What is advantage of 5GHz network, and should I turn off IPv6?

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Level 1

11 points

What is advantage of 5GHz network, and should I turn off IPv6?

Having finally got my wireless network properly configured, assisted by Tesserax of this community, Re: Why is internet and server dropping from network, I wanted to fine-tune as much as possible and find out if I should be using a 5GHz network.

My equipment includes:

Virginmedia Superhub, as wireless-router (allows 2.4 or 5 GHz, not both I think)
Airport Extreme, in bridge mode, with both ethernet and to Superhub and wifi turned on
Airport Express, at some distance, connected by Homeplug/ethernet
Macbook Air
Imac
Mac Pro, at distance, connected by Homeplug/ethernet
Apple TV
Sony smart -TV with wifi
iPhone 6s
also have CCTV system inc. recorder attached to network by ethernet, just to view

Just wondering if there are definite advantages or any disadvantages. I now receiving a very good speed throughout living area, so no problems with current 2.4GHz.

Also, when trying previously to solve drop-outs from Network (now solved by complete reconfiguration), I got some advice to to turn off IPv6, or set to "link-local" . Is that really necessary, and if so do I have to do it everywhere, e.g. in both Network preferences and Airport Utility for all possible devices (Extreme and Express)?

Airport Extreme-OTHER

Posted on Feb 9, 2016 3:08 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,453 points

Feb 9, 2016 11:40 AM in response to funkster

Also, when trying previously to solve drop-outs from Network (now solved by complete reconfiguration), I got some advice to to turn off IPv6, or set to "link-local" . Is that really necessary, and if so do I have to do it everywhere, e.g. in both Network preferences and Airport Utility for all possible devices (Extreme and Express)?

By default, your Apple base stations and your Macs have IPv6 configured for "Automatically." That would mean that if your ISP is providing you with IPv6 service they should be able to negotiate with that service and receive the proper IPv6 addresses. This, without further consideration, would potentially open up your local network to the Internet. This is because if your "main" router can route IPv6 traffic your local network will be exposed.

By configuring your Apple networking hardware to use the "Link-local only" option you only can use IPv6 traffic on the local network. Again, this will depend your "main" router's IPv6 configuration. If it is blocking IPv6 traffic from entering the local network then you can leave your Apple devices configured for "Automatically."

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Answer 2

To_Mi

Level 4

1,202 points

Feb 9, 2016 12:20 PM in response to funkster

The below is the summary of 2.4GHz vs 5 GHz in my opinion.

* 2.4 GHz

+ wider coverage

+ commonly supported by old Wi-Fi devices.

- more possible interfering noise sources, such as microwave ovens, wireless mouses, bluetooth, USB-3, nearby Wi-Fi network, etc.

* 5 GHz

+ 801.11ac, the fastest Wi-Fi available now, is available with 5 GHz band only.

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