How to set your wifi to 2.4 ghz on iphone

All iPhone models from the iPhone 12 onward can use a faster 5GHz Wi-Fi band to boost hotspot tethering performance. But if your client devices encounter issues with the 5GHZ band, you can always set your Personal Hotspot to use a slower 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band. Follow along to learn how to switch between 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands for the iPhone hotspot tethering.

Here's what you'll read in this tutorial... Show table of contents

1) Wi-Fi performance: 2.4GHz vs 5GHz

2) How to switch Personal Hotspot between 2.4GHz and 5GHz

3) Quick tips about Personal Hotspot

Wi-Fi performance: 2.4GHz vs 5GHz

Before the iPhone 12 lineup, Apple’s Personal Hotspot feature was limited to the slower 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band. It didn’t matter whether you had a dual-band Wi-Fi router supporting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, the phone would always use the slower 2.4GHz band for hotspot tethering.

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The iPhone 12 models brought speedy 5G cellular networking to the table. When using 5G, speeds can easily go above the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi specification. In that case, your iPhone will download stuff via 5G networks much faster than any tethered Personal Hotspot clients, such as an iPad or your Mac or Windows PC, could over a 2.4GHz connection. Curiously, the Apple website and the company’s support documents make no mention of this feature.

Here are the key benefits and drawbacks of both Wi-Fi bands:

• 2.4GHz band: Slower data transfer, longer range, increased compatibility
• 5GHz band: Faster data transfer, shorter range, decreased compatibility

So, forcing an iPhone to take advantage of the faster 5GHz band will boost hotspot tethering performance but at the expense of compatibility with some devices and routers.

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The iPhone 12 and later devices default to using the 5GHz band for hotspot tethering. Should you encounter bottlenecks or connectivity issues with certain client devices, switching your Personal Hotspot back to the 2.4GHz band should resolve any hiccups.

How to switch Personal Hotspot between 2.4GHz and 5GHz

You can switch between 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands in the iPhone’s Personal Hotspot settings:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone 12 or later with iOS 14.0.1 or later.
2. Touch “Personal Hotspot” in the root list.
3. Slide the “Maximize Compatibility” toggle to the ON position.

Doing so prompts your handset to enforce the slower but more compatible 2.4GHz band, provided your router supports it. “Internet performance may be reduced for devices connected to your hotspot when turned on,” reads the feature’s description.

This is how the Personal Hotspot feature worked before the iPhone 12 came along.

Conversely, sliding the switch back to the OFF position tells your Apple smartphone to switch the Personal Hotspot feature to the faster but less compatible 5GHz band. For the best possible wireless performance, we wholeheartedly instruct you to check out the recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points in Apple’s support document.

Quick tips about Personal Hotspot

Keep in mind that Personal Hotspot performance depends on factors such as signal strength, the distance between a tethered device and your iPhone, the type of Wi-Fi band used, walls and other obstacles and so forth. Personal Hotspot also works over the Lightning port, which is handy if you’d like to connect your Mac or Windows PC to it through a faster, wired connection.

→ How to share your Personal Hotspot with family members

You can enable Personal Hotspot in the Settings app on your device. Keep in mind that some carriers require a separate plan for hotspot tethering. Personal Hotspot requires that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth be turned on your iPhone and across all client devices using its Personal Hotspot.

The point of temporarially renaming or disabling only the 5Ghz is that you will keep the same SSID for all currently connected devices, 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. Changing both SSIDs means that all devices will have to connect to a new network.

Your 2.4Ghz-only devices will stay connected to 2.4Ghz and your 5Ghz-capable devices will choose the best of both frequencies. Generally speaking, the only time you'll see weirdness like this is while setting up a smart device, which is what you are doing.

2.4 GHz and 5GHz are the two different wavelengths (generally known as bands or frequencies) often used by the majority of the routers to transmit wireless internet connections. As both these frequencies have their pluses and minuses, you may want to use one of them depending on your preference.

The main difference between both bands is speed and range. While 2.4 GHz is known for providing coverage at a longer range but transmitting data at slower speeds, a 5 GHz is known for transmitting data at higher speeds but providing less coverage. While usually it is determined by your router whether to connect your iPhone to a 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz WiFi network to provide the best Wi-Fi signal, if you wish to make your iPhone connect to 2.4 GHz only, below are the steps you will need to follow.

Steps to Connect to 2.4 GHz WiFi on iPhone

First of all, you will need to check if your iPhone is already connected to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network. For this, you will need to navigate to the Settings menu and click the Wi-Fi option. Here, you will see all the nearby available WiFi networks. From the list, locate your network and open its properties to find the SSID. The SSID will be denoted either with a 2G (2.4) or 5G (5) end notation. Here, 2G denotes 2.4 GHz connection, 5G denotes 5 GHz band.

Now to connect your iPhone to a 2.4 GHz network, follow the below-mentioned steps:

1. To begin with, start by unlocking your iPhone and go to the Applications menu.
2. Tap on the Settings app icon. This will open the Settings section of your iPhone.
3. In the Settings section, you will need to enable the WiFi option by tapping on the switch/slider next to it (located at the top).

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NOTE: The green color icon will denote the WiFi is enabled.

1. From the list of WiFi networks that will display on your screen after enabling the WiFi option, you will need to select a 2.4 GHz WiFi network. A 2.4 GHz WiFi network is usually indicated by a 2, 2.4, or 2G at the end of the network, also known as SSID.
2. After selecting the WiFi network, if you are prompted to enter the password, you will need to enter it in the provided field and press the connect option. Once you will be connected to the WiFi network, you will see a blue checkmark next to the network name.

If the WiFi network name doesn’t indicate whether it is a 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band, you can follow these steps:

• Try to open your router settings and look for a 2.4 GHz WiFi network that your iPhone can connect to. You can contact your router manufacturer if you require further assistance.
• You can reach to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and seek assistance to connect your iPhone to a 2.4 GHz WiFi network.

If your router is using the same WiFi SSID or network name for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi bands, you can consider following this suggestion:

• Mesh WiFi networks are known for using the same SSID or network name to broadcast both 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz WiFi networks. If your iPhone is connected to such a network, you might not be able to connect it to your preferred frequency. You can contact your ISP for assistance if you wish to make your iPhone connect only to the 2.4 GHz network.

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So, these are the steps that you will need to follow to connect your iPhone to a 2.4 GHz WiFi network.

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