# Band steering can leave devices on slower 2.4GHz Wi-Fi despite faster options

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/your-devices-could-be-on-the-wrong-wi-fi-band-and-its-slowing-them-down/
- Published: 2026-10-25T22:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-25T22:07:32+00:00
- Original publisher: Engadget
- Original article: https://www.engadget.com/2294022/devices-could-be-wrong-wifi-band-slowing-them-down/
- Topics: Business, Entertainment, Markets, Music

## Key points

- Band steering can leave devices on a slower Wi-Fi frequency.
- 2.4GHz offers greater range; 5GHz and 6GHz offer more speed.
- Separating network names lets users choose a band for each device.

## Summary

Devices on a fast broadband connection can still experience slow downloads or buffering if they connect to an unsuitable Wi-Fi band. The article says band steering, which lets a router and devices choose between frequency bands under one network name, can leave some devices on slower 2.4GHz Wi-Fi even when 5GHz is available.

The 2.4GHz band travels farther and passes through obstacles more effectively, but is slower and more prone to interference; 5GHz and 6GHz can carry more data but have shorter ranges. To choose a band manually, users can disable band steering in their router’s Wi-Fi settings, connect to the newly separated network names and select the best one for each device. Router settings may be available through an administration page or companion app.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.