Wireless Modem and Router and IP Address Questions

We have cable internet at home. We have a cable modem and a wireless router next to each other. The thing is there are several floors at the home so imagine 3 floors. The modem and router is located on the top floor. We have 2 different wifi connections... one that is non 5g and the other is 5g. One person always uses the 5g one on the 2nd floor. On the bottom floor, I believe most people use the non 5g one. Last time I believe the person on the top floor used the non 5g one but not sure.


If someone on the top floor is planning to use the internet a lot where the modem and router is at, is it better for them the wifi password to use the non 5g wifi connection or 5g wifi connection? There are 2 different passwords for each of these wifi connections. I would normally use the non 5g one and rarely connect to the 5g unless the wifi is down for the non 5g while I"m on the 1st floor. Other people on the 1st floor use the non 5g so one person uses the 5g on the 2nd floor.


I asked the person to check whatismyipaddress with both the 5g wifi and non 5g wifi connection and that person tells me it shows the exact ip address. That is normal right? Thus it shouldn't be 2 different ip addresses? The other thing is that person always used the 5g wifi connection when I asked that person Now, 5g wifi is faster but the signal might not be as strong as the non 5g right? When I used the non 5g mostly on the 1st floor, it was fine. It was more than fast enough for me. Now if the person on the 3rd floor is going to be online a lot, is it better to give them the non 5g wifi password or it doesn't matter? Should you give them both? The thing is several people use the non 5g wifi on the 1st floor. One person uses the 5g wifi on the 2nd floor. So whichever wifi that person uses on the 3rd floor, will that slow down the wifi for everybody using wifi? Or only that non 5g or 5g connection? Thus if you give that person the non 5g wifi, will that mean the person on the 2nd floor using the 5g wifi password won't have their internet speed slowed down? Is there a way to get multiple ip addresses? I heard you can but you have to buy it from the isp? Like is it possible to get a different ip address for the regular non 5g wifi connection and a different ip address for the 5g wifi connection? Do most people here connect to the non 5g or 5g wifi?

I’m not the ip guru, but the 2.4 ghz signal is always stronger/longer as in distance, this is why most all wireless cameras use the 2.4 ghz frequency.

The thing is we are having someone staying with us for a while and that person will be online a lot. So if they stream or do things a lot online, it would slow the internet of the other users on the 1st and 2nd floor. So is it better to give that person the standard non 5g wifi connection password?


Will them using the wifi slow just the people on the non 5g wifi connection or will it affect the 5g wifi user as well? Only one person uses the 5g wifi connection while everyone else currently uses the non 5g wifi connection.


When I use the wifi, I always used the regular non 5g wifi. Which wifi connection password should we give that person or it doesn't matter because it would affect both wifi connections either way? Is there a way to get another ip address so we have 2 different ip addresses? Or that require buying an ip address from internet company or require an extra wireless router?

newmann said:

I asked the person to check whatismyipaddress with both the 5g wifi and non 5g wifi connection and that person tells me it shows the exact ip address. That is normal right?

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Yes. WhatsMyIPaddress shows the public IP address of your router that is seen by the outside world. This address is assigned to your router by your ISP.

@newmann
I replied on your post a few minutes ago on Wireless Modem and Router and IP Address Questions - Windows 10 Help Forums before seeing this one, maybe something there will help?

You have post your question more than one Tech help forums that will confuse you and us next time make sure to search for your answer starting from one site then if you can't find your answer try others.

Your Router gets a single public IP address, you and other devices connected to the router gets private IP addresses.

5 GHz will give you more signal strength and faster speed over a shorter range, compared to 2.4 GHz. Use 5 GHz for a device closer to the wireless router.

So does that mean giving the person on the 3rd floor the wifi password to either 2 of the wifi connections... the normal non 5g wifi one or the 5g wifi one... it doesn't matter either way because if that person is using the internet a lot and say streaming things... it would then slow the wifi connection down to either of these 2 wifi connections?



Thus it isn't like you give that person the non 5g wifi one, then it would only slow the people using the 5g wifi one and not the non 5g wifi one?

The more devices are connected through the same WiFi radio of a wireless router at once, the more interference you get between these devices. So, if more than just a few devices will be used to connect to the same 2.4 GHz WiFi network through the same wireless router at once, you run a substantial risk of getting severely lowered performance from this 2.4 GHz WiFi network, which already has a slower maximum throughput than the 5 GHz WiFi network to begin with. On the flip side, depending on what are the exact circumstances, the performance might still turn out to be sufficient for the intended purpose/need. For example, the negative impact caused by interference can be mitigated to some degree, by, at least during those times when it actually matters, keeping enough distance between the devices that are connected to the same radio at once. A good 2.4 GHz signal can have a large enough range that could make it possible to spread them out a tad more, BUT... the farther you go sit from the wireless router, the weaker the signal becomes.

So, there exists an optimum tradeoff, or "sweet spot" of the distance that isn't too far from the wireless router, and that isn't too close to those specific nearby devices that are trying to compete over the same radio as yours. There also exist multiple other factors that can offset the level of interference and signal degradation that occurs in any location/area covered, and that can also tend to fluctuate. Especially metal objects in the direct linear path of the WiFi connection can cause the connection to completely disappear altogether, actually even. Other materials besides metal also have an impact with regards to signal degradations. Interference can also be caused by nearby electrical applicances, and the neighbors' WiFi also plays a role. Even so, it is still true that almost all consumer-grade wireless routers have a noticeably longer range and better coverage when using their 2.4 GHz radio than when using their 5 GHz radio.

Another thing that can be done to reduce the interference overall is to reduce the number of devices that are trying to compete in this manner, e.g. by strategically deciding which devices should connect to the 2.4 GHz WiFi network when. For this reason, if a device can support 5 GHz WiFi and is kept at a close enough distance from the wireless router that the 5 GHz connection between them remains stable, usually it makes good sense to avoid connecting to the 2.4 GHz WiFi network on that device, whenever it is possible to avoid, generally speaking, but certainly not always. It greatly depends on the number of devices that are connected to each radio, and on how busy is the actual network traffic on each, during those times when speed matters (and on how much the speed matters during those times).

Remember that the total available throughput, which, on a 2.4 GHz WiFi network, is already quite low anyway to begin with like I said, has to be shared with every device that's using it. So, when a large file download is still in progress, then the moment when another person on another computer starts downloading another large file over the same slow WiFi network, you can expect to see an obvious drop in the download transfer speed. That is, excepting only maybe if the weakest link in the chain isn't the slow WiFi network, but has to be sought somewhere else, e.g., between your modem and the download server machine.

So 3 floors. So on the 1st floor, say 3 devices max and it uses the non 5g wifi connection. On the 2nd floor, 2 devices max and it uses the 5g wifi connection.


Would you recommend giving the person on the 3rd floor the wifi for the non 5g wifi connection or the 5g wifi connection? Or it doesn't matter because if that person on the 3rd floor is going to be using the internet a lot, it will still slow down both the non 5g wifi and 5g wifi connection?


Say the person on the 2nd floor doesn't want their speed interrupted much, compared to the persons on the 1st floor who don't mind it but there are more devices on the 1st floor. So would it be better to give the non 5g wifi to the person on the 3rd floor? Note, the person on the 3rd floor will be closest to the modem and router because that is where the modem and router is located. So better they use 5g one or not?

newmann said:

We have cable internet at home. We have a cable modem and a wireless router next to each other. The thing is there are several floors at the home so imagine 3 floors. The modem and router is located on the top floor. We have 2 different wifi connections... one that is non 5g and the other is 5g. One person always uses the 5g one on the 2nd floor. On the bottom floor, I believe most people use the non 5g one. Last time I believe the person on the top floor used the non 5g one but not sure.


If someone on the top floor is planning to use the internet a lot where the modem and router is at, is it better for them the wifi password to use the non 5g wifi connection or 5g wifi connection? There are 2 different passwords for each of these wifi connections. I would normally use the non 5g one and rarely connect to the 5g unless the wifi is down for the non 5g while I"m on the 1st floor. Other people on the 1st floor use the non 5g so one person uses the 5g on the 2nd floor.


I asked the person to check whatismyipaddress with both the 5g wifi and non 5g wifi connection and that person tells me it shows the exact ip address. That is normal right? Thus it shouldn't be 2 different ip addresses? The other thing is that person always used the 5g wifi connection when I asked that person Now, 5g wifi is faster but the signal might not be as strong as the non 5g right? When I used the non 5g mostly on the 1st floor, it was fine. It was more than fast enough for me. Now if the person on the 3rd floor is going to be online a lot, is it better to give them the non 5g wifi password or it doesn't matter? Should you give them both? The thing is several people use the non 5g wifi on the 1st floor. One person uses the 5g wifi on the 2nd floor. So whichever wifi that person uses on the 3rd floor, will that slow down the wifi for everybody using wifi? Or only that non 5g or 5g connection? Thus if you give that person the non 5g wifi, will that mean the person on the 2nd floor using the 5g wifi password won't have their internet speed slowed down? Is there a way to get multiple ip addresses? I heard you can but you have to buy it from the isp? Like is it possible to get a different ip address for the regular non 5g wifi connection and a different ip address for the 5g wifi connection? Do most people here connect to the non 5g or 5g wifi?

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For all these complicated questions, the real answer is it usually does not really matter as the key bottleneck is normally the speed of your internet NOT the router and wifi speeds.

You do not say how fast your internet is.

A good internet speed e.g. 500+ mbps should easily allow two or three people to stream videos in parallel using say netflix.

On the otherhand if you speed is only 10 mbps, the users are going to struggle with streaming.

All you can really do is run ookla or similar and see what download speeds a user gets at various locations with 2.4 and 5g.

However, individual speed is not a direct indication of how bandwidth would be used.

You may be able to setup bandwith limitations per user.

Ask your guest to use his phone as a WiFi hotspot.

It's not clearly noted whether you have close neighbors with competing Wi-Fi networks, which can lower your effective throughput.

On the chance you don't have nearby competition, it's possible to purchase multiple Wi-Fi access points and set them to different, non-overlapping channels. Assuming your wired network is capable of handling the combined traffic from two access points -- then you can provide a different 5G network for each set of users. The #1 issue with Wi-Fi isn't really raw bandwidth, but radio doesn't handle transmission congestion as well as wired networks. If you can afford a three-story residence, throwing in an extra Wi-Fi access point shouldn't be a challenge. More channels = less radio congestion and better overall throughput.

newmann said:

So 3 floors. So on the 1st floor, say 3 devices max and it uses the non 5g wifi connection. On the 2nd floor, 2 devices max and it uses the 5g wifi connection.


Would you recommend giving the person on the 3rd floor the wifi for the non 5g wifi connection or the 5g wifi connection? Or it doesn't matter because if that person on the 3rd floor is going to be using the internet a lot, it will still slow down both the non 5g wifi and 5g wifi connection?


Say the person on the 2nd floor doesn't want their speed interrupted much, compared to the persons on the 1st floor who don't mind it but there are more devices on the 1st floor. So would it be better to give the non 5g wifi to the person on the 3rd floor? Note, the person on the 3rd floor will be closest to the modem and router because that is where the modem and router is located. So better they use 5g one or not?

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One thing - and please take this as constructive criticism.

4G, 5G, etc. are cell phone signal terminology.

With Wi-Fi, it's Wi-Fi 5, 6 and 7.

The 5g you're referring to is actually 5 GHz, and the other available signal types are 2.4 GHz, and with newer Wi-Fi 6(e) and 7, 6 GHz.

As @hdmi mentions, and as this link explains, the higher frequencies allow for faster 'speeds' (throughput), but as the expense of shorter 'range', and also being a bit more susceptible to interference (as in problems going through walls and floors and such.

The frequency used, in and of itself, is only one piece to a pretty big jigsaw puzzle, and a lot more things have to be considered than just 2.4 GHz versus 5 GHz, when you're talking about a large living space like you have.

@newmann Your WiFi description is needlessly complex. Simplify your life and put in a Mesh system.

I have a contemporary home with 3 floors. I have a Mesh Router on the top floor and a Mesh Satellite on each of the other floors.

The speed coming in to my cable modem is 950 Mbps. The WiFi speed measured at any point in my house on any floor averages 850 Mbps.

The mesh system delivers either 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz for whatever a device requests. No thought is required and no additional passwords are necessary.

Add a guest password that, for security, is independent of your home network and that is all you need. You're done.

Technically, Gary, your Mesh is more complicated than a single router lol.

And, as mentioned by a lot of people, we simply don't know pertinent details - like his Internet connection speeds, provider, and if the devices can be moved to the middle floor or not (so, basically, the actual layout of his domicile). If the current Wi-Fi solution already works from top to bottom floor, a Mesh is overkill.

johnlgalt said:

Technically, Gary, your Mesh is more complicated than a single router lol.

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In the past several decades I've had quite a few single routers that never gave me a good signal anywhere but close to the single router.

I don't think newmann's description is less complicated than a Mesh solution. But if you do, that's fine. Forget what I offered. Carry on.

Consider the source, and the information provided. You know what you're doing with these things. So do I - but I didn't suggest him to use a Mesh, or Wireless APs, or anything like that as he isn't reporting a connectivity issue, he is asking a question regarding a future scenario where a person coming to stay there may be a heavy Internet user, and wants to know if that could cause the rest of the domicile problems or not.

He also does state pretty clearly that the people on the bottom floor are using the "the non 5g one." Which is an indication that the solution, as it is, works.