HomeKit Smart Home & 2.4GHz vs 5GHz WiFi Network

[sonicrobby]

Recently, Ive just started getting with the times and purchasing some smart home components such as some LIFX bulbs and Kwikset Premis lock with more to be added over time. Due to my limited availability of outlets, I prefer wifi connected devices instead of those relying on a hub. Now with all the components I plan to add, I feel like the response time will get slower and slower due to more devices being added and straining the network. My router does offer both a 2.4GHz and 5GHz connections and Ive been connecting arbitrarily to either or without any thoughts. But now I want to be a bit more organized, but since my knowledge on networks is limited, I turn to these forums for help.

Ideally, Id like to connect my smart components onto one, and my media streaming devices like the mac, iPhone, iPad, apple TV, etc. all on another. But it raises a few questions:
1) Which of the 2.4GHz vs 5GHz would work better for the media consumption vs the smart components? Does it even matter?
2) The smart components require a 'hub' (the iPad is what I use in my case). Would the hub and the components need to be on the same wifi network to work remotely?
3) I feel the obvious answer to the above is yes, so if so, with Apples new password sharing, when I connect to a wifi on my iPhone, it automatically connects my other iCloud enabled devices to the same wifi. But is there a way I can force the iPad to always connect to a different wifi network than the iPhone and Mac?

Thank you in advance for any responses!

 

[bbednarz]

I think most routers handle this themselves. They basically combine the 2.4 and 5 connections into one connection. 2.4 is a bit slower of a connection, but the range is better. 5 has better speeds, but the range is not as good. The speeds really wont matter with most smart home components as they are not transferring large amounts of data, so range would be more of a concern.

The hub would need to be on the same network as the smart home components in order to be the hub and control the devices remotely. Having a second network I think would be more of a headache than it is worth.

For your last question you could just forget the network on the iPad and then manually connect to the other network and that should work for it connecting to your second network should you go that route.

 

[recd]

I think most routers handle this themselves. They basically combine the 2.4 and 5 connections into one connection. 2.4 is a bit slower of a connection, but the range is better. 5 has better speeds, but the range is not as good. The speeds really wont matter with most smart home components as they are not transferring large amounts of data, so range would be more of a concern.

The hub would need to be on the same network as the smart home components in order to be the hub and control the devices remotely. Having a second network I think would be more of a headache than it is worth.

For your last question you could just forget the network on the iPad and then manually connect to the other network and that should work for it connecting to your second network should you go that route.

Check if your wireless router has a setting for "Band Steering" and gives the option of setting the same name for the 2.4 and 5GHz networks. That way the router will steer each device to the "best" connection. Or at least, the band the router determines is the best one