How do I force 2.4GHz Wi-Fi on Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite)

Question

I would like to force 2.4GHz Wi-Fi on my MacBook Air because where I am currently everyone is on 5GHz and it has been clogged up so it’s really slow.

Solution

You can't force it if your network has the same SSID for both bands. Apple has never provided a tool or even an API for doing this.

Comments

[Tyson]

Do both networks have the same SSID?

[Dylan Larsen]

So there is no way to do it at all?

[Spiff]

@DylanLarsen Unfortunately, no. Not from OS X on the built-in Wi-Fi interface. Use a third party Wi-Fi dongle or an alternative OS. Better yet, get the network admins to fix their network.

[Blazej SLEBODA]

The answer is valid for the macOS 11.2.3 as well