I've said this elsewhere, but $1-2 live is imho about the level of online 5NL, and 10NL. 2NL online can play like 1-2 too, so to me, it's a micro comparison up to 10NL. Venue to venue, city to city, country to country will vary a little. Perhaps 2-5 plays like 25NL or 50NL, but I'm not really familiar with 2-5.
In all seriousness, live 1-2 can present you with a tough table, but very often the games are a lot softer than online, and passive limping preflop fish are everywhere.
Celtic_Green, as a couple people have pointed out, online grinders who multi-table micro stakes can have massive hand volume experience and are very often tougher to beat than live 1/2 players. Their value range is more disciplined, they patiently set mine to crush over pairs, they are highly skilled in drawing with correct
odds, they are experienced in laying down when beat or when implied odds are poor. The list goes on.
Learn how to beat 5NL or 10NL and your live game will improve. The best of these opponents are not your city's finest, they are the world's finest, so absorb what you see from some of their play.
