Does the EE router have dual-band wireless?

Does anyone know the answer to this? I can't find confirmation in either direction anywhere. The EE tech tells me it is, and by switching it into 'b+g+n' I will get simultaneous 5Ghz wireless.

When I do, I see no option for the 5Ghz channels in the channel selector, just the 2.4Ghz channels.

Doesn't make any sense to me. He was extremely confident he was right.

b+g+n is a 2.4MHz setting which gives you a wider channel range for theoretical speeds up to 300Mbps (up to 150-sh is more normal in my experience) often referred to a "N" class routers; 5Mhz is a separate frequency using a+n, and for me at least (on a different router) gives speeds half those of b+g+n and does not travel as well over distance/obstructions. The difference is that because much less equipment uses the 5MHz frequency range it can give better reception if the lower range is heavily congested and you actually suffer with serious interference which can't be improved by changing channels - pretty rare in my experience.

If you want both 2.4MHz and 5MHz you need a "dual band" router - but on a single wi-fi connection you use one or the other - not both, though different equipment connected to the same router can normally use one or the other with simultaneous transmission.

Edited by deleted (Fri 01-Feb-13 13:43:06)

Have you the new EE green firmware not the Orange firmware? I cannot see any reference to 2.5 GHz wireless speed/frequency in my router. Below is from the router help.

Channel and SSID
Wireless Mode

The Bright Box Wireless router supports 3 wireless modes:

802.11n - this will only allow wireless adaptors supporting 802.11n to connect to the router
802.11b+11g - select this if you're using an older wireless adaptor or software that only supports WEP
802.11b+11g+11n - use this if you want to connect 11b, 11g and 11n devices to your network

By using 802.11n or 802.11b+11g+11n the router will support up-to 300Mbps speeds on your internal wireless network when used with a compatible wireless adaptor. 802.11b+11g will limit the connection speed up to 54Mbps.

Channel
The channel is the radio channel used for wireless communication. By default the router will automatically select the channel with the least interference in your area. If you'd prefer you can select your own channel between 1 and 13.

Note: Setting the Wireless Channel or Extension Channel to 12 or 13 may sometimes cause compatibility issues with some wireless devices.

Extension Channel
Setting the bandwidth of the wireless connection to 20/40MHz allows you to double the speed of your internal wireless connection from 150Mbps to 300 Mbps. The router will automatically select an extension channel for use by a compatible wireless adaptor to dual bond the wireless connection. For channels 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 you can choose whether the extension channel is from a lower or higher frequency range to help avoid interference.

Intelligent Wireless
The Bright Box router has a great feature called 'Intelligent Wireless'. When starting up the router, it will automatically search for and use the least congested Wi-Fi channel, reducing the effect of interference, and providing you with the best wireless performance.

Pressing the Intelligent Wireless button on this page will activate the Intelligent Wireless feature without having to restart your router. It will re-check to see if the router's using the least congested frequency and change channel if required. The current Wireless Channel is also displayed here.

You can also activate Intelligent Wireless by briefly pressing the WPS button on the back of the router.

Edited by deleted (Fri 01-Feb-13 15:32:03)

In reply to a post by E7er:

I cannot see any reference to 2.5 GHz wireless speed/frequency in my router.

What is this field tho'?

Bandwidth 20MHz 20/40MHz

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

What is this field tho'?

Bandwidth 20MHz 20/40MHz

That would double the channel bandwidth.

Is that what OP was asking?

Extension Channel
Setting the bandwidth of the wireless connection to 20/40MHz allows you to double the speed of your internal wireless connection from 150Mbps to 300 Mbps. The router will automatically select an extension channel for use by a compatible wireless adaptor to dual bond the wireless connection.

Should "dual bond" be read as "dual band"?

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Is that what OP was asking?

No, I understand "dual band" as a router using both 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz bands.

Should "dual bond" be read as "dual band"?

No, bond is correct. Essentially two channels of 20 Mhz are bonded into one big channel of 40 Mhz with double the bandwidth, on any given band (2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz).

Oh. I think I get it! I was confused by them both measured in Hz.

I take it that 20 (or 40) MHz bandwidth on the 2.4 GHz band means using frequencies between 2.4 GHz +/- 10 (or 20) MHz?

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

I take it that 20 (or 40) MHz bandwidth on the 2.4 GHz band means using frequencies between 2.4 GHz +/- 10 (or 20) MHz?

I believe the frequencies used sit between 2.4 GHz and 2.5 GHz, which gives a bit under 100 MHz to play with, allowing for a bit of buffer zone. So a "bonded" channel would use 40 MHz within this.

Hello,

The Brightbox router is designed for 2.4Ghz.

Regards