Single band or dual band router?

I have a question about my router. I bought one two months ago and it was no good. However, i have been looking at new ones and the new dual band routers seem to be a good buy and will give me a faster connection and better streaming capabilities than the regular ones. I have a question though. If your computer supports a single-band wireless internet connection would it be okay to connect the device to a dual band router (since other devices i want to connect to my network such as an ipad and iphone are compatible with it?).

There are 2 types of dual band routers.

The first one allows only one band at a time. So you'd have to switch the bands depending on what you need, 2.4GHz or 5GHz. Almost all devices out there can connect to the 2.4GHz band, whereas only some specifically designed to use the 5GHz band. This is not recommended if you regularly use a wide variety of devices.

The 2nd type is the "simultaneous" dual band router. Which means that both bands are available to any devices that might want to connect to either. You don't have to worry about your devices as they will automatically connect to the band that they are designed to work with.

I hope this helps, if even just a little bit. ^_^

A computer that can't connect to a dual band router will operate just fine and do so as though it were attached to a single band router. Then you can upgrade the card in the computer to make good use of that Dual Band router. A laptop for example, allows you to swap out the internal wireless card for another one so getting Dual band is very possible in many, if not most models.

I recommend
Dual band (N600 for example)
Gigabit ports for the Ethernet

Optional but great for future proofing
IPv6, I understand that some ISP's let you use that now.
802.11ac. This can go up to 1750 Mbps

  • What's the difference between a cheap router and a good router? Just wanted to know the difference between a cheap router and an expensive router, I know that is a very broad question, I'm just a bit confused on how a router works. Does it increase my Internet speed on multiple devices? I get 50Mb per second, Well at least that's what I pay for. I have a PS3 two iPhones and a tablet, as well as a desktop PC that is wireless. Can anyone recommend an excellent router under $150
  • IPhone 5 dual SIM adapter problem? The dual adapter works fine when I have a payg Orange and a payg T-Mobile SIM in place, but whenever I remove either SIM and insert my contract EE SIM, the phone displays 'invalid SIM'. I'm obviously wanting to use my contract EE SIM in conjunction with any of the 2 payg SIMS. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks! Steven I forgot to mention that the EE SIM works on my EE locked phone perfectly well.
  • IPhone 5 A6 Dual core vs The Note 2 1.6 Quad core processor? Which out of these two phones has the better processing power on the web and gaming? No Fanboyism please
  • How fast is the a5 dual core processor in an Iphone 4s? Android phones use ghz ie 800hz or 1.2 ghz where the Iphone use A3, A4, A5 or now A6 dual core. How do you cross reference them.

Add Comment