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Report: PS4 Slim supports 5GHz Wi-Fi

More details regarding PS4 Slim's feature set have been leaked.

August 29, 2016 4:28 PM

You'll have to wait a little longer for Sony to lift the curtain on PS4 Slim, a sleeker version of 2013's PS4 hardware. In the meantime, Shortman82 bought his PS4 Slim from a UK-based auction site, and has been tweeting out images and details.

Two such juicy bits of info take the form of screenshots: one showing the PS4 Slim's "View Connection Status" screen; and another of a page from the user manual (via PlayStation Lifestyle). The latter mentions 5GHz wireless connectivity; the base PS4 only supports 2.4GHz connections.

Analysts and enthusiasts agree that Sony will probably spill the beans about PS4 Slim and PS4 Neo—its updated console—at the next PlayStation Meeting, scheduled to take place on September 7 at New York City's PlayStation Theater.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.

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Shacknews

 reply
August 29, 2016 4:29 PM

David Craddock posted a new article, Report: PS4 Slim supports 5GHz Wi-Fi
- Mad Brahmin Disease
  
   reply
  August 29, 2016 4:35 PM
  
  I had no idea the current one does not support 5GHz!!
  - armybob
    
     reply
    August 29, 2016 5:43 PM
    
    I always forget that and it's pretty bad that a modern console shipped with only 2.4ghz.
    
    At least they added it here.
    - pgharavi
      
       reply
      August 29, 2016 6:16 PM
      
      I think i've superficially read/learned that 5ghz does not go through walls well, which means your router essentially has to be in the same room as the 5ghz device.
      
      Is that true?
      - [deleted] 472173279
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 6:18 PM
        
        [deleted]
        
        pgharavi
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 6:19 PM
        
        So what's the point of 5ghz? If you're router is literally in the same room?
        
        [deleted] 1575822246
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 6:24 PM
        
        [deleted]
        
        [deleted] 1243182645
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 6:35 PM
        
        [deleted]
        
        pgharavi
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 6:50 PM
        
        Would a wireless backup from my laptop to my Time Capsule (router + hdd) be a decent example.use case?
        
        Prozium
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 9:23 PM
        
        Could be. For example, a 50% strength 5Ghz signal could outperform a 90% 2.4ghz signal if it's AC vs N on the 2.4ghz.
      - scud
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 6:23 PM
        
        Nope. It really depends n the Model of Router. My Asus ac88u has fantastic 5ghz range.
        
        Arsenal
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 9:28 PM
        
        To be fair the AC88U is just about the best wireless AP you can get in terms of throughput/range, but yeah.. I have to use 5ghz to get any sort of decent throughput with all the different 2.4ghz networks around me.
        
        loppsided
        
         reply
        August 30, 2016 9:23 AM
        
        Can confirm Asus 68u connects fine 50 feet away through 2 walls
      - thecray
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 6:50 PM
        
        Not for me. My xbone/laptop is two rooms away from the router, and 5Ghz is much faster than 2.4Ghz. There are usually less bars of reception on the display when you use 5Ghz, but even then it still pumps through more data.
      - TwiLyght
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 7:04 PM
        
        That's an exaggeration, probably based on ideal lab conditions compared to 2.4Ghz. 5Ghz vs 2.4Ghz is like night and day with my router. I max out my 100Mbit connection on 5Ghz while my 2.4Ghz gets no higher than 25Mbit. The range on both is about equal as well.
      - Arsenal
        
         reply
        August 29, 2016 9:39 PM
        
        In an ideal world* where you had no other wireless networks in your vicinity you would use both, with 5Ghz for maximum throughput on close devices and 2.4Ghz for range. The reality is for most people though, that with 2.4Ghz only having 3 non overlapping channels (1,6,11 and even thats only on 20Mhz mode) you tend to run into a lot of interference from neighbours networks that can limit your speed and range, whereas 5Ghz has many more channels and less people using it (for now), so throughput will be better and range can be.
        
        * In an actual ideal world everything would be wired, or failing that you would have multiple 5Ghz APs setup.
      - enyakk
        
         reply
        August 30, 2016 1:08 AM
        
        That's physics. Shorter wavelengths (higher frequencies) are more easily absorbed by obstructions. That's why consumer drones use 2,4Ghz radios.
      - WadeMcLain
        
         reply
        August 30, 2016 8:07 AM
        
        Mine works just fine through one wall. Asus router.
      - Shadowdane
        
         reply
        August 30, 2016 9:16 AM
        
        1 wall should be fine... when you get past the 2nd wall speeds start to drop a lot.
- waxthirteen
  
   reply
  August 29, 2016 6:27 PM
  
  Wow PSN is slow enough on a wired
  connection. I can't even imagine trying to download a 30 GB game over wifi.
  - daroach1414
    
     reply
    August 29, 2016 8:12 PM
    
    The speeds I download from PSN wouldn’t even fill a 2.4ghz connection so it doesn’t really matter.
    - Revo99
      
       reply
      August 29, 2016 9:34 PM
      
      Switch your DNS servers to the Google or OpenDNS servers in the PS4 network settings, fixed all slow download problems for me.
      
      Google DNS:
      8.8.8.8
      8.8.4.4
      
      OpenDNS:
      208.67.222.222
      208.67.220.220
      - Mad Brahmin Disease
        
         reply
        August 30, 2016 12:06 AM
        
        Gotta try this, thanks!
      - MacemanInTW
        
         reply
        August 30, 2016 12:27 AM
        
        It helped me a bit but PSN was still slow as fuck
      - erotic sock
        
         reply
        August 30, 2016 12:45 AM
        
        I'm no network engineer, but it'd be super weird for DNS to fix download issues, right?
        
        crummynz
        
         reply
        August 30, 2016 2:13 AM
        
        Maybe different DNS servers resolve the update servers to IP addresses in different locations? If that were the case I'd expect your ISP to give you the closest one though.
        
        Revo99
        
         reply
        August 30, 2016 8:03 AM
        
        I know it doesn't really make sense but it worked for me and a bunch of other people. I guess YMMV.
  - sigpro
    
     reply
    August 30, 2016 8:08 AM
    
    It's awful. My ps4 is about 30 feet from my router and the wireless barely connects for the ps4, but any other old device on 2.4ghz is fine.
- sukabljat
  
   reply
  August 30, 2016 9:06 AM
  
  Need price and date. I'm less interesting in gaming and more interested in Vue.