Member Avatar for justsomeuser

I'm setting up my home network right now using one base router/modem which is able to send 5 and 2.4 simultaneously.
My repeater is able to do the same, however it can only connect to the base through one of them.
The signal strength at the position of the repeater is 80% for 2.4ghz and 60% for 5.0ghz.

Normally, I would go for 5.0ghz. But which would make more sense in this situation?

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Dani AI

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the best choice is whichever band gives your repeater the fastest, most stable backhaul to the base router. 5 GHz typically delivers higher throughput but less range; 2.4 GHz reaches farther and handles obstacles better, though it is slower and busier. So I agree with : test both, and note was right about propagation. Ubiquiti’s band guidance.

Quick way to measure it:

  1. Plug a laptop/PC by Ethernet into the base router and run iperf3 -s.
  2. Stand near the repeater, connect to your Wi‑Fi, and run:
iperf3 -c <router_pc_ip> -R -t 20

Lock the repeater’s uplink to 2.4 GHz, test; then lock it to 5 GHz and test again. Pick the band with the higher, repeatable result. Because a single-radio repeater halves airtime per hop, maximizing that backhaul link pays off. Ubiquiti notes each wireless hop reduces throughput by ~50%.

A few tweaks that move the needle:

  • Reposition the repeater one room closer to the base until the backhaul RSSI is around -67 dBm or better for high-throughput apps. That is a common design target. .
  • If you see random drops on 5 GHz, avoid DFS channels for the backhaul; radar events force APs to vacate those channels temporarily. DFS overview.
  • On 2.4 GHz, stick to non-overlapping channels 1/6/11 to reduce adjacent-channel interference. MetaGeek on 1/6/11.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

Experiment and see which gives you better throughput. I assume you are connecting with 802.11n? A signal strength of 60% is pretty good. Remember, 5GHz has a shorter range than 2.4GHz, but by also having a shorter wavelength, it will better penetrate things like walls, floors, etc.

Member Avatar for LaxLoafer

It's possible you may be getting some interference from other devices. Cordless phones for example commonly use 2.4 GHz.

Remember, 5GHz has a shorter range than 2.4GHz, but by also having a shorter wavelength, it will better penetrate things like walls, floors, etc.

Surely it's the other way around, i.e. longer wavelengths have better penetration than short?

Member Avatar for rubberman

@LaxL
No, shorter penetrates better, but has lower range, but higher bandwidth.

Ok. I'm wrong! Assuming this is correct: https://system.netsuite.com/core/media/media.nl?id=3987&c=1014127&h=6a3f7973b02b602ff116&_xt=.pdf&ck=Y5MmDtLgAZr6kBFA&vid=Y5MmDtLgAZ76kAkA

The higher bandwidth part is correct, and the penetration specs indicate that the lower range is also correct. I have used both 2.4 and 5 GHz systems. The 5Ghz systems were definitely faster if you had a decent signal.

Member Avatar for justsomeuser

Alright thank you guys, I guess 5Ghz is the better choice then.

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