2.4 GHz and 5 GHz are basically two frequency bands for wireless routers and users can select through which band should their router broadcast the signals. They are just frequencies that your Wi-Fi routers can transmit. Frequency bands can affect the transmission of the internet to your device. If the frequency is greater then speed will be higher, but the range will be lesser whereas if the frequency is lesser then the speed will also be lesser, but the range will be higher.
2.4 GHz Frequency Band
As mentioned earlier, if the frequency is less then speed will also be less, but the range will be greater. The same is for the 2.4 GHz band. It is the default frequency of all of the electronic and wireless and almost all of the older devices including Wi-Fi routers transmit signals using 2.4 GHz which gives a greater range, but slower internet speeds.
People who prefer the 2.4 GHz frequency band is due to the fact that it has a greater range than the 5 GHz frequency band, almost twice. Although the internet speed is slower on the 2.4 GHz frequency band, its range of transmission is much higher.
Because 2.4 GHz is the default frequency band used by most of the wireless and electronic devices, overcrowding occurs on this frequency band because there are only 11 channels available for transmission and as it the default frequency band, there are many devices around using the same channels, there occurs overcrowding and interference occurs causing high latency in the internet speeds.
5 GHz Frequency Band
The frequency is higher on the 5 GHz frequency band, so it results in higher internet speeds, but the range of 5 GHz band is lesser than that of 2.4 GHz. It is not used by most of the devices because it is not the default frequency band. So, the 5 GHz band is usually free most of the time.
The speed on 5 GHz band is higher because it has a higher frequency which results in higher internet speeds and it has 23 channels available for the transmission of the signals and because this band is not ordinarily used by electronic and wireless devices, overcrowding does not occur and the signals don’t interfere with each other, but do remember its range is lesser than that of 2.4 GHz.
Both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands have their own pros and cons. If you are looking for range then go for the 2.4 GHz band and if you are looking for speed then opt for the 5 GHz band. Both are unique in their own ways and you can set either one of them from the admin panel of your router.