dual band on G3100 - only connects at 2.4GHz

[AS20202]

we just had a G3100 dual band Verizon router installed.

out phones and tablets connect with 5GHz

my Lenovo laptop with Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 wireless adapter only connects at 2.4GHz. Tried various setting on both the router and the laptop with no success.  When I set the laptop to connect with 5GHz my router no longer shows up on the list of available wifi connections.

does any one was able to use the Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 wireless adapter with the G3100 router at 5GHz speed?

here is one of the laptop setting that should connect 5GHz

SSID: liberty
Protocol: 802.11n
Security type: WPA2-Personal
Network band: 2.4 GHz
Network channel: 1
Link-local IPv6 address: fe80::5c15:2775:1387:210b%9
IPv4 address: 192.168.1.161
IPv4 DNS servers: 192.168.1.1
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Description: Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
Driver version: 19.51.11.2
Physical address (MAC): D6-56-F8-4E-29-2B

[Edg1 · Accepted solution]

Try turning off SON. I don’t have a G3100 but this is how you get there in the G1100...

Go to Wireless Settings/Advanced Security Settings/ Other Advanced Wireless Options/Self-Organizing Network Enabled and set to Off

You will also have to change the 5GHz SSID by placing 5G at the end to distinguish both bands. 

Another thing to check in Windows Device Manager is your Network Adapter Properties in the Advanced tab and make sure it is set to 802.11ac mode.

[AS20202]

thanks

you instruction was very helpful

all working as expected

[smith6612]

The Wi-Fi Adapter will prefer to use 2.4Ghz if it is significantly stronger than the 5Ghz signal in a given area. On Intel cards, the best way to make them prefer 5Ghz is to go into the Driver settings in the Device Manager, and look for a value called "Preferred Band." Set this to "Prefer 5.2Ghz" and the card should bias towards 5Ghz far more often. 2.4Ghz will still be available for use (not disabled) if the 2.4Ghz network is the only one available. Also, if you have an option for 802.11d, make sure it is enabled, since this allows the Wi-Fi card to use 5Ghz DFS channels when the router is using them (and set to the Auto Channel selection).

SON can impact stability (because band steering as well as access point steering is not a perfect science) as well as your ability to just hard lock devices to the 5Ghz network. As pointed out above, if you disable SON, you can rename the 5Ghz network so it's less of a mystery as to whether you can see it, and whether you're able to join it every single time. Even if you go through with disabling SON, I suggest setting the driver settings above for when the laptop is in public places. Makes a big difference.

[Brianfenst9]

I was upgrading from  a G1100 to s G3109. I couldn’t make the new G3100 work with SON = off and different SSID  names for 2.4G and 5G.  Every time I did that, all access(wifi and LAN) got extremely slow. I spent hours on the phone with Verizon support.  I finally gave up and kept the SSID the same.  I had to change the settings on many of my devices. I was ready to give up and call Comcast. The G3100 isn’t good. 

[Cang_Household]

Did you get a free upgrade to G3100? If not, then it is kind of not cost-effective.

Why does LAN get extremely slow? You have a loop connection somewhere? Is G3100 the only network device you have? 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz should have different SSIDs. This is a router issue, not from the end of Verizon, so no need to consider switching ISP yet.

Did you modify other wireless settings by accident?

[SteelerNation]

This solved the problem for me on my desktop.

Preferred channel (on the desktop computer, under Adapter Settings under Device Manager)...

It was previously on "No Preference" now, I'm getting speeds of 900!

[jizaref1]

I copied the MAC address of my device that was having a difficult 2.4 connection and pasted it into my restricted access section of the 2.4 network. I still have SON on but since that device is blocked it can only connect at 5 and is much more stable now.