Your computer does not see the 5GHz WiFi but sees the 2.4GHz (Windows)

By Camilla Mo in Network issues

You may have encountered such weird things: You put in your modem with two bandwidths, 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Your computer only sees the one of 2.4GHz.

This might be caused by driver issues. Before you move on, it’s suggested that you update the driver first. If you don’t have the time, patience or computer skills to update the driver manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.

The other probably  reason is that your computer may not have 5GHz bandwidth capability. You could check it by following the steps below.

1. Click Start menu.

2. Press Windows key and R (at the same time). A run dialog will appear.

3. Type cmd in. Click Ok.

4. On the Command prompt window, type “netsh wlan show drivers“. Press Enter.

5. Look for the “Radio types supported” section.

If it says that the network adapter supports 802.11g and 802.11n network modes, it means that the computer has 2.4 GHz network capability only.

 

If it says that the adapter supports 802.11a and 802.11g and 802.11n network modes, it means that the computer has 2.4 GHz and 5GHz network capability.

 

If it says 802.11n 802.11g and 802.11b network modes, it means the computer has 2.4GHz network capability only.

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  • Amybeth Kasinskas

    So is there some sort of plug & play device that can allow the machine to use the 5g network when it only currently supports 2.4g?

  • Irina Gelimson

    Hello there.
    Thank you for the article.
    My laptope (Asus) has ” 802.11a and 802.11g and 802.11n”, I did upgrade the driver as well.
    But i still can not reach “5G”. My laptop is showing only 2.4G.
    Could you please help me with fixing.
    Thank you so much.

  • TheGamingPotato

    I have a lot of things under Radio types supported. I have 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11ac, 802.11n, and 802.11a. What does this mean?

  • Mary Johnson

    I can get 5 G beautifully on my laptop but not on our two desktops. Very frustrating.

  • You shared nice information and according to you my laptop is supporting 5GHZ… And a techie i am sharing the another method to check your laptop .Is it supporting 5G or not..

    The best way is to open Control Panel, go to Device Manager and find the make and model of your laptop’s Wi-Fi under the Network adapters section.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6835e719245ef01378da878c4c07f7154ac2dcfc011428cec649f2ffc727cb13.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/73b6113d3602e7784f9e952a83c61264e8f496a92ab4774a8fdce895ff75c8d3.png

    Follow this pics..

  • josh gorny

    So now my computer says I have 2.4g only, but a few days ago I was running perfectly fine on 5g

  • CAVL

    So I did this and I got the codes- 802.11n 802.11g 802.11b in that order… What does that mean?… I have a 2.4G Wi-Fi and a 5G Wi-Fi, coming from the same router. But for some reason the oldest device I have is the only one that picks up the 5G, all the other devices, a laptop and a few smart phones, only pick up the 2.4… I should also add at this point that the device that is able to pick up the 5G, shows both the 2.4G and the 5G as separate signals even though they come from the same router and even have the same name… The Laptop originally ran Windows 7 but now runs Windows 10. The device that does pick up the 5G is an old Samsung smartphone. I connected my laptop to an Ethernet cable to the router, but it ran at the same speed as the 2.4G, which I found odd… Any help would be appreciated, thank you…

  • A E

    I have the same situation. Would using the ethernet vs. wifi give me faster internet speed?

    • Ian McGrath

      Wired Ethernet will be faster

  • Vince234

    i can’t believe my new laptop doesn’t support 5g….is there any way to upgrade without physically changing harware ?

  • Rt Dt

    Thanks so much, wow only have 2.4g capability what a trash labtop

  • Melissa Mason

    The above information was great! I only have 2.4 capabilities but I have a very unusually situation. My internet is cutting out on my desktop only. It’s on the 2.4 system and I’ve never had this problem before. It started just a couple of days ago, it will connect then I’ll get on the internet and the internet will go away, then it will reconnect again. I’ve looked at my other devices and they are not experiencing this same issue. Do you have an ideal of what’s going on with my computer. It’s a HP about 2 years old. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

  • Don Carr

    Ok… here’s my Question… I have 5G, and two days ago,… suddenly, I’m unable to connect to my 5G. I can see 5G, but, it comes back and says windows cannot connect me to the 5G. Connects me to 2.4G instead. Sounds like a windows issue… I’m running Win 7. Any thoughts of what may have gone wrong? Suggestions?

    • Michael Scott

      Did you change computers?
      Change passwords?
      Change networks?
      Lots of possibilities.

      • Don Carr

        no Change to passwords, network, or anything. My cell phone will connect 5G, but, no longer will my laptop.

  • Don Carr

    my computer shows radio type a, b, and g,…. does this mean it supports 5G? its not listed above…

  • Robert Brock

    Thanks, you answered my question perfectly!

  • Unknown

    I’m not the greatest with this kind of stuff, but my pc detects 2.4g only. Is there a way to change it so that it detects 5g too?

  • cibbenreactions

    PLEASE HELP WHAT DOES 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n MEAN PLEASE TELL ME!!

    • Michael Scott

      It means NO 5G for you, pal! (See above)

  • rabihm

    My computer use to see 5ghz but now I don’t know what happened. mines is 802.11b 802.11g 80211n

  • Christina

    thank you

  • ish kataria

    So can we upgrade it or something to make it detect higher band networks?

  • milagroful

    I got 3 radio types listed but my 5gz network never shows up on my pc…

    • BloodyEagle

      which ones?

      • milagroful

        I went back to double check and it’s the wrong one. Stupid all in one pc with no 5ghz

        • BloodyEagle

          You might be able to upgrade it while maybe voiding the warranty…

  • charles000

    Many thanks, much appreciated!
    I was up at 4am, trying to figure out why my new Dell XPS 13 could “see” the 5G router perfectly, but the HP Pavilion HPE desktop could only see the 2G. This is with a brand new ASUS router . . . so I thought maybe the router was having troubles.
    I freely admit, probably would have spent endless hours trying to sort this out . . . again, many thanks.

  • Donna

    Thank you for this information. Is there a way to fix this issue if your computer only has the 2.4 GHz network capability only. I just received a new wireless modem from the cable company. I have my computer hooked up to the modem through an Ethernet cable. My internet connection goes in and out even with the wireless being disconnected and my computer hooked up to the modem. Any suggestions?

    • John W

      You would have to buy a 5G USB adapter about $10 to $40 depending on where you go, Newegg, Office Depot ect..

  • Sourya Dutta

    ohh thank you so much for the info.

  • Subangkar KrS

    802.11b 802.11g 802.11n 802.11a 802.11ac what is it ?

    • BloodyEagle

      Should be 5GHz

  • Topp Cat

    Mine has: 802.11g 802.11b
    Can somebody translate that, it’s not 5g is it ?

    • Sam

      No, it’s 2.4

  • Lett

    what does it mean if it says 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11a, 802.11ac, what does that support?

    • Michael Scott

      both

  • marksclub2005

    My computer’s antenna supports 802.11b 802.11a 802.11g 802.11n but cant find 5Ghz signals

  • The Great Seymour(Butz)

    so i have ngb only. spectrum just bought me new modem and it get 5g but cant get on computer only on 5g tablet.
    is there any hardware i could buy for comp to allow it to get 5g??
    win 10 hp 23r110 about two years old
    thanks

    • John W

      a 5G USB wifi adapter , any computer store or office supplies.

      • The Great Seymour(Butz)

        i was so upset that spectrum did nothing but give me more headaches. i ordered a usb 5g dongle but i continued to look on internet for a solution to my prob.
        speeds of only 12 mbps on computer…tablets fine at 50 mbps. i found article where it said you can have wifiand ethernet connections and by cracky i set my comput to ethernet and my tablets remained on wifi and speeds of 60-70 on comp now.
        never did use the 5g dongel i ordered.
        but why a snot nosed employee of spectrum couldnt figure that out is beyond me

  • Duncan Fisher

    Thanks for an easy way to check, now that I have and see that I actually have 5G but can’t find the 5G network, what then? Yes, I’ve tried moving closer.

    • Michael Scott

      Well…you say “I have 5G”…….are you talking about your computer…or your router….or both? The BOTH have to be ‘capable’. If your router is capable…is 5g turned on? Active? How close is closer? 5G doesn’t have the ‘long distance’ power of 2.4, but it probably isn’t distance that’s causing your problem.

      • Duncan Fisher

        Both have the 5G band. That’s what stumps me. Windows 7, the wireless card can detect both 2.4 and 5, but on Windows 10, it’ll only detect 2.4. Yes, both computers both are located in the same location.

  • marvin

    I get 802.11n, b, g. is that the right order?

    • Michael Scott

      n, g, b is NFG…..IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT! 🙂

      • Eng Ahmed Abdulzahra

        dear Sir:
        my Radio support 802.11n 802.11g 802.11b and i have been connect my pc with mikrotik router and there is time out on 8.8.8.8 so i found that when you change the setting of the network adapter it will work properly :go to device manager and then to adapter of the network 802.11n and then to the advance and enable the 40 MHz intolerant it will work thanks

  • Lucas Nguyen

    Can somebody help me? I upgraded from Windows 8 which was preinstalled when I first bought my laptop and now I don’t have access to 5G. My radio type is: 802.11b

    • BloodyEagle

      Just B?

  • ali

    Hi i think something wrong here i got on my laptop ” If it says that the adapter supports 802.11a and 802.11g and 802.11n network modes, it means that the computer has 2.4 GHz and 5GHz network capability. ” which is doesnt work with 5g cant see anything . And I got older desktop and i can see messege If it says 802.11n 802.11g and 802.11b network modes, it means the computer has 2.4GHz network capability only.. but it works with 5g network . I m confused Also bot works with wireless and laptop distance is 3 metre and desktop upstairs . Can you help i got on laptop ar956x qualcom

    • Edward

      HI,

      Base on your problem, I think that is because your laptop wireless adapter is set to received beacons from 2.4 GHz frequency only. To modify that, change the properties of your network adapter on device manager and set 802.11a enabled to see SSID of 5G. 802.11a comes with 802.11b to prevent the congestion on 2.4 Ghz spectrum, however, 802.11a can only provide throughput up to 54 Mbps.

      – Edward

  • SK

    My computer has 802.11 b 802.11 g 802.11 n can I able to connect my system to 5g?

    • Camilla Mo

      Hi SK,

      This means your system supports 2.4ghz.

  • David

    Ihave a netgear router that has 2.4 and 5g, my atheros ar496x says b/a/g/n. The card can sometimes see one or the other sometimes, but whenever I try to connect, it either fails or times out. I’ve tried to reconfigure my adapter card but it is stuck on “802.11b preamble” with no other 802.11 options. Any tips?

    • Camilla Mo

      Hi David,

      What’s the error message you got？

  • Michael Scott

    Really? Yours says 802.11n TWICE?
    Sweet!

  • David Johnstone

    the correct reading will be seen as ….. 802.11= B G THEN N , NOT N G B . tech you are correct in those b g n , just there is confusion enough not to list them as they will be seen by someone with no real skillset. Me-myself , im sitting with a brand new dell and they didn’t even bother to give me 5ghz…nor did they list that this was not excluded/capable option anywhere.

  • Minecraft12345678910

    I think I just found out why I can’t connect to my home Wi-Fi…My laptop has 2.4Ghz capability but my Wi-Fi is 5Ghz lol

  • דינדו מחמודי

    so according to this my computer supports 5Ghz, but i still can’t seen it.

  • Agus

    My laptop have 802.11a 802.11g 802.11n 802.11a what does that mean ?
    i cannot connect 5GHz Wifi

    • Ryan Trieu

      That means you have 5ghz and 2.4 ghz capability and I can’t explain why ;-;

    • Michael Scott

      Really? Yours says 802.11a TWICE?
      You rock!

  • Ethan Henderson

    My Pc says i have 4 of these codes i have 802.11a 802.11g 802.11n 802.11b so what does that mean

  • Leonie

    Ok, so according to the above information my computer doesn’t support 5g. However, when I was living at my previous address I was able to connect to our NBN modem on a 5g network. Since I have moved, I can no longer connect to the 5g network. The modem was previously running through the phone line. At our new address it is connected through WLAN (this is the only way it will work) can anyone explain why I can no longer connect to 5g?

    • Jan Prazak

      We have also a 5G network. It creates the same WiFi that is 5 and 2.4 at the same time. It shows as one WiFi. on 5g device you see 5g WIFi and on 2.4 device you see 2.4 WIFi never shows both at the time.

      • Michael Scott

        That’s right, Jan…but you may not know which ONE you are actually looking at unless you give them different names.

    • LostSoulsStar

      Leonie, if you were connected via “phone line” at your old place (Ethernet) it would not have been connected to 5G. 5G ONLY applies to wireless connections because it stands for the frequency of the wireless broadcast. So you’re mistaken, you were never capable of connecting to 5G. To fix it just update your drivers and stop “wondering” why it “used to” connect but now can’t “all of a sudden”.

  • Sachin Shepherd

    I have 802.11n 802.11g and 802.11b network modes in my pc.Is it possible if I add 5Ghz wireless USB adapter so it support to my pc or not?

    • 4403V

      Were you able to get an adapter to work for this? Currently having the same problems for my laptop as well.

  • Edward

    The black box displays for a second and then disappears. I’m not able to read that fast. Most likely stupid HP laptop problem.

    • benfranklin

      You need to hit enter on the cmd command, so that the window opens and stays open.

  • Shoeb Sayed

    this is helpful. my smartphone has 5ghz but laptop do not. thanks a lot.

    • Nanocrisis

      if your phone does and your laptop does not, then why not try wifi tethering using your phone’s 5ghz connectivity. Kind of like a wifi dongle.

      • Shoeb Sayed

        thanks but m happy with 2.4 as its range is wide. i m already using 4 megs on hsia

  • Macorini

    Thank you: Super helpful!

  • Laura

    Thanks to you I finally found the right information. Sad for me my laptop doesn’t support 5g, will have to use alternative.

  • Tom F

    Thanks for your clear explanation.
    My Toshiba Radio apparently device does not support the 5g.
    So now to look for the adapter and check my router specs.

  • Danny

    Ok, so I have a slight problem.. my laptop has ac n and a wifi. my phone galaxy s7 edge has a ac wifi card. my router is a 150mbps on wifi and 1g bit on lan.on my phone I have not seettings on the adapter and I get 70-80 mbps down and 60 up. on my laptop when the network adapter is on auto or n setting it gets not more then 35 40 down and 16 up speed. but when I make the settings on ac for the faster speeds the laptop does not see the network anymore ?!?!?! what is the problem and how to fix it ?

    • 4403V

      Were you able to find a solution to this? Currently having the same problems for my laptop as well.

  • John

    Thanks it was helpful. It shows I don’t have 5g sad for me. I will look to find out how much it will cost to up grade.

  • Cliftone

    THANK YOU !!! For your clear & easy directions! Unfortunately for me I have the 802.11n 802.11g and 802.11b …. but your info here keeps me from buying an adapter & new modem/router…

    I get 100mbps only IF I use an ethernet cable… but when I go strictly wi-fi it drops to 48 -50 mbs …. uuuugh!

    • Kerri

      Yeah, me too. It’s a relatively new Dell laptop. Very annoying!

      His diagnostics steps were easy to follow and gave me the information that I needed.

    • Parham Bahrami

      woah, 50 mbs? we dream of 10 mbs here in australia…

  • Rafal

    For Dell Vostro 3650 to make it support 5GHZ use this card:

    Atheros AR5B22 AKA DW1901.

    The stock Intel Centrino card was rubbish. I wish I replace it earlier…

  • Paul

    I recently purchased a Tp-Link Archer T6E and when i do this scan its telling me 802.11n 802.11a 802.11n 802.11g 802.11b. Does this mean that the box which says both 5ghz and 2.4ghz is wrong or do i have a setting wrong?

    • Tamara-rxc Downey

      The TP-Link that you have supports 5g, it is a great adapter for the price. Don’t forget your whole system has to support 5g otherwise the Archer does what it should and defaults to what your system can support, which sounds like 2g. What Wi-Fi router do you have? That could be the bottleneck, or if you’re on cable modem it may not support 5g or your provider has it turned off. I’m with Eastlink, they charge me more saying I get higher speeds, but they have 5g turned off on their modem. If I want it on I can pay even more…scam artists, but the only other choice is Bell which isn’t any better.

  • AMRO

    i was using 5.0 GHZ and i got a problem with my laptop my hard drive needs to be replaced i lost all data and everything and i changed my HD and after reinstalled windows 8 i stop receiving the 5.0 GHz signal only i can see 4.2 GHz after i found out that is because Wireless adapter card not supporting 802.11ac
    so my question is why before i was able to use 5.0GHz
    and after reinstalled the windows back on the same laptop i’m not able to see it in my networks only i’m seeing 4.2 GHz

    • Enzio

      5GHz mode may be a, an or ac. The mode setting must be the same for wireless router and pc network adapter. If the latter does not support ac, then the router must be set to a or an.

    • Michael Scott

      I think you mean 2.4……..not 4.2
      Obviously, some sort of setting changed (in your Windows setup) between installations.
      Reinstalling your OS should have no impact on your built-in wireless adaptor….and certainly changing your hard drive would have no impact either.

  • alpay

    thanks. my computer doesnt support 5ghz :/

  • Doug

    Every time i hit enter to run the command it closes down, any advice?

    • Stu

      use “cmd” first to open shell window. Then key in command to view supported modes

  • Jay

    Yeah, I just tried entering that in and it says that it’s not a valid command. So it’s invalid.

    • DeanaMC

      Don’t use the quotations.

  • Sana Ullah zafar

    i have a problem in netsh wlan show profiles. when i can run it for others network profile it can not show the profile it can show the older profiles which i can run before . what can i do for other wifi signal profile please .

  • PConroy

    So how can you tell when buying a new laptop if it will recognize 5G?

  • Lucky

    My phone does not catch the 5gh wifi made by my laptop(hotspot). What should i do????

  • Tyler

    Hello can someone link me a wifi adapter that is 802.11 (a/g/n) please.

    Thanks

    • gia ellis

      Hi Tyler, I am in the same boat you are in trying to connect to my 5G wifi and only have 802.11 (b,g,n) Did anyone ever respond to you about the kind of adapter to buy to fix the issue? Please let me know. Thanks so much.
      Gia

  • Tom

    I have an OOOLD Dell Insperion running Vista. And it CONNECTS to my 5G network. Driver is dated 2007 on an Intel Pro/Wireless 3945abg. I even checked in the router and it shows connected to 5G. I checked the radio types and it show a, b, & g. Call me crazy but I am connected.

    • Fern

      Hi
      at my old address which had another modem from cable/internet company it did support 5g – I had it – I know it showed both, and I only have n,,b,g but now with another updated modem its not there?
      would that have something to do with? it doesn’t make sense & it’s driving me insane !

  • Ahmed K.

    Hi;
    I need to measure RSSI for 5.2 GHz. Do you have any software works with window to do that.
    Thanks

  • Alin

    My computer says
    “802.11b 802.11a 802.11g and 802.11n” but my wifi list still doesnt show the 5GHZ network.

    What to do?.

    • anduril16

      I’m having the same issue. Mine shows 802.11b, a, g, and n, but it won’t connect on anything 5GHz.

      Does anyone have a solution to this

      • pdpollock

        re-read the last two lines. your computer is only compatible with 2.4

        • Adriel T

          I’m not sure what you’re reading or I’m missing but this site specifically says that if network diagnostics in the command prompt says that your network adapter supports 802.11a, g and n then you can operate on either frequency. His laptop, like mine, shows that our adapters support 802.11a, b, g and n which means that they should support both 2.4 and 5.0 GHz frequencies. I very seriously doubt that if our adapters show that they support the 802.11b type of network in addition to the a,g, and n networks, that would somehow make our laptops incapable of supporting those types of wifi connections.

        • doug

          Thats not what it says. If it’s capable of a, it’ll do 5ghz.

      • KEITH CHALMERS

        I went into my wifi router administration page and found connected devices and saved them . Before doing that, check firewalls on router and computer to be safe , don’t forget to turn them back on. Then find the computer / device you want to connect to 5g and get the name of the device and the mac. Address to then type it in . This is how I fixed my connection problems but I still have some issues when I come home. It wants to connect to 2.4g always. I selected connect automatically on the 5g wifi and sometimes it will take 2-5 minutes before it pops up on the wifi list. I’m no wizard but something I did corrected my issue. Good luck man.

    • Freddie

      Go into your router settings and change your 5g channel to 36. That should help

  • Donald Williams

    So what happens when you have the 5ghz and 2ghz and now after a few months the 5ghz wont show on either of my computers but does show on my phones?

  • Diana D.

    Count me among the grateful. My new Comcast router came with the second 5GHz signal, and I could not get it to work. Turns out I’m in b/g/n land. You saved me the trouble of trying to update drivers that won’t make any difference–thank you!

  • shindo

    well what if you have my case where the card supports g,b,a,w,and n?

  • Juan Paulo

    I’ve just installed driver easy and I’m currently updating my driver, (actually it is very slow) (sometimes error occurred while downloading) it says “The remote name could not be resolved: ‘dow1drivereasy.com’. Help please..

    • Juan Paulo

      Its now working with almost 40kb per sec dl

    • camilla mo

      Dear Juan Paulo,

      Please understand the speed of Driver Easy Professional (Speed Limited) version is limited.
      You would mostly encounter this issue if you are using Driver Easy Professional (Speed Limited) version.

      To get higher download speed, it is highly recommended that you use the Paid version.

  • shafi

    its really helpfull..i really like it..thnx

  • Makayla

    OK so we don’t have a computer or laptop. All we have is our android smart phones. It’s says my 5-G isn’t inrange. Is it because I’m using my phone. I’ve already got the remote for the wireless printer downloaded. Will this not work?

  • Dani

    I’ve wondered why my PC never found the 5G network. Thanks!

  • Tai

    hey guys…if your device are not support 5GHz,it’s doesn’t matter…buy an AC adapter plug in to your laptop.and install it .you will automaticly see 5GHz network.

    • Ryan

      What is an AC adapter? I need to get it for my laptop.

    • Neza62

      My current one worked OK, until I upgraded to Windows 10, and now it no longer recognizes the AC Adapter; I called Linksys and learned that they currently do not have a driver for Windows 10. Hopefully, there are some products available that will work.

      • HiDiHo

        Guys it’s Windows 10 that is the problem (fix it microsoft!)
        I have a adapter 300Mbit but Windows 10 is stuck with 150Mbit

    • Bill

      AC Adapter plug ???/ do you mean the AC plug for power of does AC Adapter plug you are refering to mean something else?

    • Allison

      Youre the real MVP. Thank you so much.

  • Fotografo mostoles

    thx for the info!!!

  • Rodger Bird

    Thank you for your clear explanation.

    I have been trying to get 5GHz operation on a Desktop and a laptop only to find it states “802.11n 802.11g and 802.11b”. I wish I had seen your article before wasting a couple of hours looking for drivers etc. At least I learned something!

  • Sara Johnson

    Wow ive been trying to get my 5ghz to work for 2 days straight and thx to ur post i was able to see my pc doent support that frequency thx soooo much Sara

  • M. Orr

    I am running Windows XP SP3 on my desktop and the WinXP OS does does not recognize the “netsh” command. I have a Linksys 2.4GHz Wireless adapter card supporting 802.11g and 802.11b. The signal strength is low and I cannot connect to either of my neighbors WiFi which is Xfinity and AT&T Uverse. So it appears I do not have the right radio bandwidth. If I get a 5.0 GHz wireless adapter card for my PC would I then be able to connect to neighbors WiFi service? I need to be able to participate in a Live online real-time vehicle auction which moves at lightning speed. Input is welcome.

    • Raj

      There are quite a few options that you can try.

      1. Use a USB add-on wifi card that has antenna and can bring ‘N’ type wireless protocol with it.. Most of the times that is sufficient…If the distance between the router and PC/laptop is more and there are walls/hindrances between them 5G add ons are less likely to work.

      2. Use an internal add-on wifi card that has antenna and can bring ‘N’ type wireless protocol with it.. But that depends upon whether you have empty slots available.

      3. You can also use wifi signal repeaters but they are less likely to work.. if you decide to go this route,,make sure you are buying the brand that matches with the router.

      4. There are some powerline repeaters which are easy to install and mostly effective. also depends upon the electrical wiring.

      5. Last but not the least, you can buy another router and bridge both of the routers and boost signals, strength and range..

      Depending upon the technicality involved I would suggest trying the option1 first.

      cheers,