I'm currently setting up the WLAN on my Ps5 and have seen that you can choose between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.
At 2.4 GHz the signal strength seems to be better (90-100%) against 70-80% at 5 GHz, but I have a few more Mbit / s with the 5 GHz line.
What would you recommend, is the signal strength more important than the few more Mbit or is it relatively irrelevant as long as the strength is quite good and rather take the slightly faster Internet with you?
Does it even make a difference?
I would (still) rely on 2.4 GHz technology. Not that the 5GHz are bad, on the contrary. The only disadvantage is the range, but if this is not a problem it is more advantageous.
At 2.4 GHz there's more interference. But the range is higher.
At 5 GHz there's less interference and the range is significantly shorter. You can bundle channels so that higher data rates are possible. But that only works if you are very close to the router.
Conclusion: The device may use 5 GHz at close range. For longer distances, the decision may be more in favor of the 2.4 GHz band. Ultimately, you can only try out what works better under the specific conditions.
All right, does it make a difference whether I get 80% or 100% signal strength? Is there something going on in terms of speed or it doesn't matter as long as the connection is stable
As the distance increases and the signal becomes weaker, the data rate decreases. That's the quick summary. There's no such thing as "100 percent signal strength", you will never receive 100 percent of the router signal. This is due to the fact that the router radiates all around and therefore most of its transmission power does not even go towards your device.
The maximum transmission rate in the WLAN primarily depends on how the signal is modulated onto the carrier. Different modulation methods are known in WLAN. They differ in how robust they are against interference and in the maximum possible transmission rate.
A modulation method with which high transmission rates are possible is relatively complex and therefore also susceptible to interference. So you need a good signal quality. Good signal quality also requires a certain signal strength. If you move away from the WLAN router / access point, the signal strength will decrease. Then there's the noise that you have on every medium. This is independent of the distance to the WLAN router / access point. The weaker the signal, the stronger the relative noise and the signal quality decreases.
So the end device and WLAN router / access point have to choose a different modulation method that is less susceptible to interference. This reduces the maximum transfer rate.
If you look in the properties of your Wi-Fi connection, you will always find very specific data rates there. These result from how much data can be transported on the carrier signal with the respective modulation method.
However, the true data rate is significantly lower. There's administrative data, so-called overhead, which of course you do not recognize in the measured data rate. In addition, there are always disruptions, so that data must be destroyed on the transport route and sent again.
