Attempting 5GHZ WiFi

I already have a 2 access point WiFi network.  My house has phones that operate at 2.4 Ghz.  My house is close enough with my neighbors that we can see their wireless networks.  We have a Bluetooth speaker that is pretty much on 24/7 for playing music in the nursery.  Various other Bluetooth devices operate as well, including computers and the Wii.  The 2.4 Ghz band is pretty saturated.

I decided to give 5 Ghz a try.  I had previously thought that 5 Ghz wasn't well supported.  After talking to some people about it, they told me that 5 Ghz was supported on many devices now.  For those who don't want to wait until the end......no, most devices don't support 5 Ghz.

I bought a Anker® N600 Wireless-N Dual Band Router to act as a 5 Ghz access point.  I was skeptical about 5 Ghz support, but I eventually fell into the same trap most people fall into.  While the 802.11n standard does support 5 Ghz, that support is optional.  By default, 802.11n devices support 2.4 Ghz!

My first mistake when setting up the Anker N600 was keeping the SSID the same between 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz.  When they shared the same SSID, I couldn't easily tell if I was using the 5 Ghz band.  Luckily the Anker N600 has an interface that lists clients by the band.  Once I verified that I wasn't connecting to the 5 Ghz band, I renamed that band.  That is when it became really easy to figure out what devices supported 5 Ghz.

My Asus Aspire E1-571-6888 comes with a Centrino Wireless-N 105.  I could not confirm anywhere if that wireless card supported 5 Ghz, but Ubuntu couldn't find the 5 Ghz band SSID, so I am assuming the chip doesn't suport the band.  My Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and my wife's Samsung Captivate 2 (Galaxy S II) both support 5 Ghz.  Both of our Asus Nexus 7's don't support 5 Ghz.  I have not tried the MK802's yet.  The MK802 that is right next to the Anker has a USB Ethernet adapter.

The range on the 5 Ghz band seems really low.  I don't know if that is an issue with the Anker, or if the band is really that limited.  I read in other forums how the 5 Ghz band has issues going through walls.  Basically, if my phone is in the same room as the Anker, then its on the 5 Ghz band.  If it is in a different room, then its on the 2.4 Ghz band.  My goal was for my laptop to have faster file transfers while not impacting the wifi streaming capabilities of the house.  That goal was not met, since my laptop is still on the 5 Ghz band.  Other than that, I still consider the project as a whole as a success.  I just need to make sure I buy more 5 Ghz wireless cards.