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Laptops with 5 GHZ WIFI Adapter Capabilities


DJW

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Are there any Laptops that come with 5 GHZ WIFI Adapters in them? The smart TV in my office can receive the 5 GHZ signal from my dual band router and works great and never drops the signal. However my HP laptop which runs on the 2.4 GHZ side drops the signal all the time. Either that or the Qual Com wifi adapter in my laptop is a piece of #$%^?

 

Dennis

USA Master Sergeant Ret.

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There are several newer laptops that come with dual band wifi cards. you also have the option of disabling that current wifi card and using one of the after market addon dual band adapters, usually usb.

Although there is a lot less interference from other devices on the 5 GHZ band, there are still lots of growing pains and issues with 5 GHZ, depending on your hardware, driver and OS.

Jim

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Its not that I would advise against it; just be aware going in that it may take some trial & error. both with the hardware and the driver software. depending on how old this laptop is, I would investigate which dual band adapters the mfg of that unit is using if they offer dual band as an option. some compatible adapters work right off the bat, but some have required multiple driver changes, and windows networking setup changes, depending on which OS you're using.

Jim

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The new laptops often have AC in them....that will support the 5 GHz.

 

BUT, Windows 10 may or may not have issues with those chips. I have at least one computer that is essentially useless because of this issue. It is a driver issue with the wifi with no fix in sight. The vendor (HP) will not take back the custom built computer. I bought it for my sister and remote debugging has gotten it nowhere. Restores do not help. HP Support said "Good luck". It is a known driver issue and nothing seems to help. So I'll pick up this computer on my way by her house after the Tampa RV show and try to get it to work. If I do it will be my spare. I'll buy here another one, without an AC chip in it.

 

BTW, my new computer shows similar wifi deficits....and it also has AC in it. But not as bad as her's, which now does BSOD every 10 minutes or so.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
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Thanks Jack

 

Jack was the computer you ordered for your sister a Windows 10 system right out of the box or an upgrade from a Win 8/8.1 machine? Will the new Win 10 Surface Pro 3 or 4 have 5 GHZ capabilities?

 

Dennis

USA Master Sergeant Ret.

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Thanks Jack

 

Jack was the computer you ordered for your sister a Windows 10 system right out of the box or an upgrade from a Win 8/8.1 machine? Will the new Win 10 Surface Pro 3 or 4 have 5 GHZ capabilities?

 

Dennis

I ordered a brand new, custom built, HP. Native W10. The issue is with certain hardware/driver combinations as far as I can tell. Reloading the "same" drivers did not solve the issue. To say I am ticked off is putting it mildly. "Had", yet again by HP....I should have learned my lesson with their printers. :(

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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Jack, try ebay for a new wifi card, one that works. Just match the card/laptop connection type and number of antennas and you'll have a fast, easy swap. I had a Broadcom wifi card that was giving me fits and I popped in an Intel card in five minutes and the issues went away. Can't beat it as a solution and with so many options under $10 it sure beats beating your head over a flaky wifi card.

 

dual antenna http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Laptop-Intel-WiFi-Link-5100-512AN-MMW-Wireless-Wifi-Network-Card-P-N-43Y6493-/321961057914?hash=item4af65fde7a:g:5OoAAOxyc2pTZgIK

 

triple antenna http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Wireless-WiFi-Mini-4965AGN-Laptop-WLAN-Card-/252228131842?hash=item3ab9f7dc02:g:l5kAAOSwZ1lWgD9E

First rule of computer consulting:

Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day.

Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime.

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Thanks, Stan. Once I get this computer in my permanent possession I'll try it with a USB adapter I have and then buy a new card if that works....

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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My new Dell laptop came with a Broadcom 2.4 GHz wireless adapter. It worked fine with Windows, but not so good with Linux. I found a suitable replacement Intel wireless card from Amazon that has both 2.4 and 5 GHz. Even with shipping, it was less than $10.

 

I really prefer the 5 GHz band due to less congestion and greater bandwidth. The major disadvantage of 5 GHz is less range, but that is not an issue inside of an RV. :D

 

Safe Travels...

Roger, K4RS and Toni, K1TS
Amateur Radio Operators - Motorcycle Riders (Harley Davidson Tri-Glide Ultra)

Fulltime from 2003-2016 - Now longtime RVers

On the road, living the dream...
Ford F-250 Super Duty 7.3 liter diesel and Forest River XLR Toyhauler. 

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I can't say what really might be going on with that situation. I do know that I have a netgear A6100 dual band USB adapter that I hated on 8.1 and linux. On Win 10, it has been fine. Imagine my surprise when, during some tests on the WFR line, I played with the 5ghz band on my Jetpack Mifi6620L and found that 5ghz band had double the throughput of 2.4.

 

This is as much as 4x the through put through the WFR guys so I now directly feed my PC via the USB A6100 @ 5ghz directly to the Jetpack and tether the WFR via USB to it for the rest of my network in house.

 

Nothing else really needs the performance my PC does so I get the snappiness of the 5ghz on it and everything else stays connected appropriately.

 

My Smartphones also connect via 5ghz to the Jetpack and all those glitchiness things running through the WFRs seem to be quelled. Now, it all just works.

 

I had a similar problem with this Netgear USB on 2.4 trying to use it on the PC on 8.1. Never could get the drivers to work right even if I used the Netgear software setup stuff. From the first use of Win 10, it just worked good. It never works on Linux, though.

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My ASUS Hybrid T200, and my Venue 11 Pro tablets, as well as my new Surface Pro 3 tablet all have dual band as do my Dell 2720 main system and the new Lenovo All in one replacing my wife's HP that I added a dual band card to. No problem with any of the dual band cards. But I am not using the data WiFi travelers use, nor a slow DSL. Glad I have the warranty as my touch on my 2720 failed and I hope it is a setting that they can walk me through. Calling again tomorrow to get the top techs on day shift. Backing all up again in case it involves another swap out for a new system. That will be warranty replacement 4 in two years of ownership. PITA really were it not for their good warranty tech support. None of our systems are hard wired, all WiFi dual band as is the new Smart 4k TV system. I have the new AC 1900 Linksys waiting to go into service once all the tweaking of the new house and furnishings are done and settled in. It takes us months to settle into new quarters. Always has. Two Fire TV systems now as we got the new one for the hardware 4k Streaming capability. The old one is on this 2720, and the Roku3 is being sold. But all of them are dual band too and nary an issue. Oh sure the occasional once a month or two freeze and reboot of Netflix or Amazon and all is fine.

RV/Derek
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Retired AF 1971-1998


When you see a worthy man, endeavor to emulate him. When you see an unworthy man, look inside yourself. - Confucius

 

“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” ... Voltaire

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