We have an Xfinity wireless router, and we have two networks. (Why? I don’t know.) They are HOME-####-2.4 and HOME-####-5. Yesterday I suddenly wasn’t connected to the Internet. I tried unplugging and re-plugging the router, and restarting my MacBook. It didn’t seem to help at first, but it eventually came back. This morning I had the same problem. Rather than restarting everything, I chose the ‘-5’ network. It’s working fine.
Mrs. L.A. is complaining she can’t get connected on her PC to ‘-2.4’, so I suggested she connect to ‘-5’. She doesn’t have ‘-5’ on her network options. My MacBook automatically looks for networks. Her PC apparently doesn’t, and I was unable to find a way to make it find ‘-5’. I tried going through the troubleshooting wizard, and it said something to the effect that the IP address wasn’t configured. But nothing has changed on her computer.
- Is this a problem with her PC? If so, how can we fix it?
- Is this an Xfinity issue, that I need to call them about?
- How do we make her PC find the HOME-####-5 network?
How old is her PC ? It may not be 5GHz compatible.
My old laptop wasn’t, so I added an Asus adaptor.
But lemme tell you … when I upgraded my old laptop with a new one … the difference in internet speeds was unbelievable.
She says she bought her HP in 2010. FWIW, my MacBook Pro that finally died a couple of years ago was made in 2010, and it was able to find and connect to HOME-####-5.
My old laptop was from 2012, and it wasn’t 5GHz compatible.
Google the make and model of her computer and find the specs. It’ll likely clear this one up for ya’.
2.4 and 5.0 are two different wifi frequencies, with properties that are too long to go into here. In short though, 2.4 penetrates better but is slower, while 5.0 is the reverse.
Most newer devices work on both, but most older devices will only be able to see the 2.4 band. So likely her PC just isn’t compatible. Your xfininity router may be having a failure on the 2.4 band, but it may be that the settings for the router had a blurp and need to be reset. If you still have the documentation for the router, you could do a factory reset and reconfigure the WPA, names and passwords the same as they were previously, and that could help you.
I called Xfinity, and they sent a signal to the router. The issue is resolved.
Thanks for the information about non-compatibility. Mrs. L.A. mentioned it might be time for a new computer, as her screen ‘washes out’ after it’s been on for a while. It’s fine when she lets it rest and restarts it, but she’s thinking it’s about time.
And especially, thanks for the tip about the 2.4 GHz module being the issue. I’m sure that helped the tech at Xfinity.