Airport

Generation 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Time Capsule all looked like a small white pizza box. The earlier version of the AirPort Extreme looked like this as well, except they did not have a built in hard drive.

Here is a picture of the earlier version Time Capsule.

The "tall" or "tower" model that you have is known as a 5th Generation Time Capsule.

Your version of the Time Capsule broadcasts both a 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signal simultaneously, as I mentioned previously above.

You can confirm this by opening AirPort Utility on your Mac (Finder > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility)

Click on the picture of the Time Capsule

Click Edit in the smaller window that appears

Click the Wireless tab at the top of the next window

Click the Wireless Options button near the bottom of the next window

You will see a display that looks like this:

This means that both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signals are being broadcast simultaneously. In other words, both signals are using the same wireless network name. Your Mac might be connected to the 5 GHz signal, but other devices may be connecting to the 2.4 GHz signal.

The Time Capsule is also set to find the best channel to use for both 5 GHz an 2.4 GHz signals automatically. There is no need to set the channel manually unless you think you can guess better than the Time Capsule at which channel to use.

If this is the case, then a 2.4 Ghz only device will connect to the 2.4 GHz signal and a 5 GHz capable device will connect to the 5 GHz signal. Your Mac is capable of connecting to either the 2.4 GHz signal or the 5 GHz signal. Since 5 Ghz signals are not as strong as 2.4 Ghz signals, your Mac will connect at 5 Ghz if it is close proximity to the Time Capsule. If you move your Mac 3 or 4 rooms away, it will probably connect to the 2.4 GHz signal.

Now that you know that your Time Capsule is broadcasting both a 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signal simultaneously, with the same wireless network name, there is no need to "enable" or "turn on" the 2.4 GHz signal since it is already working.

There is an option on the same window to assign a different name to the 5 GHz network if you think that might help you. Then, the 2.4 GHz network will have one name and the 5 GHz network will have a different name. If you enable this option, you will then have to tell each of your WiFi devices which network that you want it to connect to. This is a lot more complicated for most users, so if you want to keep things simple, leave them as is.

Depends on which router that you have. AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, AirPort Time Capsule?

Also depends on whether you are using a Mac, an iPhone/iPad, or a PC to administer the AirPort.

If you could provide some more information, we can answer your question.

But.....the AirPort is already set to choose the best 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channel automatically.....so unless you feel that you can guess better than the AirPort, there would not really be any reason to choose a channel manually.

As Bob has mentioned, it will depend on the make & model of your wireless router. Since you posted here, we can only assume that you have one of the Apple AirPort routers.

Even if so, some of these routers can broadcast on both the 2.4 & 5 GHz radio bands simultaneously. While a few others can only do so on one band or the other.

Regardless, you would use the AirPort Utility to configure either or both radios.

Right now it’s appears to be set for 5g,

Any router that Apple has provided in the last 6-7 years will broadcast 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signals simultaneously.

We asked what model of Apple AirPort router that you have.....because different AirPorts have different characteristics.

As far as being able to help you, we are stuck until you can provide the information that we asked for previously.

We also asked whether you were using a Mac, an iPhone / iPad or PC to adjust the settings on the AirPort router. We ask this because AirPort Utility.....the application used to change the settings on the AirPorts.....is different, depending on what device you are using.

So, to summarize.......we will again ask you to provide the information that we need in order to help you.

1) What model of AirPort router do you have?

2) Will you be using a Mac, an iPhone / iPad, or a PC to adjust the settings on the AirPort?

Only the first generation TIme Capsule was not dual band simultaneous. Look on the base and see it is A1254. The serial number is useless.. the model is on the end of first line of moulded rubber text.

You can set it to 2.4ghz by using the airport utility.. Bob asked if you are using Mac.. PC or iPhone/ipad.. because it is different for each? Which are you using??

it’s an Airport Time Capsule

The serial number does not tell us which model number that you have.

We will make things easy for you. Please tell us whether the Time Capsule is shaped like a "tower", about 6-7 inches tall........or......whether the Time Capsule is shaped like a small flat white pizza box with rounded corners.

Is the Time Capsule is shaped like a small white pizza box......look on the bottom of the Time Capsule for the model number. It is likely embedded in the foam pad base. The model number starts with an "A" followed by four numbers. An example would be A1409, or A1355, or A1302, etc.

You still did not tell us whether you will be using a Mac, an iPhone / iPad or a PC to check the settings on the Time Capsule.

This will be the third time that we asked for this information to try to help you.

If you do not want to provide this information, then we will not be able to help you.

It does not matter whether your phone is connecting at 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz. Both are on the same network.

The same would be true if one of your devices connects using WiFi and another connects using Ethernet. Both devices are still on the same network.

Restart both your Mac and the Time Capsule to see if you can get into the settings using AirPort Utility as I illustrated above. If you are still having trouble.......we need to know what operating system your Mac is running. If you do not know.......

Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the screen

Click on About This Mac

Locate the Version number. It will be something like 10.14.5 for example.