2G vs 5G wifi in hAP AC

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

I am sitting 10 feet from and in plain sight of my new hAP AC. Connecting to the 5G AP looks good:
5g-conn.png
Connecting to the 2G AP looks good too:
2g-conn.png
However, my ping behavior varies widely based on which AP I am connected to. E.g. on the 5G it looks fine:

--- 10.23.0.1 ping statistics ---
20 packets transmitted, 20 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 0.800/1.225/2.664/0.463 ms

However on the 2G latency is all over the place:

$ ping -c 20 10.23.0.1
PING 10.23.0.1 (10.23.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.845 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.849 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.975 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=12.839 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.985 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=21.333 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=110.164 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=124.426 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=15.218 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=0.794 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=64 time=0.759 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=64 time=1.992 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=64 time=0.715 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=64 time=326.218 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=64 time=38.508 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=64 time=0.778 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=64 time=130.060 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=17 ttl=64 time=6.584 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=18 ttl=64 time=0.854 ms
64 bytes from 10.23.0.1: icmp_seq=19 ttl=64 time=147.630 ms

--- 10.23.0.1 ping statistics ---
20 packets transmitted, 20 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 0.715/47.126/326.218/80.845 ms

This translates into higher latency and choppy VOIP connections on 2G (they sound fine on 5G). I’ve also noticed that the 2G signal does not travel through the walls in my house as well as the 5G (I thought it was supposed to be the other way around?).

What could be going on here? Is the 2G antenna or chipset in the hAP AC that much worse than the 5G? Could interference from other networks explain all of these differences and if so is there a good way to test that theory?

2

For comparison’s sake here are the same numbers when connected to my old ASUS router, for 5G:

--- 10.20.0.1 ping statistics ---
20 packets transmitted, 20 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.136/1.516/2.628/0.400 ms

And for 2G:

--- 10.20.0.1 ping statistics ---
20 packets transmitted, 20 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.136/2.513/5.863/1.268 ms
3

maybe you have interference on the 2.4ghz band, interference can cause that behavior

4

Why does it work fine with the ASUS router then?

5

Different devices work in different channels, perhaps.

Also try decreasing the output power of your wireless.

6

Try different channels first.
Note : on 2,4GHz there are only 3 channels that are truly separated - Channel 1, 6 and 11.
channel 2-5 and 7-10 should not be used, as they would interfer with two of the 3 separate channels.

7

Not quite true … there are many nonoverlapping channels combinations (picture source: https://photosync-app.com/photosync/en/help/connectivity/answers/how-can-i-choose-the-right-wi-fi-channel-to-prevent-aborted-connections.html )

1/6/11, 1/6/12, 1/6/13, 1/7/12, 1/7/13, 2/7/12, 2/7/13, 2/8/13, 3/8/13