This topic

BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

harleydee — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 13:46:29 GMT

I have recently upgraded o Full Fibre 500. When connecting to my BT HUB 2 my 5GHz link speed is 433 mb/s which is ok but the 2.4GHz link speed is only 72 mb/s . Is there a reason this is so slow? can it be adjusted ? it effects the performance of any wifi extenders I have that connect to the 2.4ghz channel.

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

imjolly — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 13:54:14 GMT

the Full Fibre 500 package speed is 500/80 so looks about right

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

harleydee — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 14:09:53 GMT

Thanks for your reply. So does that mean the 2.4ghz channel is only for uploading ? my wifi extenders connect to the 2.4ghz channel and quite happily transmit and recieve data on it. According to BT the 500/80 means download / upload speeds, how is that related to the 2 wifi channels (5Ghz & 2.4Ghz) please ?

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 14:25:09 GMT

I think @imjolly may have misread.

2.4GHz is slower than 5GHz but with greater range. You don't say what you're using to measure link speed, but that could be a limitation of that device. In any case, real world speed is going to depend on many factors but 2.4GHz is never going to match 5GHz.

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

harleydee — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 15:15:00 GMT

Thanks for your reply. Yes I appreciate that the 2.5Ghz is acknowledged to be slower than the 5 Ghz but the difference is reported to be more noticeable over distance.

My testing is in the same room so to rule out inter-room interference or distance impacts on performance. I am using a high spec windows 11 pc, high end Samsung mobile and an Apple ipad, all show very similar speeds and all the software apps I have used (one recommended by BT) reflect the same performance. Also if I check the “network properties” of each device it reports

Network Band 5Ghz, Network Link Speed (Receive/ Transmit) 433/433 (Mb/s)

Network Band 2.4Ghz, Network Link Speed (Receive/ Transmit) 73/73 (Mb/s)

These speeds are derived by the system and independent to any “speed testing” software but are reflected software testing results.

I’m just wondering why there is such a difference between the bands which impacts on me using the 2.4ghz channel for Wifi extenders i.e. the fastest I am extending the wifi is 73mb/s.

If I extend the 5Ghz channel then this impacts the devices ie TV which are nearer to the BT Hub and lock onto that channel.

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

countrypaul — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 19:49:01 GMT

Have you tried using something like WiFi Analyzer to see if there is any interference from other sources? You could also try resetting your SH2 (not just restarting it) and see whether that makes any difference. Another thing you can try is changing the SH2 from smart channel selection to a channel not used by anything else in the vicinity (e.g. one of the channels used by Sky is 36 so avoid that).

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

TimCurtis — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 09:19:33 GMT

@harleydee

I'm on FF500 but don't use the SH2.

In my Asus it shows me the tx/rx speeds for attached devices and on the 2.4GHz band my devices show an RX speed of 72.2M and on the 5GHz band a TX speed of 433.3M. Which closely matches my 500/70 profile.

Same figures as yours but obviously RX compared to TX.

However, when doing a speed test wirelessly on my iPhone 11 on 5GHz I get 360Mbps on download & 70Mbps on upload. On the 2.4GHz band it's 100Mbps and 70Mbps. This is within about 3M of my Asus.

For wired devices i get 500/70 as I should.

Having done a disconnect of my phone & reconnect currently onn 5GHz I'm showing 585Mbps & 24Mbps and on 2.4GHz 144Mbps & 144Mbps.

Perhaps that means that there's not too much to be read into these "link" figures but actual speeds are the real test.

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

harleydee — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 11:12:05 GMT

Thanks countrypaul, just factory reset the hub and the "Network Properties" on the devices has gone up as follows :

5Ghz Link Speed has gone from 433/433Mbps to 520/650 (Mbps)

2.4Ghz Link Speed has gone from 73/73Mbps to 144/144 (Mbps)

Speed tests on devices have now increased topping 300mbps on 5Ghz and 140mbps on the 2.4Ghz channel but as TimCurtis commented, the "link speeds" in the network properties may not be actual but potential but the Hub 2 must have been holding back for some reason. It may be because I have had this service for 2 years as Full Fibre 100 and only recently upgraded to Fibre 500.

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

harleydee — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 11:14:46 GMT

Thanks TimCurtis, I agree, which hub do you use ?

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

TimCurtis — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 12:41:25 GMT

@harleydee

I use an Asus DSL-AC68U which is over 9 years old so not Wifi 6/7 rated but fast enough for me.

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

harleydee — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 13:51:56 GMT

Thats very interesting, I had not realised I could use any 3rd party DSL/ Modem router on my BT broadband, mmm something else to play with, Thanks.

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

WSH — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 14:37:37 GMT

You didn’t say if you followed CountryPaul’s advise and checked for other channels?

Wireless is a whole different ball-game to wires. Again, it has no relation to your internet connection speed.

It is also a half-duplex system. That is, it can’t send and receive simultaneously, so when they say 866 Mb/s it usually means 433 send and 433 receive etc.

It is also sharing the airwaves with other devices on the same channel. If people are being sensible and sticking to channels 1, 6 and 11 there is a mechanism for two wireless point on the same channel to cooperate and share the channel. Of course, this may mean you have to wait while your neighbour sends something, slowing real time transfer down a little etc. 1, 6 and 11 are far enough apart to be separate. The channels in between overlap. If your neighbour thinks he’s being clever by using, say, channel 8, it just causes interference without them being able to talk to each other and cooperate and slows things down even more. (5 GHz is better in this respect as the channels are far enough apart not to overlap).

Wireless also has a whole lot of other baggage going on, such as the change in signal format between ethernet and 802.11 then back again. Encryption/decryption etc.

Your best bet is to proceed with the plan to put wires in then put a wireless point in each room using wireless roaming. That is, same SSID but channels 1, 6 and 11 arranged so no two adjacent stations use the same channel.

Re: BT Hub 2, 2.4GHz link speed.

harleydee — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 15:53:21 GMT

Thanks again for the usefull information WSH, I did check channels and also used a scanner. I am next door to a public library and they fire up all sorts of kit when its open so I will do a few checks out of interest. I have ordered the cable etc and will implement a wired network. Thanks everyone for all your help and i will let you know how things go.