Ting must be installed in an area of your home where the Wi-Fi reliably reaches. Like other smart home devices, the Ting app will guide you and show you how to connect your Ting to your Wi-Fi network; the signal strength of your Wi-Fi network will display when asked to select a network during the setup process.
Which Wi-Fi network type is supported? To maximize signal range, Ting is designed to use 2.4 GHz wireless networks. Ting is not currently compatible with 5 GHz networks.
A word on Wi-Fi networks. For devices or applications requiring better signal range (aka distance), 2.4 GHz is normally the best choice - this is what your Ting Sensor requires. For other devices or applications where higher performance or speed is essential, 5 GHz is a good choice if available in your router. However, by design, 5 GHz does not have the range of - and therefore can't reach as far as - 2.4 GHz networks.
Most routers today have both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios, giving users a choice of enabling one or both radios. Most users enable both. If, for some reason, you do not currently have a 2.4GHz network enabled in your home, it is normally straightforward to enable it in most routers.
A note regarding Mobile Network Providers: It is easy to confuse '5GHz' on 802.11 (Wi-Fi in the home) and '5G' mobile data service (5th generation of the mobile spectrum). In the home, Wi-Fi networks can run on 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz frequencies. Separately, mobile network providers such as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile advertise their 5G networks, where '5G' refers to the 5th generation of the mobile spectrum and is not related to the Wi-Fi network frequencies in your home.
For instance, the T-Mobile 5G (mobile spectrum) Gateway for home Internet is pre-configured with a single Wi-Fi network, which functions on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies. You can use the T-Mobile Internet app to set up separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks in your home.
Be aware, however, that some of these newer home Internet services are not equivalent to traditional broadband solutions in that they are focused on 'attended' use cases (streaming, web surfing, gaming) and place restrictions on what you as a homeowner can connect to the Internet, which in turn may impact or outright block traffic for home automation, security and smart home devices, including Ting. When considering home Internet choices, please be sure to inspect the terms and conditions of each service.