Those Pesky 5Ghz Routers and Mesh Systems—Just Say No!
Here in LCWA we’ve seen a lot of this lately: A long-term member buys a fancy new router or mesh system (but not one of our recommended models) hoping to improve their in-house Wi-Fi. But instead they just get problems. Problems like slow internet or intermittent disconnections from internet. These predictable issues are due to the 5Ghz radios in most new routers and mesh systems, so you should avoid such routers.
Please get our recommended router and mesh models instead (see below).
Why Can’t I Get Any Router I Want?
Occasionally people ask us why they can’t pick any router like their favorite brand. Well, in a normal metropolitan location where you get your internet from a wired source like cable or DSL, you can pick any router.
However, here in the LCWA network we specialize in far-flung home locations, and we do that by communicating with a 5Ghz radio/dish we place on your roof. Routers with active 5Ghz built in will interfere with that rooftop radio. So, you need to be very careful on your router choice. The key is that you should stick with the basic 2.4Ghz variety, and we have one we want members to get that also has remote diagnostics; that helps us solve member router issues.
Do all New Routers Use 5Ghz?
The fact is, it can be hard to find a pure 2.4 Ghz router. While not all new routers use 5Ghz bands, these days almost all do. Actually, most are dual band with both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz and both are usually turned on by default.
Turn Off the 5Ghz?
If you’ve got a new (or old) router like that, theoretically you can turn off the 5Ghz band by using the web-based setting screens for that router, leaving only the 2.4Ghz band on, and eliminating interference. Theoretically!
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However, turning off the 5Ghz radio is problematic for many reasons:
- Most people don’t even know how to get into the setting screens of their router.
- In most routers the 5Ghz setting is buried deep in the setting screens and very hard to find.
- In most routers, there are actually two or three different places you need to turn it off and doing just one does not help much. For example, if you simply turn off the 5Ghz SSID (that’s the easy setting to reach in most routers), you’ll see the 5Ghz radio drop from your Wi-Fi list on your devices, but the 5Ghz band is still active and can be causing problems!
- Even if you do manage to turn the 5Ghz band off in all the right places, if you reset the router for some reason, the 5Ghz band will come back on. Nearby lightning strikes can reset a router, by the way.
- And finally, on most of the fancy new mesh systems many people are getting, there is absolutely no way to turn off the 5Ghz bands.
So what should you do?
The best solution is to make sure you get a router that has no 5Ghz band built in, like our recommended airCube ISP router; see this link: https://lcwireless.net/lcwas-new-recommended-router-aircube/. That’s the best solution. Note the lack of 5Ghz interference is only one reason we like the airCube—read that article for many more reasons why you should get this router.
More about Mesh
What about mesh systems? Mesh systems are good for covering a very large house by using multiple linked access points around the house. But be careful when you buy one. Nearly all of the popular models use a 5Ghz band and most of them will interfere with the LCWA rooftop radio. The worst is the Netgear Orbi, which has an extremely strong 5Ghz band and will definitely cause problems. Other brands like Eero, Nest, and Google are bad too.
To avoid problems, we recommend you purchase a mesh model we recommend, and we recommend only one mesh system model for self-install: the TP-Link M5 mesh. It is one of the few mesh systems where the average user can easily turn off the 5Ghz radio. It’s also very inexpensive, it’s easy to self-install, it’s very powerful, and it’s pretty much bullet proof. To read more details and watch an installation video, go here: https://lcwireless.net/setting-up-a-tp-link-deco-m5-whole-home-mesh-wi-fi/
If You Want Other Campus Systems, Get Help
There are other brands of mesh out there, and there are even ways to extend your Wi-Fi to the outdoors and to other buildings. If you need that (or if perhaps you already own a mesh system and need help with it) we recommend you check with our recommended paid technicians who can, in many cases, fine tune the band settings of your mesh system to avoid conflicting with your rooftop radio range. And they can design campus systems that extends to other buildings on your land. We can give you their contact information.