andrum99
Posts: 1239
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:41 pm

Pi Zero W - dual band wireless?

Tue Nov 19, 2019 11:40 am

I'm thinking about moving a Pi-based music player at my parents house to 5GHz wifi to get round problems with the 2.4GHz band getting congested. Does the Pi Zero W have dual band wireless?

trejan
Posts: 2238
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2019 2:28 pm

Re: Pi Zero W - dual band wireless?

Tue Nov 19, 2019 11:43 am

Nope. Same WiFi chip as the 3B so it is 2.4GHz only. If you want 5GHz band support then you need the 3B+ or 4B.

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B.Goode
Posts: 10356
Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2014 4:03 pm
Location: UK

Re: Pi Zero W - dual band wireless?

Tue Nov 19, 2019 11:48 am

andrum99 wrote:
Tue Nov 19, 2019 11:40 am
I'm thinking about moving a Pi-based music player at my parents house to 5GHz wifi to get round problems with the 2.4GHz band getting congested. Does the Pi Zero W have dual band wireless?


Speciation here -
The Raspberry Pi Zero W extends the Pi Zero family. Launched at the end of February 2017, the Pi Zero W has all the functionality of the original Pi Zero, but comes with with added connectivity, consisting of:

802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN
Bluetooth 4.1
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
Ref: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/ra ... pi-zero-w/



Perhaps looking up what "802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN" means will answer your query?

alphanumeric
Posts: 2566
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 2:17 pm
Location: Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

Re: Pi Zero W - dual band wireless?

Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:42 pm

trejan wrote:
Tue Nov 19, 2019 11:43 am
Nope. Same WiFi chip as the 3B so it is 2.4GHz only. If you want 5GHz band support then you need the 3B+ or 4B.
Or 3A+ ;)

andrum99
Posts: 1239
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:41 pm

Re: Pi Zero W - dual band wireless?

Tue Nov 19, 2019 1:04 pm

B.Goode wrote:
Tue Nov 19, 2019 11:48 am
Perhaps looking up what "802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN" means will answer your query?
Thanks - I read the spec. 802.11n can operate on both bands. I think i will go with an upgraded 2.4GHz access point first and see how that goes - I've a spare router I can use.

hippy
Posts: 7911
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: UK

Re: Pi Zero W - dual band wireless?

Tue Nov 19, 2019 4:17 pm

Or an OTG cable and an external USB Wi-Fi dongle.

andrum99
Posts: 1239
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:41 pm

Re: Pi Zero W - dual band wireless?

Tue Nov 19, 2019 4:58 pm

hippy wrote:
Tue Nov 19, 2019 4:17 pm
Or an OTG cable and an external USB Wi-Fi dongle.
I've got a shim and the official Raspberry Pi wifi dongle on a Pi Zero at the moment. (The W wasn't out when I built it). I'm going to try upgrading the access point first, as I've found the range of 5GHz wifi quite poor compared to 2.4GHz. The distances involved are not huge, but I would have to buy a new wifi dongle for 5GHz, so I'm trying to avoid doing so it if don't have to :D

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