Why can't I connect my Lumia 640XL to the 5Ghz wifi band?

[Windows Central Question]

Lumia 640XL Wifi Connection

Why can't I connect to the 5 Ghz wifi band?

 

[Harrie-S]

Re: Lumia 640XL Wifi Connection

It's a little bit hidden in the spec but the 640 XL does not supports the 5 GHz band but only the 2.4 GHz.

Lumia 640 XL only supports
Wi-Fi: WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz) bands but not a(5Ghz bands) or ac

See under conductivity in below spec.
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL LTE Specifications - Microsoft - Global

 

[MrAlaskan]

Who sells a 'new' phone that doesn't support a standard that's been out for over 2+ years now?
Sheesh... I wish I had known this prior to getting my 640. This is really lame.
Lets just hope they don't cut corners on the so-called Flagship phone that they might release near Christmas, maybe...

I've also noticed that you don't get anywhere near 4g speeds or even good LTE speeds. That could just been because here in Anchorage Alaska ATT is extremely cheap and refuses to replace several broke cell systems...

 

[xandros9]

Who sells a 'new' phone that doesn't support a standard that's been out for over 2+ years now?
Sheesh... I wish I had known this prior to getting my 640. This is really lame.
Lets just hope they don't cut corners on the so-called Flagship phone that they might release near Christmas, maybe...

I've also noticed that you don't get anywhere near 4g speeds or even good LTE speeds. That could just been because here in Anchorage Alaska ATT is extremely cheap and refuses to replace several broke cell systems...

Someone who's trying to make a budget phone on a budget. It was probably one of many decisions made to reach the price point it did. (alongside no wireless charging, etc. there are always compromises)

 

[chmun77]

My router supports both 2.4 and 5 network. No issues for me. But that being said, only Microsoft do such stupid things. Dual band support is so common nowadays.

 

[xandros9]

only Microsoft do such stupid things.

This is where most anyone can just handwave and say "cheap phone."
OnePlus, of cheaper flagship fame has released the 2 phone, which is supposed to be high end without the high end price tag right? There's no NFC. or Qi, etc.
You ultimately get what you pay for in one way or another, I imagine most people won't know the difference and it was just a corner that could be cut with minimal problems to shave off some more costs.

Also, I'm actually curious, what is the benefit of 5 GHz over 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi? I've had the choice before (two otherwise same access points except one's 2.4, the others 5) but I don't really know whats up with that.

 

[Derausgewanderte]

This is where most anyone can just handwave and say "cheap phone."
OnePlus, of cheaper flagship fame has released the 2 phone, which is supposed to be high end without the high end price tag right? There's no NFC. or Qi, etc.
You ultimately get what you pay for in one way or another, I imagine most people won't know the difference and it was just a corner that could be cut with minimal problems to shave off some more costs.

Also, I'm actually curious, what is the benefit of 5 GHz over 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi? I've had the choice before (two otherwise same access points except one's 2.4, the others 5) but I don't really know whats up with that.

You could theoretically get higher speeds on 5GHz if your bandwidth covers that range (clearer signal, more channels, fewer overlapping channels). However, the bottle neck is the speed to your modem/router and that ultimately limits internet speed and it wouldn't matter whether you have 2.4 or 5GHz. That is the case for me for example.

Streaming from a server within the LAN is a different story and now it makes a difference whether you have 2.4 or 5GHz connection. One downside with 5GHz is that the range is shorter than 2.4GHz.

 

[Eisenhorn76]

My router supports both 2.4 and 5 network. No issues for me. But that being said, only Microsoft do such stupid things. Dual band support is so common nowadays.

Well, to be fair, there are also a number of Android phones that don't support the 5Ghz band. Some are from Huawei and some are lesser Chinese OEMs. I think a couple of budget Samsungs as well.

 

[poit57]

I came here to ask the same thing about a new Lumia 640 that I was setting up for my mother. I saw that the 640 and 640 XL only support b/g/n while previous Lumias that I had used all support a/b/g/n, but I wasn't sure if that was the issue since Wireless N also provides for optional support of 5 GHz networks.

As for the difference, my home computer with an 802.11ac adapter can connect to my 802.11ac router at 433.5 Mbps on 5 GHz and only 72 Mbps on 2.4 GHz band. While the 72 Mbps connection is faster than my home internet speed of 60 Mbps, speed tests on my 2.4 GHz band only result in up to 40 Mbps download. On the 5 GHz band, I can get the full benefit of my home internet connection.

 

[pjl1941]

I accept that corners need to be cut to produce a reasonably priced phone BUT it does not cost anything to let the customer know that Windows phones do not communicate with Modems using the 5GHz band, Would save me a lot of time trying to see what is wrong with my Modem

 

[xandros9]

I accept that corners need to be cut to produce a reasonably priced phone BUT it does not cost anything to let the customer know that Windows phones do not communicate with Modems using the 5GHz band, Would save me a lot of time trying to see what is wrong with my Modem

It costs time, space and effort and is a shortcoming. Who wants to advertise their shortcomings? I don't see documentation from Apple talking about how iPhone won't let you set the default browser or get push email from IMAP.

Also, I believe some other Windows Phone do fine on 5 GHz. the 640 just doesn't have it.