Windows 10: Can I make my network adapter prefer the 5 GHz band?

I have an ancient Asus Z71A laptop (Pentium M, 915GM chipset). I have Windows 10 pro x86 running just fine on it. Yes, the old laptop is slow, but it works!

I disabled the built-in wifi and added a dual band AE3000 USB wifi adapter. For various reasons, I have my router/AP setup using a single SSID for both 2.4 and 5 GHz radios.

Is there any way to make the adapter prefer the 5GHz band? I know I can separate the SSIDs and then manually choose the 5 GHz band, but I'd like to keep the single SSID and make the adapter automatically choose the 5 GHz band when available.

I have not found a way to make this happen yet and am hopeful that I've simply overlooked a setting somewhere.

Thanks!

:)

 

Can't connect Wii to Mobile hotspot

I'm trying to use my computer as a hotspot for my Nintendo Wii. I tried using the Windows 10
Mobile hotspot feature in Settings. It gave me a notification saying:

You're sharing your connection over the 5 GHz network band. The network might not appear on devices that can only connect over the 2.4 GHz band.

Nintendo Wii only supports a 2.4 GHz band, on standards 802.11 b/g. As expected, the hotspot did not appear on the Wii after searching for access points.

I even tried creating a hosted network through Command Prompt, changing my network adapter to prefer the 2.4 GHz band. I have an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 internal wireless adapter. Even with no preference though, which is automatically
5 GHz, the Wii was able to detect my ad hoc network. However, upon trying to connect to it, I received the Wii error code of 51330 both with no preference and by preferring 2.4 GHz.

Oddly enough, Mobile hotspot still gave me the "5GHz network band" notification even when I had changed my network adapter preference to 2.4 GHz. Also, I do not have the
Advanced tab in Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter to change the network band like in my Intel device.

Is it possible to change the band of my Mobile hotspot shared connection to 2.4 GHz? If not, how else might I be able to connect my Wii to the Internet through my computer?

 

No 5.0 Wifi on Windows 10 after update

Hi Ilpedrino,

Since your tablets previously connect to 5GHz Wi-Fi network, then there's a possibility that it may have defaulted to 2.4 GHz network that's why it can only see networks running on 2.4 GHz. To ensure that your Broadcom 802.11abgn Wireless SDIP Adapter is
set to detect both networks, please follow these steps:

• Right-click the Windows key and select Device Manager.
• Expand the Network adapters section.
• Right-click your Broadcom 802.11abgn Wireless SDIP Adapter and click
  Properties.
• Click the Advanced tab.
• Under Property, look for any of the following and make sure to set the appropriate value.

Band Preference - set the value to 5 GHz / 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz or Prefer 802.11n.

802.11n Mode - set the value to Enabled.

Wireless Mode - 802.11a/b/g/n

6. Click OK.

7. Close the Device Manager and try to check if you can now search and connect to a 5GHz network.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards.

 

I'm sure you already checked your adapter options under the General> Advanced tab; however, some wireless adapters do offer a "prefer 5G" option (mine does) and that might work if available. The other thought would be to change your adapter preference to an option that is only available in 5G (like 802.11ac only). However, your router must be set to permit 802.11ac as well. Other than those two, I would rather set up a unique SSID for each band. Good luck with your search for a solution.

 

Yes. Under the AE3000 adapter properties/advanced tab, there is a property named Prefer 5g and when I highlight it, its value is enabled. Is that in itself sufficient to have the adapter prefer 5g?

i just updated the adapter driver this morning and I think the prefer 5g option was not there prior to the update. So maybe that's all I need. The preference has to occur on the client side as I understand it.

Edit: I've experimented with both common and unique SSIDs for the radios in my router and AP. I've had mixed results using a common SSID but otoh, a common SSID is much easier to deal with for non techies in the family. That is, as long as the clients aren't sticky. We have a mix of Windows laptops, iPads, iPhones, and my lone Android phone so I have a mix of n and AC devices.

There have been interesting discussions over at smallnetworkbuilders on this subject and it's not as black and white as I would like it to be.

 

You can download wifiinfoview from nirsoft to check which frequency your laptop adapter is actually using:

WifiInfoView - WiFi Scanner for Windows 10/7/8/Vista

 

which driver do u use, because my ae3000 is also using both 2.4 and 5 ghz, even if the 5ghz is very stable and powerfull, it sometimes connect to 2.4 ghz (which is unstable because many networks is near )

 

Thanks. I'll take a look at that utility.

I picked up 5.1.25.0 this morning for Windows 10 here:
http://www.linksys.com/us/support-ar...icleNum=148336