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This article will show you how to check type of Wi-Fi standards on computer and Mac. Wi-Fi, or Wireless Fidelity, is the ability of a computer to connect to the internet without a wire. It’s been around for a while, but now we want to be able to browse and download faster from farther away. This is why the Wi-Fi Alliance, an international group whose goal is to promote wireless technologies, put out Wi-Fi 6, which is much better than its predecessor in many ways.
Most of the time, someone would want to know which Wi-Fi PHY standard is being used to optimize speed and coverage range. This is because each wireless standard is different, with different ranges and different speeds for WLAN connections. Wi-Fi 6, also called 802.11ax by IEEE standards, is the sixth version of Wi-Fi technology.
It is the newest technology that is making its way into our computers and phones, making our online experiences better. It lets you send data almost twice as fast as Wi-Fi 5. To connect to a Wi-Fi network, a computer needs to have a wireless network interface driver, also called a wireless adapter. The connection lets the computer pick up Wi-Fi signals from a router, so it can send and receive information over the Internet.
How to check type of Wi-Fi standards on computer
Device Manager
- On your computer, click on the Windows® logo and enter “Device Manager” on the search tab.
- Select Device Manager on the search results.
- On the Device Manager window, click Network adapter.
- Look for the name of your wireless adapter.
Command Prompt
- On your computer, click on the Windows logo and enter “Command Prompt” on the search tab.
- Select Command Prompt from the search results.
- On the Command Prompt window, enter “netsh wlan show drivers” and then press [Enter].
- Look for the Radio types supported section. This will indicate what WiFi standards it supports.
How to check type of Wi-Fi standards on Mac
- Click the Apple icon located in the top-left portion of the screen and select About this Mac.
- Click System Report on the menu displayed.
- On the Left-hand side column, scroll down options until you see Network, then select the Wi-Fi option underneath it. Look for the “Supported PHY Modes: ” selection.
- IF… the computer supports 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless Standards,
- THEN… the computer has the 5 GHz Network Band Capability.
FAQs
I was surprised to find out that the 5ghz access points have a different MAC address, at least for the “mesh” access points. The 2.4ghz MAC address is the same as the wired MAC address, but the 5ghz MAC address is different (and not in the MAC address vendor database).
Go to the Network pane in System Preferences on macOS, click on Wi-Fi, then the Advanced button, and drag the 5GHz network to the top of the list. Tap Settings, then Wi-Fi on an iOS device. Tap the ‘i’ next to the 2.4GHz network and slide the ‘Auto-Join’ button to turn it off.
It would have to do with how the Mac’s connecting settings are set up. You might want to check these settings to make sure that your Mac lists the 5 GHz network as the most important one.