iPhone 5 and iPad 3 having trouble accessing 5.0 GHz router

[nr2d]

About 2 weeks ago I noticed my iPad 3 was having problems staying connected to my ASUS RT-U66N router. Every time I would pick up and use
my iPad I would see that it had changed to the 2.4 GHz band. This weekend I saw the same thing on my iPhone 5. When I would try to reconnect
to the router on the 5 GHz band I would receive an error saying something like unable to connect to the router. Also this weekend I noticed my iMac,
5 years old, was not connected to the 5 GHz band either.

I powered off the router. I updated the firmware and re-boot the router again and finally got all devices to connect to the router on the 5 GHz band.
I sent a trouble message to ASUS and they came back an said to try to connect a non- Apple device to the router. I'll try my Sony laptop tonight.

BUT I thought I would ask around to see if anyone else is having problems connecting or stay connected to a router on the 5 GHz band with any
Apple products. The iPad 3 is about 50' from the router and through several walls and floors. The iPhone is maybe 20' away and through several walls
and 1 floor and my iMac is about 6" away from the router.

I re-booted the 3 Apple devices and they finally were able to re-connect. Since my last re-boot of the router my iPad has stayed connected to the router
on the 5 GHz band. All of my apple devices are up to the latest firmware available and are not jail broken.

So anyone else having problems with their iPhone or iPad connecting a router on the 5 GHz band?

 

[Just_Me_D]

My iPhone 5, iPad 2 & MacBook all connect to my Apple Time Capsule via the 5 GHz frequency without a problem. Anyway, since you have upgraded the firmware on your wireless router, try rebooting all of your devices and then reconnect.

 

[ups925]

The problem may not be with your iphone 5 or ipad 3. If you have older devices not capable of operating on 5ghz, it may by default, set your wifi to 2.4ghz. You may need a dual band router to allow your 2.4ghz devices and 5ghz devices to all run at full power. I had the same problem years ago when I installed a floppy drive on my desktop. Suddenly my dvd drive chugged along at a slow speed. I unplugged the floppy and it all was instantly faster. It all falls down to the weakest link / lowest common denominator.

 

[Peligro911]

I know the 5 band is a lot shorter range than 2.4 also


Sent from my iPhone 5 from a galaxy far far away (in the USA ) using Tapatalk !

 

[Dryland]

One thing to keep I'm mind is the 5Ghz band has a shorter range than 2.4. Make sure you're not not too far from your router. At 2.4 I can get signal at my neighbors 2 houses over. At 5, I can barely leave the yard.

 

[anon(4698833)]

The 5 band is a bit funny...not only does it have a shorter range, but it also can be inconsistent within the optimal range. I've never understood this about the 5Ghz network, but after a couple of years of trying to fine tune my fairly high end router, I've just come to grips with the fact that I should just enjoy that band when it's functioning properly, and be happy that 2.4Ghz still provides decent performance.

 

[Just_Me_D]

The 5 band is a bit funny...not only does it have a shorter range, but it also can be inconsistent within the optimal range. I've never understood this about the 5Ghz network, but after a couple of years of trying to fine tune my fairly high end router, I've just come to grips with the fact that I should just enjoy that band when it's functioning properly, and be happy that 2.4Ghz still provides decent performance.

My experience has been different, Sean, and I'm assuming it is because my wireless router is an Apple Time Capsule. I've yet to have issue connecting or even maintaining a connection with my iPhone 5, iPad 2 & MacBook via the 5 GHz band. I wish I had a different 5 GHz capable Wi-Fi router to test them on, but I don't at this time. Lucky me, huh?...

 

[sting7k]

Honestly, I've tried 3 dual band routers now and I'm finding 5Ghz isn't all it's cracked up to be. It doesn't have nearly the range of 2.4Ghz and has a much harder time penetrating walls. On all my devices that can use 5Ghz the signal and throughput all vary; wildly sometimes. Where as on 2.4Ghz the variation seems to be much less. I've tried Netgear, Asus, and Belkin dual band routers. I'm sticking my current Asus one as it was cheaper and does perform well with 2.4Ghz.

I think 5Ghz probably would function well in a nice open house or outdoors. But in my townhouse it's just a pain.

nr2d - I have the Asus N65U router.

 

[nr2d]

Actually the router is an ASUS RT-N66U. It is setup to operate both bands at the same time.
After I posted this question I decided to re-boot the router from the setup screen. I had re-booted
before by turning the router off then on. Since I re-booted the router from the setup screen, loved
into the router it has worked fine. BUT thanks to everyone for your suggestions and comments.

As for range the ASUS router seems to have a little better range than my old Linksys. It has external
antennas. As the frequency goes up the range will decrease. I did a quick calculation figuring out the
"Free Space" loss 2.4 GHz at .01 miles is -24 DBm and at 5.0 GHz is -31 DBm. I don't have the formula handy
though but it is a logarithmic change.

Again thanks for your comments.