How to separate Tenda routers from 2.4G and 5G? The new firmware is called dual-band integration, while the old AC10 was called dual-band optimization

Last week,

colleague Xiaolin complained at his workstation that his home has 300 Mbps broadband, but his phone is only about 90 Mbps when tested against the router, making live streaming blurry. The service center checked and found the wiring was fine, but he naturally assumed the router was old and needed to be replaced. I asked him to send me a screenshot of the phone's WiFi details—an Android device. I opened the currently connected WiFi device and scrolled down. The "connection frequency" line clearly stated: 2.4GHz.

the device wasn't broken; the phone chose the slow lane on its own. Their Tenda AX12 comes pre-installed with two bands merged into one WiFi name—what they call dual-band integration. Only one name remains: let's leave the choice of band to the device to guess. For the sake of the signal grid and power saving, nine out of ten phones stick to 2.4G without moving. With 300 Mbps broadband feeding 2.4G, getting 90 Mbps is already quite generous.

Tenda's switch, the two generations have different firmware names

Dual-band removal can be done in Tenda's backend, but many people get stuck on the first step: searching for "dual-band integration" in the settings doesn't even show up on older machines. It's not that it doesn't exist, it's that the names have changed. I checked Tenda's official AC10 installation guide, and the original text says "dual-band integration (or dual-band optimization)"—both names are used in the same document because the interface text of the old firmware and the new firmware is not from the same era.

roughly compare it to this: in recent years, new WiFi 6 devices (AX12 and AX3 batches) have interfaces called dual-band integrated , made into a single switch; Earlier column interface machines (AC10 and AC9 batches) had a dual-frequency preferred on the page, with a checkbox. If you can't tell which generation the device at home is, here's a simple trick: if the backend can find 'Broadband Control,' it's the old model, and if the screen is full of 'Device Management' cards, it's the new model—I've tried this method in Tenda Speed Limit , and it works every time.

By the way, this feature is called by different brands: Mercury calls it multi-frequency integration, and I just last week turned off my cousin's Mercury ; Xiaomi is called 'dual-band integration,' shares the same as Tenda's new model. When you buy a WiFi device with only one name, you basically always have this one enabled.

new interface: In wireless settings, turn on the switch

The path to Xiaolin's AX12 looks like this: connect your phone to the router's WiFi, enter the browser to enter tendawifi.com (192.168.0.1 works too, same door), enter the management password to enter the backend. On the homepage, you'll see the 'Wireless Settings' section. For devices with slightly updated firmware, this section is called 'Wi-Fi Settings'—it's right next to the WiFi name, so you can't lose it.

the first screen after entering, the WiFi name and password are displayed. Next to the name box is a "dual-band integration" switch, which is enabled by default. Turn the switch off, and the screen immediately turns into two sets: one set of 2.4G name passwords on top, and one set of 5G name passwords below, each set independent, with each changing to its own set.

one detail is that Tendaka is stricter than I thought: two sets of names can't be filled in the same . The first time I was lazy, I pasted the same name in both boxes, and when I saved, a prompt popped up to deny the pass. Later, I figured it out—the name is the same, so it's basically a waste to dismantle it. The router is just blocking me and confusing me.

also glanced through the Tenda WiFi App: WiFi names and passwords can be changed in the app, but I searched around the app for the dual-band integrated switch but couldn't find it, so I ended up going back to the webpage backend to handle it. This is similar to WiFi timer switching; Tenda's toggle functions are mostly focused on the web version, while the app only handles status and remote control tasks. When operating on your phone, remember to tap tendawifi.com in your browser—don't expect the app to give you this entry point.

older AC10: Uncheck the "Dual-Band Optimization" option

Before my old AC10 was retired, it had a different interface: tendawifi.com to the backend, click "Wireless Settings" from the left menu, then go to the "WiFi Name & Password" subpage. On the page, above the name box is a line labeled "Dual-Frequency Select," with a checkbox hanging in front, which is checked by default.

operation is exactly the opposite of the new model: the new model has a toggle switch, while the old model the lever to uncheck the . Check the box and the originally separate name box immediately splits into two groups: one 2.4G and one 5G, each filling in its own name. There's another trick to this checkbox. I mentioned it in my about changing WiFi passwords on phones: when the checkbox is on, changing one password will activate both bands simultaneously; After opening it and changing the password, you have to redo each of the two frames—don't let half of it slip out.

can't access the backend, don't panic—check in two steps: First, make sure your phone is connected to Tenda's WiFi, not connected to a neighbor's network with the same name; Second, I can't remember the management password. I checked the sticker on the back of the machine. The default password for the old Tengda model was either blank or lowercase admin, while the new model was set manually when first set. I have listed of these three scenarios in table. The backend page wouldn't even pop up. Go and open that post click 'Blunder' to queue them one by one.

the first night after the shutdown, the house will be lively for a while

Xiaolin will save the moment the family WiFi disconnects and reconnects. The real commotion is behind the scenes. Their nine smart devices—camera, speaker, vacuum cleaner, two smart light bulbs—2.4G set uses the old name, all seamlessly reconnected, not a single unit dropped. 5G has a new name; phones and TVs can manually select a new name and enter a password, all in two or three minutes.

only the camera in the living room was offline. It wasn't about the frequency band, but it was already hanging at the signal edge, so reconnection was half a beat slow. Don't rush to plug the reset port; just turn off the power for half a minute and then reconnect, and it will probably come back on its own. Vacuum cleaners are 2.4G stubborn users, as long as their old name hasn't changed, they have no idea what happened at night—the device network only recognizes the 2.4G flaw, I wrote a special .

this is the most valuable part of splitting dual-band: slow IoT remains under the old 2.4G name with zero reconfiguration, fast mobile TV is caught up with the new 5G name. The naming sums up one sentence: 2.4G uses the old name, 5G adds a 5G suffix at the end, and don't use the Chinese name—some older devices won't find it. If you have a lot of equipment at home, leave half an hour before disassembly for them to reconnect gradually. Don't touch it after 10 p.m.

do you get stuck after taking it apart? Let's first see how many bars of 5G are left

Xiaolin sent me a speed test screenshot that night—the living room phone is 280MB—stunning. The next day, he pushed his luck and pinned the bedroom TV to 5G, but watching 4K ended up spinning in circles from time to time. The bedroom is separated by a load-bearing wall, 5G is only two bars left, negotiation speed drops from 2,400 to over 800, actual speed is around 130Mbps, and during evening peak hours it fluctuates to 300 or 400Mbps, 4K bitrates just can't keep up. The same slot at 2.4G actually has 70MB, which is stable.

two slots, don't rigidly stick to 5G bars—this is a physical feature, not a setup issue. 5G drops through walls badly, while 2.4G is slow but stable. I broke down two frequency bands in my actual test and calculated . Later, the bedroom TV reconnected to 2.4G, and 70MB feed-in 4K bits was more than enough, so I never went back to the loop. The same goes for phones: when you walk indoors, the signal drops to two bars, and manually switching back to the 2.4G network feels more comfortable than stubbornly sticking to 5G.

three types of families, I advise you not to mess around: the whole house has only three devices, and the names are the same; The elderly at home have fixed machine habits, but after taking them apart, they have to be taught again; All IoT devices run smoothly on 2.4G, and after disassembly, the profits don't go to you. Also, don't confuse this with "only turn off 5G and keep 2.4G"—that's a different matter on a different switch. I wrote about the night I helped my mother-in-law with a camera.

Ending: Five Elements correspond, review it before starting

: phone and TV pinned to 5G, living room speed test 280 Mbps; Nine smart devices with 2.4G old names, zero reconfiguration; bedroom TV with 2.4G is steadily 70Mbps. One name splits into two networks—whoever is faster and who's slower returns to their own home, so the 300Mbps broadband isn't wasted.