WiFi Connection Issues: 5Ghz band not found? How do I determine wifi settings & limitations

Anonymous
2014-01-02T23:30:50+00:00

Bought a new laptop and have been setting it up with a wifi dual band router.  My issue is that Band A at 2.5Ghz connects anywhere in the house, but the 5Ghz band cannot even be found.  Working the problem with my router settings and support.

Laptop: HP Pavillion TS 15 Notebook 15-n088ca with Windows 8.1 (fully updated) & WiFi

Router: D-Link Wireless AC1000 Dual Band Router DIR-820L with 2.5GHz and 5GHz bands.

The 2.5ghz band is discoverable and connects fine, and works anywhere in the house. The 5GHz Band is not even discovered, doesn't show up on the list. [A new Galaxy Tablet did find the 5GHz Band but was very weak].

How do I find out if there are limitations on my Notebook pc regarding 5GHz bands? Can they be updated? Are there other solutions?

I have been on the Router support site, and one of the issues mentioned was a limitation on the pc to recieve 5GHz. (Which I wish I knew before I bought the router at the same time as the pc)

Any help would be appreciated, Thank You.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Internet and connectivity

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Anonymous
2014-01-03T15:31:24+00:00

Hi Richard,

I have searched for information about the wireless adapter installed in your computer and found that your wireless adapter has 802.11n standard, which supports 5GHz bandwidth.

unfortunately, I was unable to find the Wireless adapter make and model. Let us know the make and model of the Wireless adapter.

While you reply, check if these settings help.

  1. Go to Desktop mode
  2. Select Charms > Settings > PC Info
  3. Click Device Manager (located in the top left of screen)
  4. Click the > sign to expand the Network adapters entry.
  5. Right-click the wireless adapter and click Properties.
  6. Click the Advanced tab, click 802.11n mode, under value Select Enable.

Hope the information provided is helpful. Do reply, if you need further help.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-04-22T16:49:17+00:00

    Folks, Thanks a Lot for every answer.

    I have replaced my  wrt600n by apple Airport more expensive but mutch better so i do not have the problem now.

    Thank you all!

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-24T14:47:03+00:00

    Someone at the HP Global support community used some of the previous posts in this thread as a reference. It contained enough misleading information to confuse him.  

    802.11 b\g\ are 2.4 GHz bandwidth only

    802.11n can be 2.4 & 5  Ghz bandwith or only 2.4 Ghz.  It depends on the wireless tranceiver's capabilities and the antenna setup.

    The very first first thing you need to do is to determine if your installed wifi adapter has 5 GHz capability.

    Since the wifi adapter drivers are installed , finding out what it is and its capabilities should be pretty simple. 

    Open the Device Manager and expand the Network adapters section. You should see a wireless adapter device with a brand and model.

    Write down the brand and model information and use it in a Google or Bing search as follows:

    Brand and model number (substitute your adapter's brand and model number) and the word specifications.  

    The specifications that the search returns will tell you in which band the wifi adapter operates.

    Look for 2.4 and 5Ghz in the bandwidth operation specification. If you only see 2.4 Ghz, then now you know that 5GHz operation is not possible. 

    An alternative, now that you are armed with the brand and model information, is to go to the wifi adapter's company website and search for information there.

    There is no amount of tweaking in the adapter properties settings that will enable a wifi adapter that is only capable of 2.4 GHz operation, to operate in the 5Ghz band.

    A 2.4 Ghz only capable wifi adapter will not even recognize the presence of SSID's that are broadcasting on 5Ghz.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-04-12T23:33:47+00:00

    I have not seen an "N" network wifi with a 5GHz bandwith, only an "AC" network has both a 2.4 and 5 GHz bandwith as far as I know.

    Therefore it appears that you will need to upgrade both your wireless router and your network card to acheive the bandwith that you are looking for to play your game.

    Sorry...

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-05-12T15:57:35+00:00

    Thank you for clarifying this issue....using your instructions I finally determined that my network adapter is single band only.  Luckily I only wasted an hour chasing this issue down numerous rabbit holes before reading your post.  Some of the other people posting problems have invested far more time.

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