Laptop Wifi used to recognize & communicate with 5G net, now it can't

I have an HP Pavillion dv6 running Windows 7 professional with an Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter. My router is a Netgear90. I have a record of 5G communications in my history of network communications. Now my computer can not recognize 5G networks. I have recently moved. Previously I was on a Dish satellite network. Now my network is a century Link DSL network. The router is the same. Any suggestions on what might have happened and how to correct the problem?

Welcome to the forum. Is your router 5g?

Not exactly sure how you were connected to the 5Ghz network with a Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 since that network adapter does not have 5 Ghz capability. It is a 2.4 Ghz only network adapter.

Atheros AR9485 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Adapter Specs - CNET

I replaced the network adapter in my Asus laptop with an Intel dual band AC 7260 plus Bluetooth adapter and it is fantastic! Gives me Bluetooth, dual band, and 650 Mbps connection speed at home.

Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 Plus Bluetooth

At the same time while I had it opened up (and my Asus laptop has to come completely apart) I maxed out the RAM to 16 GB and replaced one of the two 1TB hard drives with a 500 GB SSD.

Even though the network adapter might be extremely easy to replace on your laptop (on most it is behind a removable cover on the underside), some laptop manufacturer's have whitelists in the bios and only those specific network adapters on the whitelist in the bios will be recognized and work.

Samuria said:

Welcome to the forum. Is your router 5g?

I've had the Netgear90 router for 2 years and have regularly used the 5G on it from Windows. This usage even shows up in my Windows wifi network usage log. And I access the 5G on my Ipads