Wifi dual band router

[brightncheerful]

Not sure if the subject is the correct description but on the router that I've just had installed there are two networks?, one at 2.4 GhZ, the other at 5.0 GhZ.

It's s TP-Link N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit VDSL2 Modem Router

IT person did try to explain the difference and why it's advisable for me to use the 2.4 one, but I still don't understand.

Could someone please oblige?

tia
Bnc

[simoan]

The higher frequency (5GHz) is better for short distances from the router only because the maximum data rate will be higher. The lower frequency (2.4 GHz) is better for longer distances and so gives better coverage, particularly around a large house. BTW I hope they also told you to upgrade the router firmware to the latest version.

All the best, Si

[digitaria]

It's actually often preferable to use the 5GHz network, simply because it is less used and therefore you are less likely to experience interference from neighbouring networks. However, there are many wireless clients, whether laptops, phones, tablets or whatever, which do not support 5GHz, so you are compelled to use 2.4 for them. Your router should be able to support both frequencies simultaneously, so you can have a mixture of connection types.

I would suggest using 5GHz for devices which can do this and 2.4 for anything else. You can name the networks differently, so you can tell which is which. If the device doesn't support 5GHz, it won't see the 5GHz network when you search for wireless networks.

HTH

digitaria

[stewamax]

As an aside... if you haven't already done so, change the default router password to one of your own

[brightncheerful]

As an aside... if you haven't already done so, change the default router password to one of your own

How would I do that?

[Breelander]

As an aside... if you haven't already done so, change the default router password to one of your own

How would I do that?

There are two 'passwords' for a WiFi router, the one you give to connect to the WiFi and the Administrator password you need to make changes to its settings. It is the admin password that (on some brands) is too often set to a widely known default - 'admin' or 'password' being common. It is this admin password that you should change, else your hub is vulnerable to being hijacked by an outsider. BT's hubs are better than some in this respect as each is configured with a unique default admin password.

Most ISP-supplied routers are administered through you web browser. Type its name or IP address in the browser to get to the admin screen. For example, a BT Home Hub 4 has the name http://bthub.home/ and the IP address http://192.168.1.254/

To change the admin password you need to know the current one. On the hub's webpage you'll need to give this to get into the settings pages. While the admin password is the critical one, for peace of mind you can chance the WiFi key too.

[swill453]

To change the admin password you need to know the current one. On the hub's webpage you'll need to give this to get into the settings pages. While the admin password is the critical one, for peace of mind you can chance the WiFi key too.

There's a good chance that both passwords and the IP address are printed on a label on the back or bottom of the router.

Scott.

[Itsallaguess]

To change the admin password you need to know the current one. On the hub's webpage you'll need to give this to get into the settings pages. While the admin password is the critical one, for peace of mind you can chance the WiFi key too.

There's a good chance that both passwords and the IP address are printed on a label on the back or bottom of the router.

Scott.

If the router is connected to a Windows PC, then opening a command-prompt window and typing -

ipconfig /all

(there's a back-slash in there before the all btw) will show some information regarding the current network connection. The IP address of the router is usually seen on the line that says 'Default Gateway', and is usually of the form -

192.168.x.x

Typing that IP address into a browser URL bar will usually try to get to the router admin-homepage, but not usually before asking for the current admin username and password.

More detailed instructions here - http://www.ubergizmo.com/how-to/find-router-ip-address/

As you say, these are usually written on a little sticker somewhere on the router, or might be available in the accompanying documentation for the router.

Once into the admin pages, changing the default admin username and password will help greatly with the security side of things, but make sure to write them down clearly somewhere, as you will no doubt need them again at some point in the future.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Breelander]

...make sure to write them down clearly somewhere, as you will no doubt need them again at some point in the future.

Should you forget/loose them, most routers have a hidden 'reset to factory defaults' button. Do a reset and you can get back in with the original ones.

[brightncheerful]

I have bookmarked the router website so have all that, thanks anyway.

By how do I change the password what I meant was after I've logged in to the router website (using existing password), whereabouts on the navigation menus would I find change password? (apologies if you've already explain this.)

[swill453]

This looks like it might be the manual http://static.tp-link.com/resources/document/TL-WDR3500_V1_User_Guide_19100.pdf

If so, section 4.21.7 says

"Choose menu “System Tools → Password”, and then you can change the factory default user
name and password of the Router in the next screen"

Scott.

[Devjon]

I have that exact same model of Router the IP address is 192.168.1.1

After you log in you will see the main page with "Device Information" :-

Basic Status

Device Information
Firmware Version:0.6.0 1.13 v0021.0 Build 160125 Rel.52064n
Hardware Version:TD-W9980 v1 00000001
System Up Time:18 day(s) 04:28:28

This is the latest firmware ( I checked last week )