• shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
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    23 hours ago

    I actually ditched 2.4 gigahertz Wi-Fi on my home network entirely for this exact reason. If a device is not compatible with 5 gigahertz Wi-Fi, it doesn’t get purchased.

    • henfredemars@infosec.pub
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      23 hours ago

      It doesn’t just benefit you. You’re benefiting the current users of that spectrum that for one reason or another might not be able to switch.

      I suspect most users though couldn’t tell you what frequency their network uses let alone the devices on it.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        2 hours ago

        Yup, I have one device that’s stuck on 2.4GHz, my Brother laser printer. It works fantastically otherwise and it has an Ethernet port, but I haven’t bothered to run cable yet to it. I suspect a lot of people have that one device they’d rather not replace, which is still on an old wifi standard.

        So I just make sure to have a simultaneous dual-band setup. Everything else uses 5GHz, and the 2.4GHz band exists for that one device, or if I’m on the opposite side of the house or something. I use fancy networking stuff though (Ubiquiti APs), your average person would just be confused at why the internet is sometimes slow (i.e. when the printer wakes up).

      • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de
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        21 hours ago

        Anyone with a NAS will immediately notice that they are on 2.4GHz because it will take several times longer to transfer files.

    • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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      21 hours ago

      Do you live in a high density urban environment?

      Because if so, that totally makes sense, and the other benefit of 5GHz/6GHz not traveling too far outside your apartment or condo wall, is pretty nifty as well.

      But if you live in a house in the suburbs, man, that is commitment well outside of necessity, or convenience. Not saying it’s bad choice per se, just seems unnecessarily burdensome IMO.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        2 hours ago

        I’m not OP, but I also live in a single family house in the suburbs and actively avoid 2.4-only gear. I do have one stubborn device on 2.4GHz though, my laser printer, so I have to keep buying simultaneous dual-band gear until I get around to running Ethernet cable to it.

      • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
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        21 hours ago

        I live in a single family house, but the area has quite a few single family houses packed pretty close together. So there’s still a lot of traffic on 2.4 GHz.

      • Mossy Feathers (They/Them)@pawb.social
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        19 hours ago

        In my experience, having a vr setup with vive body trackers consumes the 2.4ghz band really fast; so there are still reasons to swap in the suburbs, but they’re more niche.

        Source: my PC is too far away from the router for wired, so it uses wifi. I had to switch to using 5ghz because my internet would drop out on 2.4ghz whenever I played VRChat.