Confused about router support for 5 GHz band. All wireless N routers support it??

[DaRuSsIaMaN]

Someone told me in another thread, and I also read here, that

All Wireless N routers support dual-band 802.11n

implying that any wireless N router can use the 5 GHz band as well as the 2.4 GHz band. Isn't that the implication?

Then why is it that when I browse routers, only some of them list both 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency, while others list only 2.4 in the specs? I want to switch my network over to 5 GHz in order to get away from all the interference I'm getting, as discussed in this thread.

So what's the real answer? Will any cheap "wireless N" router be able to do 5 GHz, (e.g. this one?) or do I need a more expensive dual band one?

 

[Cheetoz]

No. The 802.11n standard supports 5GHz, but does not require it. Now if a device was 802.11ac, it will have a 5GHz radio since that standard only works on that freq.

 

[Liger88]

No. The 802.11n standard supports 5GHz, but does not require it. Now if a device was 802.11ac, it will have a 5GHz radio since that standard only works on that freq.

This. The Router must support 5Ghz dual band mode in order for you to use the frequency. The hardware of the wireless router has to have the capability to transmit and receive on the physical 5Ghz frequency band itself via antennas, no magical setting is going to do that.


Pick up cheap dual band 802.11n routers, run them in mixed mode, move as quickly as possible (or take your time) to get the rest of the devices off of the 2.4Ghz frequency. There will be a penalty running in mixed mode, as is with everything to support backwards compatibility on the network, but once you make the switch to 5Ghz you can plan ahead for 802.11ac which by then should be mature enough in both standards and hardware.

 

[DaRuSsIaMaN]

Alright, thanks. So that website I quoted is just flat-out wrong, then. Great. That's cool; thank you for clarifying. I'll grab a dual-band router.

 

[DaRuSsIaMaN]

Any suggestions for a not-too-expensive dual band router? I ordered a refurb NETGEAR WNDR3700-100NAR last night. $60 with $10 rebate option, so that would make it $50 after I get the rebate. But I'm wondering why so many of these are refurbished. Is that a bad sign that it might not last very long? I could still cancel the order I guess, since I'm thinking it won't ship till Monday.

 

[Eickst]

Many consumer grade routers end up being refurbished because people just can't set them up, so they return them as 'defective'. Usually its user error and there is nothing actually wrong with them.

 

[RocketTech]

Alright, thanks. So that website I quoted is just flat-out wrong, then. Great. That's cool; thank you for clarifying. I'll grab a dual-band router.

I wouldn't say it is 'flat-out wrong'; I'd say 'subject to misinterpretation'. I would agree to confusing and misleading.
There is a difference between 'supports' and 'implements'.
Always a good idea to check the product specs- if it is not listed in the specs, odds are it is not included in the product.