Unable to detect 5Ghz band in my Sony Vaio PC

[Rajesh47]

My PC is unable to detect 5Ghz band where rest of the devices at my home are detecting both the bands.
I have recently bought D-Link dual band router and installed at home. Router is working absolutely fine because I could see
my other laptop and Ipad are able to detect both the bands. So that says there no problem with the router configuration. Also the router which
I have bought is recently released, so there are no new updates are released yet.


As per the installation guide, 802.11a supports 5Ghz and IEEE 802 11b/g/n supports 2.4 Ghz.


My PC details :
Model : Sony SVF14A190X (an year old laptop)
Operating System : Windows 8.1 Pro, 64 Bit
Network Adaptor drivers: BCM43142 Wireless Network Adapter


Router Details: D-Link DIR-850L VER A.1 wireless AC1200 Dual Band Gigabit Cloud Router.


The network adaptor which my laptop supports IEEE 802 11b/g/n..i.e.2.4 Ghz. I tried installing the Network Adapter drivers in compatibility mode, but that doesn't
help me at all to fix the issue. Also I even had an assistance from Sony Customer support and spent few hours, but unfortunately they couldn't fixed it.


When I cheked in Command prompt, it says following thing :
Radio Types Supported : 802.11n 802.11g 802.11b.


How should I upgarde network drivers to : 802.11n 802.11a 802.11g 802.11b


Please help me to fix this issue.

 

[strollin]

I think that the wifi adapter in your laptop does NOT support 5ghz. The adapter supports 802.11a which is a very old standard but it does NOT support 802.11ac which is the newest standard that supports 5ghz.

If you really wish to connect to your new router on the 5Ghz band then you could get an external USB dongle that would work.

 

[popeye]

As strollin says, that adapter is not dual-band, it is 2.4ghz only. Has to be 802.11ac for it to have 5ghz capability.

 

[broe23]

Open up a Command window and run (without quotes) "netsh wlan show all" If 5ghz is not listed, it is only 2.4ghz.

 

[broe23]

I think that the wifi adapter in your laptop does NOT support 5ghz. The adapter supports 802.11a which is a very old standard but it does NOT support 802.11ac which is the newest standard that supports 5ghz.

If you really wish to connect to your new router on the 5Ghz band then you could get an external USB dongle that would work.

Wireless-a is what they are using for stating that the adapter is Wireless-ac capable. It has nothing to do with the older 'a' standard.

 

[Rajesh47]

Hi, Thanks for the reply.

I really wish to connect my new router on 5Ghz band without having an external USB dongle. Do we have any approach to update network drivers that make me to connect 5Ghz band ? Please suggest.

Note: I could see both 2.4 Ghz, 5Ghz wifi profiles in command prompt because I was added it manually through "Manually connect to wireless network". But as I said, i'm unable to connect 5Ghz from command prompt and its not even displaying in Wifi connections list.

 

[popeye]

Hi, Thanks for the reply.

I really wish to connect my new router on 5Ghz band without having an external USB dongle. Do we have any approach to update network drivers that make me to connect 5Ghz band ? Please suggest.

Note: I could see both 2.4 Ghz, 5Ghz wifi profiles in command prompt because I was added it manually through "Manually connect to wireless network". But as I said, i'm unable to connect 5Ghz from command prompt and its not even displaying in Wifi connections list.

If the adapter in the laptop is not 5ghz capable there is no way to make it work with drivers. You either have to buy a internal 5ghz capable adapter or an external USB dongle.

 

[strollin]

Wireless-a is what they are using for stating that the adapter is Wireless-ac capable. It has nothing to do with the older 'a' standard.

I really don't think that's right. If it supported ac they would state that and not use an ambiguous abbreviation.

 

[Rajesh47]

Thanks. Can you please let me know where can I buy "internal 5ghz capable adapter" and do we have any steps to install it on PC. And one last question, which one is the better approach either to buy an "Internal 5ghz capable adapter" or "external USB dongle".

 

[broe23]

Wireless-a is what they are using for stating that the adapter is Wireless-ac capable. It has nothing to do with the older 'a' standard.

I really don't think that's right. If it supported ac they would state that and not use an ambiguous abbreviation.

Blame that on the industry. I have a wireless-ac capable adapter in my laptop, so does my son. Along with my son uses a Netgear Wireless-ac capable USB adapter. Because he has problems connecting to access points at school.

They will all state the following when you pull up in a command window: a,b,g,n. Blame it on outdated programming standards for OS's & drivers, why it shows up that way when you do a netsh wlan show all.

AC is a 5ghz protocol, not a 2.4ghz. In order for the OP to really benefit if they wish to use Wireless-AC. Either they will have to change out the mini card to something like the Intel Dual-Band 7260 Wireless-ac PCIe mini-card. Or go with something like the Netgear 6000 series Wireless-AC USB adapters. WiFi Adapters | Networking | Home | NETGEAR

 

[broe23]

Thanks. Can you please let me know where can I buy "internal 5ghz capable adapter" and do we have any steps to install it on PC. And one last question, which one is the better approach either to buy an "Internal 5ghz capable adapter" or "external USB dongle".

CDW.com sells the Intel 7260 dual band for around $30. Problem is that some bios's are locked from allowing non-OEM installed mini-cards to be used in them. That is why people are opting to go with the USB units.

The Netgear 6200 & 6210 allow for fine tuning, with an antenna that can be adjusted, along with the adapter can be turned upwards 90 degrees. If you want something compact. Go with the A6100 mini adapter.