Understanding 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz Wi-Fi

Modern routers broadcast on up to three bands - 2.4GHz, 5GHz and, on newer hardware, 6GHz. Each one trades range for speed, and knowing why helps you get the most out of your Wi-Fi.

Why higher frequencies travel less far

Think of a car driving down your street with the music turned up. You hear the bass well before the car arrives - low frequencies carry a long way and pass easily through walls and windows. It's only as the car gets close that you pick up the mids and treble, which carry the vocals and detail of the song.

Wi-Fi works the same way. Lower frequencies travel further and handle obstacles better, while higher frequencies carry more information but fade over a shorter distance.

2.4GHz - the bass

Travels furthest and copes best with walls and floors. The trade-off is lower speeds and more congestion, because the band is shared with microwaves, Bluetooth, baby monitors and every neighbouring router. Best for devices at the edge of your home, and smart-home gadgets that need a reliable connection more than speed.

5GHz - the mid-range

Significantly more bandwidth and far less interference than 2.4GHz, with a moderate range that drops off through solid walls. The everyday workhorse for streaming, video calls and gaming within a room or two of the router.

6GHz - the treble

The newest band, introduced with Wi-Fi 6E and built on by Wi-Fi 7. It offers wide, uncongested channels and the fastest speeds, but has the shortest range and is the most easily blocked by walls. Best for compatible devices in the same room as the router or a nearby mesh node. In Australia, the lower 6GHz band is available for indoor Wi-Fi use.

What Wi-Fi 7 adds

Wi-Fi 7 is the latest Wi-Fi standard, and it makes the most of the 6GHz band:

• Wider channels - up to 320MHz on 6GHz, double the width of Wi-Fi 6E, for higher peak speeds.
• Multi-Link Operation (MLO) - a device can connect over more than one band at the same time, combining their capacity and staying connected if one band gets busy.
• Lower latency - smoother video calls, gaming and other real-time apps.

To use 6GHz or Wi-Fi 7 features, both your router and your device need to support them. Older devices still connect on 2.4GHz or 5GHz as normal.

Band steering - letting your router choose

Most modern routers use band steering: they publish every band under a single network name and automatically move each device to the band that gives it the best experience, based on signal strength, what the device supports and how busy each band is. As you walk from the lounge room out to the backyard, your phone may quietly shift from 6GHz or 5GHz down to 2.4GHz to hold the connection.