Question Windows 10 Can't connect to 5Ghz network

[Tangane]

Hello,

tried to find the same issue in the ocean that is this forum but can't find something that fixes my problem. Bear with me here.
I'm using a N900 Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter to connect my desktop PC to the WiFi.
It connects fine to the 2.4Ghz network, but when I try to connect it to the 5Ghz network, it goes like this:

• Checking network requirement (for a few seconds)
• Can't connect to this network

I don't know what happened a few weeks ago, apart from the big update on Windows 10, but I can't say for sure it happened at the same time.
My WiFi Adapter CAN pick up 5Ghz signal, I tried to set it up in a way it can only pick up this kind of signal, and even this didn't help the situation.
My iPhone can connect to the 5Ghz network, same goes for my laptop (which is also on Windows 10).

Happy to give you any information you might need!
Thanks in advance, everyone.

I'm on Windows 10 Home, Version 10.0.17134 Build 17134.

 

[Barty1884]

Which "N900 Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter" ?
Assuming this Netgear offering? https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-adapters/WNDA4100.aspx

Did you reinstall the appropriate driver? https://www.netgear.com/support/product/WNDA4100.aspx#Software Version 1.2.0.14 (Supports Win10)

Sounds like the Windows update max done something to the driver. Worth a removal/reinstall.

 

[Tangane]

Hi, thanks for your reply.
It's actually this model: https://www.trendnet.com/products/product-detail?prod=220_TEW-684UB
I've updated the driver today and it didn't do anything unfortunately...

 

[kanewolf]

What country are you in? There are different allowable 5Ghz channels in different countries -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#5_GHz_(802.11a/h/j/n/ac/ax)
Pick a low channel like 44 and make sure the bandwidth of your 5Ghz is set to 40Mhz. That old adapter can't handle wider channel bandwidth.

 

[Tangane]

I live in Ireland.
The thing is that, only a few months ago, the device would pick up the channel. So that's why I know it can. Is it possible that when my Internet provider "updated/reset" my router, it made my device incompatible with the new 5Ghz channel?
If that's the case, then I'll be happy to buy a new device and fix all of my issues.

 

[kanewolf]

Just log into your router and manually verify/configure the router based on my suggestions above. If the router has the channel set to "auto" then it could have chosen a channel that is incompatible. Always use manual channel selection.

 

[Tangane]

I went on my router settings to find this:

So despite being in auto mode, everything seems to be as you wanted it to be, no?
If not, do I still need to make some changes?

Here are the lists of option I have for each drop-down menu:
Wireless mode:
802.11a/n/ac mixed
802.11n/ac mixed
802.11ac mixed

Channel:
36 / 40 / 44 / 48 / 52 / 56 / 60 / 64 / 100 / 104 / 108 / 112 / 116 / 120 / 124 / 128

Channel width:
20 MHz
20/40 MHz
20/40/80 MHz


Cheers,

 

[kanewolf]

For that router, you want to pick 802.11n/ac -- Channel 44 -- channel width 20/40 -- That is the most compatible settings. If that doesn't work then the adapter has a problem.

 

[Tangane]

Thank you. I've made the changes you've suggested.
Weirdly now there is only my 2.4GHz network appearing in my "available networks" tab, even my neighbor's disappeared...

 

[Tangane]

Hi, do you see any other workaround that would be helpful in that situation?
Is the only option left for me is to buy a new model of adaptater and hope it will work?

Thank you.

 

[kanewolf]

Hi, do you see any other workaround that would be helpful in that situation?
Is the only option left for me is to buy a new model of adaptater and hope it will work?

Thank you.

I don't have any ideas. That adapter is pretty bad. It may be time to replace it with a better unit. If you are a gamer, you would be better off switching to powerline network adapters and not using WIFI at all.

 

[Tangane]

Perfect. Thank you for your answer.
Powerling network is not an option I thought about! Last time I used this was maybe 15 years ago at my parents and it was pretty terrible, but they also had a terrible internet connection (and still do to this day)! I'll give it a look tonight.
And thanks for the time you took to try fixing my issue.
I'll come back in a week or so if the problem is the same.
Cheers!

 

[kanewolf]

If you are looking at powerline network hardware, the words to look for are "AV2" and "MIMO" Adapters that have both of those will have the highest throughput and best consistency.

 

[B797]

I have the same problem, and I believe it's definitely a Windows problem. I have a stick with a Realtek 8812BU chip in it. It started after updating Windows a few days ago on my PC, it won't find 5GHz networks on its own anymore.
If I force the stick to use 802.11ac it simply "crashes". If I force a different kind, like 802.11a/n, I can connect to 5GHz but the internet speed is awful, even though the transmission rate is perfectly fine at over 500mbit.

I tested the stick on my Laptop, which still runs on an older Windows 10 Version, and it works perfectly fine out of the box. It finds both 2.4GHz and 5GHz and it works at full speed. I tried all kinds of different driver versions, but nothing works. I have no idea what Microsoft changed that messed up the 5GHz networks, it's a mystery.