Years ago
the most common was to connect to Wi-Fi networks with our laptops, however,
today most of us connect with our mobiles or tablets. we are going to explain everything you must take into
account when you are going to connect to a Wi-Fi network
from your smartphone.
Frequency band to which you are connected
Today's
smartphones can connect to two frequency bands, the popular 2.4GHz band, and
the 5GHz band (with either "low" channels or "high"
channels). There are routers and APs that are simultaneous
triple band , therefore, we will have a total of three
frequency bands to connect to, and it is very important to know which of them
to connect to, since it will depend on the performance and coverage that we
achieve.
If the wireless router or AP does not have
"Smart Connect" , that is, the three frequency bands
unified in the same SSID and authentication, you can select the frequency band
to connect to.
- 2.4GHz : If you are too far from
the Wi-Fi access point, this frequency band should give you better
coverage and also better speed than the 5GHz band.
- 5GHz : if you are close to the AP, or you get good
coverage with your mobile device in this band, you should always connect
to this network because you will get a higher wireless speed.
If
the wireless router or AP has «Smart Connect», you will not be able to choose which
frequency band to connect to , since the device itself
will take care of «placing you» on the best possible frequency at a certain
time, depending on the number of connected clients. , signal received by your
device, available bandwidth, and other factors that it takes into account.
If
you want to know what frequency band you are connected to with
your smartphone, you should use applications such as Wi-Fi Analyzer, where you
can see what SSID, frequency and wireless channel we are connected to.
If you want to know the best programs and
applications to analyze Wi-Fi wireless networks, do not miss our complete
article:
Maximum speed that you can get via Wi-Fi
The maximum
speed of the wireless link that you will achieve (it does
not have to correspond to the speed of the Internet connection), depends on
several factors, among which are the following:
- Wireless
standard used (Wi-Fi 4, 5 or 6)
- Channel width
chosen in a certain frequency band
- Number of antennas
of the mobile device and the AP.
- Maximum
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) supported by the device and AP.
- Signal
received by the device, and modulation used in the wireless link.
In
the state of the Wi-Fi network on our smartphone, we can see in detail the
synchronization speed of said link. For example, the latest Samsung
mobiles support 1024QAM in the 5GHz band with Wi-Fi AC (and they also support
Wi-Fi AX in the case of the S10 onwards).
Security: what type of encryption does the Wi-Fi network use?
When
we look at the status of the wireless network on the smartphone itself, it will
indicate the encryption protocol used for the connection, whether we are using
PSK (Pre-Shared Key) or if we are using an Enterprise protocol based on RADIUS
authentication. You can also see this information when connecting to the
wireless network, and even with the applications to analyze
Wi-Fi networks that we have discussed previously.
Precautions if you connect to open and public Wi-Fi
networks
we have talked on many occasions about open and public Wi-Fi
networks, and all the security recommendations that you must take into account
before connecting. We have explained what data they can obtain from you if
you register on a public Wi-Fi network, how to prevent your devices from
automatically connecting to these open Wi-Fi networks, and also what security
tips we can put in place before connecting. We recommend you visit our
tutorial on VPN on mobile to browse open and public
networks .
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