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How Do I Ensure That My Devices Select the Fastest Network Available?

Quite often I find my iPad and iPhone (newest versions running 10.2) are both using my 2.4G network instead of my 5G network. How can I ensure that my devices ONLY select the fastest network available? Both have the same sign-in info. My MBP is too old to see the 5G. (Hurry Apple, the keyboard is failing and charging cord is bare!)
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John Stires

Comments: 2 Responses to “How Do I Ensure That My Devices Select the Fastest Network Available?”

    7 years ago

    For most people, you can simply remove the slow network from you settings/preferences. So it will never choose it. But I can see the issue here: your old MacBook can only use the new network. But iCloud shares the network info, so all devices see all the networks. So if you remove the slow network, then you can't use your old MacBook.
    But is it really slow? You are talking about bands here, not throughout. The bottleneck is certainly your Internet connection. Unless you have an insanely fast connection, like the type only found in high-end corporate networks or government agencies and not in homes, then the 2.4G and 5G wifi networks shouldn't be much different.
    802.11g networks (2.5G) max out at 54 Mbps. Congrats to you if you have a faster internet connection than that. 802.11n can go up to 600 and 802.11ac can go more than twice that. But that's only really useful for in-house file transfers and such. I don't think you have an Internet connection that can match it.

    John Stires
    7 years ago

    Thanks for tamping down my compulsive urges over perceived throughput speed. When my first business computer (1976!) sped up it made a huge difference in my entrepreneurial life. I'm probably grasping at old ghosts but have spent the money to get the latest and greatest (first new MBP order in San Diego, frantically watching the clock) without knowing/realizing the difference is so minimal.
    Thanks again for sharing your knowledge, happy Thanksgiving.

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