W.O.W. → Re: Internet connection dropping

For the longest time we were using a wireless router that could only use the 2.4GHz band. As soon as we got a new one that could do 5 & 2.4 simultaneously, I have noticed that my laptop will work perfectly on the 5GHz band, but as soon as it chooses the 2.4 band, it will very often lose its connection to the internet. It will say I am connected to the router just fine, but I have to turn off WiFi then turn it back on every time just to get it to load a webpage again.

After blaming everything possible for my poor internet the last couple years (WOW's hardware, my hardware, the websites, etc. etc.), I've started to conclude that the 2.4GHz WiFi band is just a piece of crap. I honestly regret waiting so long to upgrade to a simultaneous dual-band router.

Thanks for responding. I just have the arris gateway so I have been using that built in router. How would I go about changing to 5 GHz? Sorry, I'm kind of a network amateur.

And, cue WOW to tell you "there's a reason we ask you to try it out hardwired directly to the cable modem before calling us"

Since the radio on the gateway can only do 5GHz OR 2.4GHz, changing over to 5 might not be viable. It all depends on what devices you are going to want to use on the network.

Anything that must use 802.11b/g will only work with 2.4, and quite a few 802.11n devices also only work with 2.4.

Your laptops should be good to go with 5GHz, but things on our network that cannot use 5GHz include a Wii (although that is not important anymore) and iPhone 4S's. The iPhone 5 added 5GHz support.
Also, smaller, less network-intensive devices like printers and other miscellaneous media devices often only have b/g support or if they do support n it's only on the 2.4GHz band.

If you think you will be ok going all 5, then enter your gateway settings by navigating to 192.168.0.1 in your browser, log in, then select the Wireless Setup tab across the top. The band select is in the Advanced tab to the left.

A final consideration is the fact that the 5GHz band has a harder time penetrating walls and such than the 2.4. The problem with 2.4 is the fact that EVERYONE is running on it, so the interference is insane. I always have 10 or more 2.4 wireless networks in range of the device I'm using.