Help Can I change the wifi bandwith of my Nexus 5 ?

[Android Question]

I am stuck in a hotel this week with pathetic wireless connections.

If I download a page for yahoo, Drudge etc....it takes about a minute to open.

And the loading symbol continues to rotate.

It's not my laptop or my smartphone because it happens to both of them.

It's the wireless connection.

I did a speedtest and I was getting .3 download and .1 upload.

When I connected my Nexus5 to the laptop using a USB cord I was pulling 48 down and 38 up.

So, it's the wireless.

I don't feel obligated to use my data plan at my expense.

I checked the hotel connection and they are using 2.4 HZ .

How can I check my Nexus5 (Marshmallow) to determine what I am connecting to ? I assume it is 2.4 HZ because that is the standard.

If I have the option of changing form 2.4 to 5 HZ can I do it? Will it help my reception because it is less popular?

Do access points and routers transmit and receive both bands at once or is it just one bandwith?

IF I COULD change the frequency from 2.4 to 5 on my phone, would it be recognized by the access points?

Do you know if I can change it on my Laptop - HP - Windows 10 assuming it will work on the laptop?

I made a remark to the desk clerk but she said it was a common complaint and there isn't really anything she can do. There is no need to be rude to her, it's like shooting the messenger.

She is a nice person, she probably makes minimum wage or just above. She probably does not know any more than I do.

---
One more question as long as I have your attention....

I am in the market for a new phone because mine is 2.5 years old.

I was giving consideration to Google Pixel, Iphone 6S or Iphone 7.

I liked my Nexus5 because when I bought it 2.5 years ago I was getting 80-85 percent of the functionality of the premium phones but at only half the price.

Now, Google abandoned the mid price segment and went high end.

If I buy a Google product I get updates first .....instead of waiting months for Samsung to catch up.
And I don't want to spend $700 for a new Samsung phone and have it start a fire in my pocket.
I know that only the Note 7's are doing that but I don't want to buy a S7 or S8 and find they are doing it too.
Samsung has a big problem but that does not mean it has to become mine.


So, I narrowed it down to Pixel, 6S or 7.

The Pixel looks like it has good specs but I haven't seen it .

The 6S has been around for a year but it's $100 cheaper than the 7 and I am not so sure that the new features of the 7 validate the extra expense.

I have service with T Mobile and I spoke to the operator and he sounded like a salesman for Apple . He was really enthusiastic about them.

I know this is an Android forum and I have never owned an Iphone, but I wonder what others think about the Pixel vs. the Iphone?

 

[tommo47]

You can check if you have the 5Ghz option in your wifi settings, on my HTC M9 it is in Settings - Advanced.

You will have 3 options :-
2.4Ghz
5.0Ghz
Auto

To check if the hotel hub/router is transmitting on the 5.0Ghz band select that option on your device and try to connect.

The two frequency bands are transmitted on seperate channels and may have different SSIDs. These factors are set in the hub/router, and your device connects as appropriate.

If the slow data speed is due to the distance from you to the wifi access point 5.0Ghz is unlikely to give any improvement as the higher frequency signal suffers from higher attenuation.

 

[mikedt]

If your laptop has a slow WiFi connection to the hotel network as well. It's probably just crappy pathetic hotel WiFi, they sometimes are, and there's not a lot you can do about it. Changing room might help, so you're nearer the corridor WiFi router.

Sometimes what I've done, if the room has an Ethernet cable connection, is plug that into the laptop, and setup the laptop as own WiFi hotspot, and connect the phone, tablet, etc. to that. But then sometimes the hotel's Ethernet and general internet can be horribly slow as well due to inadequate bandwidth for all the guests using it.

I think most hotels I've been in are 2.4GHz only, unless they're using anything fancy.

 

[tommo47]

An alternative work-around to mikedt's is to take your own wifi access point and connect it to the ethernet. I don't normally take the laptop if we go away but have used an access point successfully.

 

[Hadron]

As for your second question, none of us have seen the Pixel either. I personally wouldn't buy the iPhone because it doesn't fit my needs: I like live information (widgets) on my homescreens, I like customising my interface, and I don't like cluttering the screens with app icons. Others have different preferences though, it's an individual choice.

Of course if you want to stay with Android there are many manufacturers other than Samsung and Google...