You may have bought a new router but your laptop can’t connect to the 5G network. Or your laptop has been moved to a new place in your house and suddenly you have found that it can’t access a 5G connection anymore like before.
In that situation, you may have a dilemma ‘ why can’t my laptop connect to 5G? Yes, it is a common concern of many 5G users. Simply the answer is perhaps your router does not support a 5G connection and at the same time 5G may not function properly if a network driver is outdated or damaged.
In fact, 5G net can stop functioning under several situations. This problem may occur after changing wifi router or hardware in laptops that are connected to the 5G network. Or you may also face this issue if you don’t switch your network adapter back to 2.4 GHz after a system update.
Your Laptop Can’t Connect To 5G: Reasons And Solution
There are so many different probable reasons for this problem to occur.
This article will explore those reasons as well as some effective techniques to get rid of this issue.
Once you can identify the reason for the problem, it will be much easier to find the solution.
These are the reasons why your laptop may not be able to connect to a 5G network:
1. Incompatible hardware:
Some older laptops or low-end models may not have the hardware necessary to connect to a 5G network. Older laptops may only have a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapter, which are not compatible with 5G networks. Check your laptop’s specifications to see if it supports 5GHz Wi-Fi.
2. Adapter issue:
Sometimes it may happen that your Wi-Fi adapter can’t support 5GHz. Even if your laptop supports 5GHz Wi-Fi, your Wi-Fi adapter may not. Check the specifications of your Wi-Fi adapter to see if it supports 5GHz.
2. Obsoleted drivers:
You must have an up-to-date driver to avoid this problem.
If your laptop supports 5GHz Wi-Fi, but you’re still having trouble connecting, then your Wi-Fi driver may be out of date.
Thus if your laptop’s Wi-Fi drivers are outdated or missing, it becomes unable to connect to a 5G network. So, try updating your Wi-Fi driver through your laptop manufacturer’s website.
3. Interference:
5G networks operate at a higher frequency than 2.4GHz networks, which means they are more susceptible to interference from walls and other objects. If you are too far away from the router or if there are too many objects blocking the signal, your laptop may not be able to connect.
4. Network compatibility:
Some 5G networks may not be compatible with all devices. Check with your internet service provider to ensure that your laptop is compatible with their 5G network.
Even if your laptop supports 5GHz Wi-Fi, your router may not. Check your router’s specifications along with other network connections to see if it supports 5GHz Wi-Fi.
5. Software issues:
Your laptop’s operating system or security software may be blocking the connection to the 5G network. Try disabling your firewall or antivirus software temporarily to see if that resolves the issue.
6. Router configuration:
This problem can also appear if your laptop is set too far from the router. 5GHz Wi-Fi has a shorter range than 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, so if your laptop is too far from the router, it may not be able to connect to the 5GHz network.
This is why router needs to be configured to allow your laptop to connect to the 5G network. Check the router’s settings and ensure that the 5G network is enabled and broadcasting.
7. Network congestion:
If there are too many devices connected to the 5G network, it may become congested and unable to support additional connections. Since 5GHz Wi-Fi has a shorter range than 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, if your laptop is too far from the router, it may not be able to connect to the 5GHz network.
So, you should try connecting to the network during off-peak hours or reducing the distance and number of devices connected to the network.
8. Use of different channels:
Your router can be set to use a different channel than your laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter. Try changing the channel on your router to see whether that helps your laptop connect to the 5GHz network.
So, these are the vital reasons that are largely responsible for which 5G connection is not showing up in your laptop.
Hence, by avoiding these causes, one can get rid of this connectivity problem.
Verdict
To conclude, users can resolve 5G connectivity issues by checking the laptop’s specifications, moving laptops closer to the router, updating the network drivers, disabling any antivirus or firewall software, and simply restarting the laptop and router. That will eventually enable a smooth networking experience.