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5GHz AW2 WiFi?
- Thread starter btrach144
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Let's hope so... but the key question is how is your network setup that you had to override your phone to force it to 2.4?
If you have your WiFi setup with 2.4 and 5 on the same SSID and PW, all devices work effortlessly and naturally switch to the best band. And, the watch will always stay on 2.4, because that is all it has. The standard is designed for this configuration, and the clients will switch bands based on their demands.
If you have your WiFi setup with 2.4 and 5 on the same SSID and PW, all devices work effortlessly and naturally switch to the best band. And, the watch will always stay on 2.4, because that is all it has. The standard is designed for this configuration, and the clients will switch bands based on their demands.
As above set up your wifi network correctly
And you won't have an issue.
The watch being on 2.4ghz has benefits that outweigh the need for 5ghz
And you won't have an issue.
The watch being on 2.4ghz has benefits that outweigh the need for 5ghz
There would be no benefit to the 
Watch having 5GHz. There would only be negatives like increased power usage extra chip and processing/switching. Having WiFi in the Watch is about increasing the range and even 2.4GHz is WAY faster then it will ever (at least the next few generations) be able to utilize or need much less the extremely limited range 5GHz band.
Watch having 5GHz. There would only be negatives like increased power usage extra chip and processing/switching. Having WiFi in the Watch is about increasing the range and even 2.4GHz is WAY faster then it will ever (at least the next few generations) be able to utilize or need much less the extremely limited range 5GHz band.Or you can just login to the 2.4GHz one on your phone when you pair the watch. It will pick that one up and remember it. Then you can switch back to the 5GHz on your phone.
Cool. A unified SSID would be the industry standard network setup.
One of the greatest disservices that router makers have done to humanity is that they default the 2.4 and 5.0 bands to different SSIDs. People think that is they way they should set them up. But, if the router makers defaulted both to the same SSID, then people would probably set them up correctly up front.
I do not think that the watch will need it, as it won't really require it for much but I think it would be a useful addition and a great marketing idea
Couldn't agree more. I had used my Apple Time Capsule Gen 2 for years and it had both bands but Apple didn't doesn't spilt the two bands up by default.
I switched to an ASUS router when 802.11 AC became popular but they make it seem like the bands must be separate.
ASUS is still having to release firmware updates for their router two years later to fix bugs. The current firmware that was released in May causes the router to crash every few hours when UPnP is disabled. My understanding is UPnP has a major security hole in it so it needs to be disabled. Very annoying. Never by an ASUS router.
At this point I'm just waiting for Apple to release a new Wi-Fi station but who knows if that'll happen since they only care about iPhone and iPad.
I have only 5Ghz band enabled on my Airport Extreme & Cisco A/C routers. when my phone is off.. Watch is able to pick up calls/text.. shows red phone icon at times and some times it works. not sure what exactly is going on though. For 2.4Ghz it works without any problem even when phone is not available.
WiFi network diagnostics is pretty tricky remotely. But, here are a few thoughts...
1) When you have two or more WiFi routers in your network, only one should be functioning as your edge router, and the others should have their routing functions disabled so that they are only functioning as Access Points. Since this is an Apple forum, I will assume that you have your AE setup as your edge router (the one connected to your external broadband connection). Therefore, confirm that your Cisco router is not performing a DHCP function.
2) Enable all frequency bands on all Access Points.
3) All routers and access points should have their WiFi settings the same for all bands. You should only have one SSID visible in the house, no matter which band or which AP is visible to the clients.
4) If possible on the routers, if you them physically close, you will want to back down the broadcast power so that the frequencies do not step on one another. This is a common configuration in areas like offices, where you have a lot of people and a broad area of WiFi coverage. You install tons of APs and then back down the radio power on each so that that each AP serves a physically smaller footprint.
Based on the symptoms above, I am guessing that your secondary router is also performing its routing function, which jacks up network communication between clients and jacks up efficient Internet access.
sorry i forgot to mention it was two different router scenarios. first one - airport extreme is connected to verizon router via lan with wifi off & second one is comcast AC router. Different places and different setups but apple watch works just fine.
Substantially improved performance can be achieved by limiting to 5ghz - depending on the RF environment you work in. Many offices in super dense areas have overlapping 2.4 ghz bands that punch through walls with a poor quality signal, cause lots of interference in 2.4 ghz bands. Certain clients (Macs being one of worst in this case) will prefer a poorer quality 2.4 signal over a higher quality 5 signal. Easiest way to avoid this is to split your 2.4 and 5 ghz signal or shut down 2.4 all together.
-Shaown
-Shaown
No. The easiest way to avoid this is to reduce the broadcast power of the 2.4 and 5.0 bands so that they only reach a smaller area, then they have lots of access points with intentionally small ranges. This is actually how office WiFi networks are configured.
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One SSID here, turn off Bluetooth and watch still shows as disconnected... Thoughts? 2.4 and 5ghz bands
SSID is the wifi network name. It is what you see when you search for wifi networks on the phone. And yes, PW is the secret passkey.
Some quick pre-diagnosis stuff...
- Is this a public network, work network, or your personal network?
- Is there any other kind of authentication besides the security key (password)?
- Do you have one or multiple routers or access points?
- The AW does not instantly connect... it takes a little bit. I check my connection by swiping up to the settings Glance and look for the green cloud icon. Have you looked here for WiFi connection?
- If you shut off 5GHz and just connect the phone to 2.4GHz, will the watch connect?
Thanks for the tips and points where I can start.
What I tried to do and I think may have done correctly was reset all my wifi connection settings and rejoined them again. Turned off Bluetooth and I saw the disconnect and a few seconds later, the watch reconnect. Crossing fingers here!!! Before, it would just flash red the entire time. Thanks still! Helped me work through it.
Saw the green cloud icon too...
This is what I did, I have 1 router (wireless turned off), and 3 wireless access points.
1. One SSID and credentials for both frequencies on each wireless access point (broadcasting simultaneously)
2. Under the 2.4 frequency for each wireless access point block the MAC addresses for my iphone and ipad
This allows all devices to connect, but forces the iphone and ipad onto the 5 ghz, and still allows the watch to be on the 2.4 ghz.
I do hope then next watch gets 5 ghz, so I can only have my network send 5 ghz. I get 4x download and upload speeds when on 5 ghz vs 2.4 ghz (80 mbps up and down fios).
1. One SSID and credentials for both frequencies on each wireless access point (broadcasting simultaneously)
2. Under the 2.4 frequency for each wireless access point block the MAC addresses for my iphone and ipad
This allows all devices to connect, but forces the iphone and ipad onto the 5 ghz, and still allows the watch to be on the 2.4 ghz.
I do hope then next watch gets 5 ghz, so I can only have my network send 5 ghz. I get 4x download and upload speeds when on 5 ghz vs 2.4 ghz (80 mbps up and down fios).
My neighborhood is so saturated 2.4ghz is useless so anything over 2-3mbps. Same SSID is broken because devices attach based on signal strength and not real bandwidth.
If it wasn't for my Apple Watch I winks disable 2.4 entirely.
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You can do all that or just disable 2.4ghz. In my super noisy subdivision 2.4 is basically useless no matter now close you are to the AP.