This is supposed to allocate traffic to give selected devices priority over others. I’ve never been able to get this to work. Causes random dropped connections and if they hold connections everything including the priority devices come to a crawl. Disable the QoS.*

Is this the only device you have issues with or is it anything connecting to that band? *If this is the only device the router isn’t the issue.*

[Korth]

Which ASUS router? The manual will have FCC compliance stuff in it which specifies (or provides FCCID to lookup) the radio frequencies.

There are dozens of 5GHz channels grouped together in various "bands" but the definitions these groupings and bands varies from country to country, they each have their own laws and definitions which are rarely in full agreement. "5GHz-1" and "5GHz-2" don't appear to be official FCC designations, so they're probably groupings decided by ASUS or by the (BroadCom) chipset parts they're built around, the technical literature for these products should explain the difference.

https://www.electronics-notes.com/ar...-bandwidth.php

[Hoggorm]

Do you have QoS enabled? *** Disable the QoS.*

Is this the only device you have issues with or is it anything connecting to that band? *If this is the only device the router isn’t the issue.*

Yes, I do have QoS enabled but I'll turn it off. I tried with custom first, but I did have issues then. Now it is on priority for streaming devices, but I do not know if it really improves anything (even if it was working as intended)

Which ASUS router? The manual will have FCC compliance stuff in it which specifies (or provides FCCID to lookup) the radio frequencies.

https://www.electronics-notes.com/ar...-bandwidth.php

This is a GT-AC5300 router.

Thank you for that link! Being a ham radio operator I should of course have checked this... I just did not think of it. I see that not all channels are available in every country.

I'll take a closer look at this and report back

[cyberlipe]

I have the same issue now.
5gh-2 connects to NO client.

[Hoggorm]

I have the same issue now.
5gh-2 connects to NO client.

After reading the article provided by Korth a few days ago (this one: https://www.electronics-notes.com/ar...-bandwidth.php) and experimenting with both 5GHz bands for a few days I see that there are some differences:

5-1 band consist of channels 36-64
5-2 band is channels is channel 100-112 or 100-140 dependent on what wireless mode you choose. I've chosen N/AC Mixed (because it appears to be giving me the best internet speed) and then I have channels 100-112 available.

The 5-2 band is restricted in several countries and that appears to be the reason why few devices see it even though they can see and connect to the 5-1 band. It could also be related to the channels available, but nevertheless I basically have only Apple products (iPad, iPhones and Apple TV) and a high-end laptop computer connected to this band. As mentioned in the first post of this thread I do have a LG 2018 TV that can see and connect to the 5-2 band however when doing so it loses internet connection every 10-20 minutes. I also have a home cinema AVR that was able to connect to the 5-2 band, but I elected to change this to 5-1 since it can connect to a pair of wireless speakers (HEOS 1) that only will connect to the 5-1 band.

When using Smart Connect, I had more devices on the 5-2 band but I also did see several connection issues (similar to what happens with the LG TV) where devices would be assigned to the 5-2 band but could still be without internet.

It is impossible as far as I can see to choose that the 5-2 band also should be able to use the channels 36-64 and therefore, I've turned off Smart Connect and put all devices on the 5-1 band (that of course not must be on the 2.4 band due to age or other issues). I've then tried to connect each device to the 5-2 band (one at a time) and use them for some time to test for issues. So far, I've only had completely problem free experiences with the mentioned Apple products and a high-end laptop. Everything else stays on the 5-1 band.

[Saltgrass]

I haven't noticed any difference between the two 5 GHz radios. I don't do online type gaming so they may be some advantages if using the Gaming radio.

As was mentioned, they seem to be in different channel ranges..

[JustinThyme]

They have to be in different channel ranges or they will conflict. I’m fairly sure this was a configuration issue in the OPs set up. Smart connect is not so smart and QoS has never worked for me regardless of router type or manufacturer. I set it up and got horrendous results on everything with the devices that were supposed be to be priority slowed to a crawl. I keep the two separate with ssids and passwords. My stuff that I want priority over goes on the high channel lineup because I have zero neighbors in this range and everything else goes on the low end.*