It is weird and confusing when the 5GHz WiFi is missing from the list of WiFi connections. As we all know, 5GHz provides a higher net data rate and everyone would love to use it nowadays. If you’ve found that 5GHz WiFi is not showing up on your computer, follow this troubleshooting guide to sort it out.

  1. Check if your computer and your router support 5GHz
  2. Update your WiFi driver
  3. Enable 802.11n/ac/ax On Your WiFi Adapter
  4. Set 5GHz as the preferred band in Device Manager

Before we start troubleshooting, we recommend you restart your computer and your router to flush the buffer. Then, proceed with the tips below.

1. Check if your computer and your router support 5GHz

If you only see the 2.4GHz WiFi on your computer but 5GHz is missing, you should first make sure that both your computer and your router are compatible with 5GHz bandwidth. (If you’re sure you have used this 5GHz band before but it just suddenly disappears, please skip to the next fix.) Although it’s quite common that most wifi devices support 5GHz nowadays, we’re not ruling out any possibility just in case.

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R together to invoke the Run prompt. Then, type cmd and press Shift, Ctrl, and Enter together to open the Command prompt as an administrator.
  2. Paste the following command line in the Command prompt and press Enter:
    netsh WLAN show drivers

  3. Once you see the WLAN Driver information, please check the supported Radio types in the results. And based on the supported network modes, you can determine whether your computer supports 5GHz bandwidth. See the following:
    (1) If it displays no more than 802.11g 802.11n and/or 802.11b, then your computer only supports 2.4GHz.
    (2) If 802.11a, 802.11ac, and/or 802.11ax is contained in the Radio types, then it means your computer supports 5GHz.
    (3) If you see both (1) and (2) contain in the string of bands, then your computer supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

Simply put, if your computer has no support for 5GHz, you could only upgrade your WiFi adapter. But if it’s compatible with 5GHz, you should check if your wifi router supports 5GHz as well.

To do so, find your router’s manufacturer name and the model number (which you can see under the router device), then visit the manufacturer’s website and search for information about the compatibility of your router model. Either way, you can search for it on google. If it is compatible with 5GHz, move on to the next tip.

2. Update your WiFi driver

Now that both your computer and your wifi router support 5GHz bandwidth but the 5GHz WiFi doesn’t show up, you need to check that your WiFi driver is updated since an up-to-date wifi driver always ensures the best network connections and fewer bugs.

To update your WiFi driver, here’s what you can do (please note that the following screenshots are taken on Windows 11, but the instructions work on Windows 10 as well):

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows key and X at the same time, select Device Manager.
  2. Double-click to expand the category Network adapters. Then right-click your WiFi driver and click Update driver (the name of the device can be different on your computer).
  3. Then click Search automatically for updated driver software.
  4. Wait for Windows to find the latest driver available for you.
  5. When the driver update is done, restart your computer for the change to take effect.
  6. Then check and see if the problem is fixed.

If Windows says that it’s already found the latest driver for you, so no newer drivers are found, then you should consider updating your WiFi driver in a different way with the help of Driver Techie.

Its ever-growing driver database allows you to always have access to the latest device drivers that you need. More importantly, Driver Techie simplifies the driver update process, so all it takes is just 3 clicks (for Pro users), and all your drivers are updated.

To use Driver Techie to find you the latest drivers:

  1. Download and install Driver Techie, then launch it.
  2. Click Scan Now.
  3. After the scan, select all the drivers you need to update and click Update All. Then all your drivers will be updated automatically without you having to do anything else.

Please note that Update All is available for Pro subscribers only, otherwise, you can only manually update the driver one at a time. To see how to manually update the drivers one by one, please check this post.

If you’re a Pro user of Driver Techie, and need our technical support to help with the 5GHz WiFi not showing up problem, please feel free to contact <support@drivertechie.com>.

3. Enable 802.11n/ac/ax on your WiFi adapter

If updating the WiFi driver still doesn’t bring back the 5GHz bandwidth, you can check if the 802.11n network mode is disabled. (It can also be 802.11n/ac/ax.) If this is the case, open Device Manager and find your WiFi adapter, then enable it.

To do so:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and X together and select Device Manager.
  2. Double-click to expand the category of Network adapters, locate your WiFi adapter, and then double-click to enter its Properties page.
  3. Switch to the Advanced tab, select 802.11n mode, and change the value to Enabled. (If you see 802.11n/ac/ax mode in the properties list, then change the value to 802.11n, 802.11ac, or 802.11ax.)

Now, check if the 5GHz is showing up in the list of WiFi connections. If not, try the next solution.

4. Set 5GHz as the preferred band in Device Manager

Still no 5GHz WiFi? Try changing the preferred band to 5GHz in Device Manager. Note that you should first go through the 3 Tips above, as it wouldn’t make any difference if the 5GHz network mode is disabled or your WiFi driver is outdated.

To set the preferred band:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and X together and select Device Manager.
  2. Double-click to expand the category of Network adapters, locate your WiFi adapter, and then double-click to enter its Properties page.
  3. Switch to the Advanced tab, select the Preferred Band option, and then select “Prefer 5.2 GHz band” from the drop-down Value list.

Hopefully, this would be the final solution and your 5GHz WiFi should be back. Moreover, we recommend always keeping your drivers updated with the help of Driver Techie, albeit Windows may tell you that your drivers are up-to-date, which is usually not. If you have any other questions, please let us know in the comment area below.