Wireless Adapter 802.11b/g/n and 5GHz?

[BertFalasco]

Good evening,

I recently added a 5GHz (aside from the usual 2.4 GHz) band capability at my house and I noticed that my Galaxy Nexus 6 (mobile device) picks it up but my computer doesn't. The wireless adapter in my computer supports 802.11b/g/n and after a little bit of research I am only connecting to the 2.4 band because the adapter isn't a dual band one. OK, understandable, but does that imply only 802.11a adapters are dual band, since that isn't an adapter I have?

Not only am I curious but I am ordering parts to build a new system soon and I'd like to make sure I understand the logistics of this and to ultimately know what I should look for when ordering an adapter card.

Thanks in advance.

 

[BertFalasco]

I'm new, can a mod please move this to the wireless adapter forum, I overlooked that that is a category, sorry.

 

[bill001g]

It is just a matter of reading the specifications on the cards. I would not get to caught up in the 802.11 letters. Yes 802.11a means it runs on 5g and in general that means it is dual band.....BUT there are actual cards that only run 802.11a and do not support the 2.4g band and also do not run the newer 802.11n. These are old technology from years ago that I really don't understand why are still sold.

Pretty much just look for the term dual band in the description.

Because the price is almost the same you will mostly see dual band cards being sold. Even the newer technology 802.11ac cards have come down in price so much that I suspect even the dual band cards not be sold as much. 802.11ac cards are compatible with all older technology.