Laptop Can’t Detect 5G WiFi? – (Try These Fixes!)

It can be frustrating when your laptop can’t detect 5G WiFi. In the hope of a faster connection, you get no Internet instead.

If you’re experiencing this particular error, the good news is that it will only take you up to 20 minutes to resolve it.

If your laptop can’t detect 5G WiFi, check network hardware and make sure it’s capable. Once certain, change your router’s configuration to open up the 5G frequency and get your laptop to connect.

Before we go into the step-by-step guide to help you resolve the issue, let us discuss the reasons behind your problem with the 5Ghz WiFi. 

Top Reasons Why My Laptop Can’t Detect 5G WiFi

If the issue appears after you get a new WiFi router, it may be because your new router doesn’t support 5G WiFi. It is also possible it is set up incorrectly. 

The reasons include:

• WiFi hardware incompatibility
• Outdated WiFi adapter driver 
• Disabled 5G WiFi on the router
• Network congestion 
• Signal interference

These are the most common reasons your laptop cannot detect 5G WiFI.  Now, let’s proceed to the solutions. 

All Solutions to Fix Laptop Can’t Detect 5G WiFi

“I bought a new dual-band router and put in my modem with two bandwidths. But my laptop doesn’t see 5G WiFi.”

If this is your current question, you’re in the right place. Now, don’t panic, as there are many things you can do to resolve the issue.

However, we recommend starting with the simplest methods before you use complex solutions.

Reboot your laptop and router to maintain and improve their performance. 

If rebooting your devices doesn’t work, proceed to the solutions below.  

1.Make Sure Your Laptop Supports 5G WiFi

The most common reason your laptop can’t detect 5G WiFi is it does not have 5GHz bandwidth capability. 

If your device does not support 5G WiFi, there’s no chance it will detect it. 

One of the first things you need to do is to make sure that your laptop supports 5G WiFi. It’s easy to do, allowing you to confirm the feature in as little as 5 minutes.

To check its 5G compatibility, follow the instructions below.

1. Open the Start Menu on your laptop.
2. Go to Command Prompt by pressing the Win key and R at the same time.
3. Type cmd in the run box.
4. On the terminal window, type netsh wlan show drivers.
5. Check if your laptop can connect to 5G WiFi.

Note: If the results list down 802.11n or 802.11a, your device can connect to 5G WiFi.

2. Enable 5G Your Laptop’s WiFi Adapter 

Your WiFi adapter helps you connect your laptop to a network. However, sometimes, you encounter a temporary glitch that stops Windows from recognizing the 5G band.

It can turn off this feature without you knowing, making your laptop unable to detect the 5G WiFi network.

In this case, the solution is to disable, then re-enable the WiFi adapter. Here’s how to do it: 

1. Open your laptop’s Start Menu.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Select Network and Internet.
4. Click on the WiFi option.
5. Toggle the switch Off, then On again.

Note: Give your laptop at least 2 minutes of rest before activating your WiFi adapter again.

3. Update Your Laptop’s WiFi Adapter Drivers

If the above solutions don’t work, you may be dealing with outdated WiFi adapter drivers. You may have updated the network driver a long time ago.

You can download the updates from your laptop’s manufacturer’s website. Search for the model and find the driver that suits your operating system. 

Here are the steps on how to update your laptop’s WiFi adapter Drivers:

1. Go to your laptop’s Device Manager.
2. Select Network Adapter.
3. Right-click on the device, and select the Update driver button.
4. Choose the Search automatically option.
5. Wait for your laptop to search for the latest driver.

Note: Your laptop can take care of everything you need to do especially when it comes to software updates.

4. Change Your Router’s Wireless Mode

We’ve looked at issues from your laptop’s point of view. If none of these solutions fixes the problem, it’s time to consider that your router settings have an issue.

If you can’t detect 5G WiFi on your laptop, it’s likely that your router’s 5G is disabled. 

Bugs and glitches can cause configuration changes on your router. One of these changes can be that your router has its 5G settings switched off.

Whether it’s by accident or a glitch, you’re going to need to turn it on if you want your laptop to connect to it, here’s how to do it:

1. On your web browser, log in to your router’s dashboard.
2. Go to the Wireless or Wireless Network tab on the menu.
3. Select the Advanced tab.
4. Locate Wireless Mode.
5. Turn on Dual Band or the 5 GHz option.

Note: You can activate the 802.11a/an/ac option to activate 5 GHz.

5. Change Your Router’s 5G WiFi Channels

The default settings of routers are usually in auto mode. When the channels change, your laptop cannot detect 5G WiFi.

Another cause of this is when your current network is congested with lots of shared users across different WiFi networks.

You will need to change your router’s 5G channels on your own. It will help with the network congestion allowing your device to see it active again.

Here are the steps to change your router’s 5G WiFi channels:

1. Log into your router via a browser.
2. Go to the Wireless menu.
3. Select Advanced.
4. Choose Channel or Channel Width.
5. Select the channel that’s not used a lot.

Note: The recommended channels are 36, 40, 44, and 48, as these are not default channels for your router.

6. Reset Your Laptop’s Network Settings

If you still can’t fix the issue after applying the above methods, you can reset your laptop’s network settings.

It should allow your laptop to reset its network configurations, including any saved WiFi settings.

It will clear them from your laptop, allowing it to connect to your WiFi network.

Here’s how to reset network settings on your laptop:

1. Click on your laptop’s Start Menu.
2. Select Settings from the menu.
3. Go to Network and Internet.
4. Scroll down and choose Network Reset.
5. Click on Reset Now, then confirm it.

Note: Your laptop will forget network settings like your WiFi password, so be prepared to enter them again.

If none of the above solutions work, you might need to reset your router to factory settings and contact your laptop’s manufacturer.

This will completely erase all your data, so let’s hope it doesn’t get to this.

Bottom Line

These methods can help when your laptop can’t detect 5G WiFi. If your laptop is not compatible with 5 GHz bandwidth, consult with your laptop manufacturer’s help desk and see if anything can be done to remedy it. 

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