How to Fix 5GHz WiFi Not Showing Up in Your Windows 10
If your 5GHz WiFi network is not showing up in your Windows 10 laptop or PC, just don’t worry about it. It’s quite a common problem that happens due to a bunch of reasons which include, changing the wireless router, changing the wireless adaptor, upgrading/downgrading device drivers, updating/downgrading OS, etc.
Sometimes, when you set up the wireless network, the PC’s WiFi adapter doesn’t pick up the 5Ghz network. It only detects the 2.4GHz network.
There are various reasons why this error could occur, so in this article, we are going to cover each reason and tell you exactly how you can fix the problem.
Does Your Computer Support 5GHz WiFi?
First and foremost, you need to make sure that your computer or laptop actually supports 5GHz WiFi. If it doesn’t, there’s no need to troubleshoot any of your other devices. So, here’s how you can check your computer for 5GHz bandwidth compatibility.
Step 1: Open Run dialog box by pressing Windows + R key.
Step 2: In the Run dialog box, type cmd and hit enter to open the command prompt.
Step 3: Type “netsh wlan show drivers” without the quotes in the command prompt window and hit enter. This will display the wireless driver properties on your laptop or desktop computer.
Step 4: In the results that open up, look for Radio types supported feature.
There will be three different network modes available in this section. Here’s what each network mode means.
- 11g 802.11n: Your computer’s wireless adapter only supports 2.4Ghz WiFi.
- 11n 802.11g 802.11b: Your computer’s wireless adapter only supports 2.4Ghz WiFi.
- 11a 802.11g 802.11n: Your computer’s wireless adapter supports both 5GHz and 2.4GHz WiFi.
Now, you know if your computer supports 5GHz Wifi or not. If not then all you have to do is to upgrade your computer’s wireless hardware.
However, if your computer does support 5GHz bandwidth, but it still does not show up in your Windows then move on to the next step to fix this issue.
Does Your WiFi Router Support 5GHz Network Mode?
OK, so maybe your computer does support 5GHz WiFi, but how about your wireless router?
Does it have 5GHz compatibility as well?
Here’s how you can check it.
The easiest way to check if your wireless router does support any mode or any feature is to enter the router brand and model information into Google to see the specifications.
You can also head over to your router’s setup page and check the “Wireless” section to see if it supports any required network mode. However, the method for opening your router’s setup utility differs for each brand and model. It’s better to just Google your router’s manufacturer and model to see whether it supports 5GHz or not.
Update Your Wireless Adapter Drivers
If both your computer and your router supports 5GHz WiFi, sometimes an outdated driver for your wireless adapter may be the reason why your computer won’t detect or connect to a 5GHz WiFi network. If this is the reason, then you don’t have to worry because there are numerous driver updating utilities out there that you can use to automatically update your hardware drivers.
Download a driver utility like Driver Easy, Driver Booster, or Driver Talent on your computer and run a scan.
Once the scan is complete, the software will tell you about any outdated drivers for different PC components. Hit the update button and wait for the software to complete updating your hardware drivers.
Once that’s done, reboot your PC and check to see if your wireless adapter’s new driver comes with the 5GHz compatibility or not.
Enable the 802.11n Mode on Your Windows 10 Computer
- Open Device Manageron your computer.
- Now click Network Adaptersto expand it.
- Right-click wireless adapterand open its Properties.
- Open the Advanced tab in the new pop-up window.
- Click on “802.11n” and set it to “Enabled” from the drop-down menu.
- Finally, click OK and reboot your PC to save the changes.
Hopefully, this will fix your wireless connectivity issue. However, if your computer is still unable to connect to the 5GHz network, you can follow the same steps as above and change the Preferred Band to 5.2GHz. Here’s how to do it.
Update Your Windows 10
Sometimes a simple Windows update will fix most of your computer issues. So, if you have disabled automatic Windows updates for Windows 10, then you should enable them and update your Windows.
The latest updates from Microsoft fix bugs/issues, provide security, and also provide better support for different features. If your computer hasn’t been updated in a while, it’s time to download all the latest Windows 10 updates to see if that helps with the connectivity issue.
Final Words
5GHz WiFi not showing up in Windows 10 is a common issue, but the above-mentioned solutions should be more than enough to fix this problem. If you are still unable to fix the issue, maybe your wireless adapter is faulty and it’s time to send the machine in for a repair.
However, we are sure that at the end of this article, you will have easily fixed the issue on your Windows 10 computer. Feel free to comment below and let us know how it worked for you.
If you have other WiFi connection issues, you can refer to the WiFi issue archives for solutions.
Note: This post is submitted by Shyami from techigem. Shyami is a tech blogger, write mostly on apps, software, and Instagram guides.