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Does Aria 2 support 5 GHz Wifi?

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Does Aria 2 support 5Ghz WiFi?

Thanks.

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@SunsetRunner, from the Fitbit Store Aria 2 Specs:

 

Network requirements:

  • Wireless 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz
  • WEP/WPA Personal/WPA2 personal security supported
  • Automatic (DHCP) IP setup (static IP configuration not supported)

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@SunsetRunner, from the Fitbit Store Aria 2 Specs:

 

Network requirements:

  • Wireless 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz
  • WEP/WPA Personal/WPA2 personal security supported
  • Automatic (DHCP) IP setup (static IP configuration not supported)
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Smiley Sad

 

Just wow. Wake up Fitbit this is 2017! Some of us would like to run 5Ghz only Wifi and companies like yours are making it impossible! These are the first non 5Ghz compatible devices I've noticed for years!

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2.4 GHz is a legacy technology for wireless.  802.11ac is 5 GHz only, and it's bizarre to me that Fitbit would release products (Ionic included) in 2017 that don't support 5 GHz (the only frequency band for 802.11ac which has been out since 2013)

 

My coworker had to go in and alter their minimum supported speeds on their wireless just to get their Aria to work because of the old wireless standard used there...literally the rest of his house's wireless performance is negatively impacted by needing to support the Aria.  I was hopeful the Aria 2 would fix the outdated wireless of the Aria.  Shocking Fitbit requires 2.4 GHz...

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Will a 5 GHz capable version of the Aria 2 be made available?  I would like a version of the Aria 2 that does not require 2.4 GHz wireless.  While I'd prefer 802.11ac capable devices in 2017, I really don't care if it's only 802.11n capable, 802.11n works on both 2.4 and 5 GHz.  The current Aria 2 is only 2.4 GHz capable.

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@peteer01, there seems to be some confusion here.  The 802.11n supports EITHER 2.4GHz or 5GHz, but not both at the same time.  The 802.11ac supports BOTH 2.4GHz and 5GHz simultaneously, or you can set it to support one or the other.  The primary differences, and the reason networks use both, is that 5GHz is faster but has a much shorter WiFi range, while the 2.4GHz is slower but with a longer WiFi range. The new routers support both nicely, as they are in my office and home.

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@USAF-Larry wrote:

@peteer01, there seems to be some confusion here.  The 802.11n supports EITHER 2.4GHz or 5GHz, but not both at the same time.  The 802.11ac supports BOTH 2.4GHz and 5GHz simultaneously, or you can set it to support one or the other.  The primary differences, and the reason networks use both, is that 5GHz is faster but has a much shorter WiFi range, while the 2.4GHz is slower but with a longer WiFi range. The new routers support both nicely, as they are in my office and home.


Unless you are running a dual-band router, there will be significant performance degradation as the radios cycles between 2.4 and 5. Not to mention, some of us that do run dual/tri-band routers segregate each radio into specific network functions, such as client networks, backbone between AP's, or DMZ's.

 

Yes, there is a need for 5GHz. Just because it doesn't matter in your situation, doesn't mean there aren't people who have requirements beyond a plug 'n play environment.

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Yes indeed...

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I have a Dual band Router and have done a lot of research into the 2.4 vs 5 GHz issues and this is not necessarily a bad decision by Fitbit to stick with 2.4 GHz. There is a common misconception that higher frequency networks are superior to lower frequency ones when in actuality 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz are different wireless signaling frequencies that each have advantages for Wi-Fi networking. I was actually surprised at the number of new devices that are not dual band and that are operating only on the 2.4 band especially consumer electronics. Since this is a bathroom scale the frequency that has a broader range and that could go through solid walls better would be a better choice over a frequency designed primarily for higher data loads and network traffic which gives the advantage to 2.4 over 5 GHz.. Granted 2.4 GHz has the potential for more interference from other electronic devices including wireless phones I rarely run into this issue in my home and I have a lot of wireless devices both on and off the network and usually do not have an issue.

 

The Aria 2 is also Bluetooth compatible and compatible with more Wi-Fi networks so the frequency is not that much of an issue.

 

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Larry,

 

Thanks for your reply.  There does seem to be some confusion on your part around wireless.  I am a wireless engineer, so I want to clear up a few misconceptions:

 

1. 802.11ac is a 5 GHz only technology.  There is nothing technically preventing 802.11ac technologies (QAM 256) from being used on the 2.4 GHz spectrum, but due to overcrowding and interference in the 2.4 GHz spectrum, the 802.11ac standard only uses 5 GHz, where we have (in the US, under current regulations) 25 non-overlapping 20 MHz channels as opposed to the 3 channels in 2.4 GHz space.

 

2. 5 GHz is not faster than 2.4 GHz.  An 802.11n signal that is 20 MHz wide (there are consumer grade APs that support 40 MHz channel bonding in both 2.4 and 5 GHz, while commercial APs only support 40 MHz channel bonding in 5 GHz), will be limited to a max speed of 72 Mbps based on the limitations of 802.11n. 

 

802.11ac will typically use 40 MHz, possibly 80 MHz (20 MHz is possible, and wave 2 officially supports 160 MHz, but 40 or 80 would be typical channel widths) and higher speeds available through QAM 256 modulation, these higher speeds and channel bonding (wider channels) are what allow 802.11ac to have significantly faster speeds than 802.11n.

 

3. 802.11n is a standard that works in both the 2.4 and 5 GHz spectrum, and an AP that has both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios will often support the same SSID on BOTH  radios, meaning that a device can connect to either the 2.4 GHz radio in the AP or the 5 GHz radio.  While you will see consumer devices that will run two SSIDs side by side (wireless [2.4 GHz] and wireless5 [5 GHz]), most APs will run a single SSID which supports both frequencies, with only the 5 GHz frequency supporting 802.11ac speeds.  The AP will often use a technology known as band steering or band select or something similar that through a mechanism such as initially responding to beacon APs with only 5 GHz initially, will attempt to steer clients to join on the 5 GHz channel where there are significantly higher speeds available.

 

Due to all of the many things that interfere with 2.4 GHz, including bluetooth, neighboring APs, cordless phones, wireless speakers, LED monitors, satellite TVs, microwaves, etc...it's much easier to have a clean wireless experience in the 5 GHz bands.  5 GHz is not immune to all of those, but with the very wide range (basically 5 to 6 GHz) of channels, smaller cells due to signal propagation and larger choice of channels, those interferes are easy to avoid.

 

Running a properly designed 5 GHz only network ensures you're always getting 802.11ac (high) speeds regardless of client behavior, among other positives.  The only issue with such a design is that rare case where a device does not support 5 GHz.

 

I hope some of that information is helpful.  I can think of a number of reasons why the Ionic would have ended up as 2.4 GHz only, but it's still disappointing.  Given a choice, I would have greatly preferred a 5 GHz only model, especially since I could have improved battery life with higher 802.11ac speeds in that case.

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I really can't understand why this is turned into a pro/cons discussion on 2.4 vs 5 GHz. I am well aware (I am sure there are others) of the pros/cons of both.

 

This is all you need to know.

 

1) Many of us are running 5Ghz only networks. We don't want to turn anything else on.

 

2) I haven't seen ANY device launched over the last couple of years does not support both. (Of course the Googlers are going to search and find one I suspect, but in general this statement is true).

 

In 2017 I EXPECT this sort of compatibility, not compatiblity from 2013.

 

It seems this is not a priority for Fitbit because Ionic has the same issue Smiley Frustrated

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Alex,

 

Thanks for pulling it back to main point.  I own an Ionic.  I can potentially run my home network at 5 GHz only and live with my Ionic being 2.4 GHz thanks to bluetooth. 

 

That said, a Aria 2 that is 2.4 GHz won't work if I set my home network to 5 GHz only.

 

As for 2.4 GHz only devices, it's the cheapest products, like sub $100 Amazon Kindle Fires, where the low, low price points makes the 2.4 GHz only acceptable.  But 2.4 only is part of why I don't buy Kindle Fires.

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When one considers the expansion of the IoT a lot of devices are still being launched with 2.4 GHz only. Most of the smart home devices are 2.4 GHz only. Device manufactures in the education area are only stay with 2.4 GHz because with the digital divide lower income students and their families may not be able to afford the cost and the internet becomes less accessable.

 

From a sales perspective it makes sense to stay with 2.4 GHz not only because it is cheaper but also because more home are still only operating on 2.4 GHz only as opposed to 5 GHz only.

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@rfjouben wrote:

When one considers the expansion of the IoT a lot of devices are still being launched with 2.4 GHz only. Most of the smart home devices are 2.4 GHz only. Device manufactures in the education area are only stay with 2.4 GHz because with the digital divide lower income students and their families may not be able to afford the cost and the internet becomes less accessable.

 

From a sales perspective it makes sense to stay with 2.4 GHz not only because it is cheaper but also because more home are still only operating on 2.4 GHz only as opposed to 5 GHz only.


And yet as I stated before pretty much every smartphone .. even cheap ones.. support 2.4 and 5Ghz.

 

Do you know the cost of a 2.4Ghz WiFi Vs 5Ghz chip or is this pure hyperbole? I suspect the difference is hardly anything imho, mere pennys, no more than 50 cents (this is my hyperbole).

 

Lol and it makes sense to support 2.4Ghz only because more people are on it does it? Loads are on 5Ghz too. It makes sense to support both! It's NOT an either/or scenario. On the basis of this then iPhone should not be supported because there are more Android phones.

 

Anyway did you get my last post or not?

 

Now can we stop this hyperbole now. Onwards.

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2.4 has a better range. I suspect they went with 2.4 and not 5ghz because the scale will be on the ground and most likly no where near the router. I think it was smart on their part or they would have people complaining that the range is horrible.

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@goneeuro wrote:

2.4 has a better range. I suspect they went with 2.4 and not 5ghz because the scale will be on the ground and most likly no where near the router. I think it was smart on their part or they would have people complaining that the range is horrible.


I wish people.would read threads before they parrot stuff.

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Dear 5Ghz Complainers,

 

A little bit of research goes a long way when figuring out why 5Ghz is not ideal. If your running a straight 5Ghz network then you have to ask yourself about the devices that are not past the N standard in your home. 

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@ShadowFoxus wrote:

Dear 5Ghz Complainers,

 

A little bit of research goes a long way when figuring out why 5Ghz is not ideal. If your running a straight 5Ghz network then you have to ask yourself about the devices that are not past the N standard in your home. 


Perhaps next time read the thread rather than parrot (you know research).

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I don’t quite follow what you’re saying, but I think it has to do with the fact that b/g are not 5 GHz?

802.11a is basically as old as 802.11b, and is 5 GHz only. That said, of the few dozen wireless devices in my house, virtually every single one is 802.11n dual band or 802.11ac, which is 5 GHz only for ac speeds.

I provided ample data in my posts to support the argument that a 5 GHz capable, even a 5 GHz only, Aria 2 scale would be preferable for many people. I don’t expect many people to have five enterprise grade APs in their house like I do, but I do expect everything but the cheapest 2017 technology devices to support 5 GHz if wireless is their primary or only form of communication.
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@ShadowFoxus wrote:

Dear 5Ghz Complainers,

 

A little bit of research goes a long way when figuring out why 5Ghz is not ideal. If your running a straight 5Ghz network then you have to ask yourself about the devices that are not past the N standard in your home. 


I don’t quite follow what you’re saying, but I think it has to do with the fact that b/g are not 5 GHz?

 

802.11a is basically as old as 802.11b, and is 5 GHz only. That said, of the few dozen wireless devices in my house, virtually every single one is 802.11n dual band or 802.11ac, which is 5 GHz only for ac speeds.

 

I provided ample data in my posts to support the argument that a 5 GHz capable, even a 5 GHz only, Aria 2 scale would be preferable for many people. I don’t expect many people to have five enterprise grade APs in their house like I do, but I do expect everything but the cheapest 2017 technology devices to support 5 GHz if wireless is their primary or only form of communication.

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