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802.11n 5 GHz

Does the iPad 2 support 5 GHz networks cause I have an AEBS that runs in duel modes. My Mac and pc have no problem connecting to the 5 GHz band but the iPad doesn't even see it. I've read a few topics that stated it did but a few of them said that the iPhone 4 supports it, but I know that this is not true, so I don't know if I can believe them or not. Any help will be nice and I have also read that os 4.3 killed it if it did have and that's the stock for iPad 2 so is it just iOS or not. Can't find any specs saying it or not so I'm a little lost.

MBP 17", iPhone 3GS, iPad 32 Gig, Mac OS X (10.6.3), 8 Gig Ram Core i7 2.66

Posted on Mar 14, 2011 6:47 PM

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20 replies

Mar 14, 2011 7:47 PM in response to McFool123

McFool123 wrote:
Does the iPad 2 support 5 GHz networks


Although it's not in the specs, the iPad does work with 5GHz 802.11n. Only the iPhones and iPod Touches are 2.4GHz only for 802.11n. The only specific reference I could find was in the [iPad Important Information Guide|http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=answerlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmanual s.info.apple.com%2Fen US%2FiPad_2_ATT_Important_Product_Info.pdf&answerid=16777216&src=supportsite.results.search], page 5, which mentions the SAR for 2.4GHz & 5GHz separately.

...cause I have an AEBS that runs in duel modes. My Mac and pc have no problem connecting to the 5 GHz band but the iPad doesn't even see it....


Do you have the same SSID for both the 2.4 & 5GHz bands? I found that my iPad seems to prefer the 2.4GHz band, particularly when the signal is weak. 2.4GHz travels farther and penetrates walls better than 5GHz so the 2.4GHz signal is often "stronger" than the 5GHz signal. Thus I believe the iPad is grabbing the "better" signal. I seem to recall some other post where there may be issues with devices waking from sleep and not connecting because it's connecting to the wrong band, which the device doesn't know is a different network because it's the same SSID. So I have mine named differently. For example the D-Link's are named "DLINK2" & "DLINK5". That may or may not be your issue, but it may help you troubleshoot the problem.

Mar 15, 2011 9:54 AM in response to McFool123

McFool123 wrote:
Asatoran wrote:
...cause I have an AEBS that runs in duel modes. My Mac and pc have no problem connecting to the 5 GHz band but the iPad doesn't even see it....


Do you have the same SSID for both the 2.4 & 5GHz bands?...So I have mine named differently. For example the D-Link's are named "DLINK2" & "DLINK5".


hey are two different bands one being family band and the other being just 5 GHz channel. only picks up the 2.4 family band and other networks from around me. Not the 5 GHz


Your response is unclear. I asked if you configured your Airport to have different SSIDs for the 2.4 & 5GHz bands? I have mine as AE1 & AE1(5GHZ) and my D-Link as DLINK2 & DLINK5. This is so that I can more easily troubleshoot because I can know for certain which band the iPad (or other device) is connecting to, but also like I had mentioned, I remember reading a post about issues if you made both bands the same SSID. (a.k.a. "Wireless Network Name" in Airport Utility.)

To put it another way, from what I can see, the iPad does not indicate what frequency it's using. (Unlike OSX where you can Option-click on the Airport icon in the menu bar.) So if you have the SSID the same for both bands, how are you determining that the iPad is connecting to the 2.4GHz band? What app are you using?

Mar 15, 2011 1:15 PM in response to Asatoran

Ok I forgot a yes they are two different ssid's one is the family network which is the 2.4 and the other is called 5 GHz so there would be no confusion. The way I am checking is with the settings and the only network that shows up is the family network there is no 5 GHz at all also I tried changing ssid on 5 GHz band to no luck

Mar 15, 2011 2:01 PM in response to McFool123

McFool123 wrote:
Ok I forgot a yes they are two different ssid's one is the family network which is the 2.4 and the other is called 5 GHz so there would be no confusion. The way I am checking is with the settings and the only network that shows up is the family network there is no 5 GHz at all also I tried changing ssid on 5 GHz band to no luck


How close are you to the Airport? Same room or not? Is the iPad in the same room as the Macs? 5GHz does not penetrate walls as well as 2.4GHz so for testing you'll want to be in the same room as the Airport and preferably "line-of-sight". (Airport not being blocked by monitors, printers, desks, etc.) My Mac and iPad can't go more than one room away with the 5GHz band, but I can get to the garage almost 100ft away on the 2.4GHz band. And as many suspect, the Wi-Fi antenna in the iPad may not be as good as on a desktop or laptop. If I'm 50ft away in the living room, I get a decent 2.4Ghz signal on my Macbook Pro, but barely one bar on the iPad (and the 5GHz band doesn't appear on the list on the iPad.)

As I said, my iPad will connect to the 2.4GHz band before the 5GHz often due to a stronger signal. I've also noticed that the 5GHz SSID will take several seconds to appear in the list on my iPad settings. I'm suspecting that because of the weaker 5GHz signal, it takes the iPad longer to confirm it's legitimate.

Mar 15, 2011 3:19 PM in response to Asatoran

I have tried while sitting next to the Mac which is one floor and about two rooms over from the AEBS and I have tried while sitting right next to I will try letting it sit on the wifi page a bit to see if it just takes a while to show up though.

Message was edited by: McFool123
Waiting did the trick but now it's weird cause when connected it doesn't show that I am connected to wifi next to iPad but at least it works I guess.

May 21, 2011 5:56 AM in response to McFool123

Yes it does. True "N" is 5 ghz. You also have the 2.4 ghz "N" that will only connect to the iPad at 144mbs. The true "n" connects at 300mbs. The true in users wider channels. The true "N" has shorter range but faster throughput. I am using a NETGEAR WNHDE111 for 5ghz and it gives me 300mbs. I also have a Netgear WNR3500 2.4ghz and I get 144ghz connection but a little better range. Both work well but I always try to connect to the 5ghz router as I prefer the higher speed of 300mbs. The 5ghz router is affected less by noise and cross-talk interference than the 2.4ghz routers. Hope this helped.

Feb 18, 2012 3:31 AM in response to McFool123

If you have Airpot Extreme, I suggest you download an AirPort Tool from App Store, and you will be able to check your Connection speed easily from your iPad. My experience is that iPad 2 never surpasses over 70 mbs at 5GHz, even in the same room, slower than at 2.4GHz. I have a MacBook Pro, which can maintain a consistent connection speed of 270 mbs at 5GHz in the same room with AEBS. BTW, just check the broadband option in the AirPort utilities (desktop version) will enable the simultaneous display of both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

Apr 27, 2012 4:46 PM in response to xieqiao

xieqiao says:

If you have Airport Extreme, I suggest you download an AirPort Tool from App Store...

If you have Mac OS X 10.7, Apple already provide an 'AirPort Tool' in the form of their 'Wi-Fi Diagnostics' app. You will find it buried in the System here:


/System/Library/CoreServices/Wi-Fi Diagnostics.app


It lets you monitor your Wi-Fi network and save the results. I have no idea why Apple has effectively hidden this useful app.


:-Derek

802.11n 5 GHz

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