How to figure out what network card I have?

-1

I am starting a new school in a few weeks and their requirements are having your own PC that supports "5GHz (802.11a)"

How can I check if my PC supports that?

Jeggy

Posted 2014-08-05T13:11:46.150

Reputation: 105

Answers

Which OS are you running? If you are running Windows 7 or up, open up Command Prompt and enter

netsh wlan show drivers

And look for Radio Types supported.

DragoonHP

Posted 2014-08-05T13:11:46.150

Reputation: 658

Try this: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5989990/want-to-get-the-list-all-the-available-interfaces-on-the-system

– DragoonHP – 2014-08-05T13:41:27.463

I got this: "Radio types supported : 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n" as Chris said 'n' is compatible with 'a', is mine so supported? – Jeggy – 2014-08-05T14:55:00.747

Yes. 802.11n can operate in 5GHz frequency, so you should be all right. – DragoonHP – 2014-08-05T15:12:26.377

alright thanks :D and just a note if others want to run this command on windows 8 you need to run this command first "cd C:\Windows\System32" – Jeggy – 2014-08-05T16:40:13.777

On Windows use the Device Manager you can find them in the System properties in the Network Adapter section, find your wireless device. The Advanced tab could have the supporting type information. The Details tab will have lots of model and manufacture and ID information.

On OSX got to Apple-Icon=>this MAC=>more Information there should be an icon too

In general all modern devices should support 5GHz if you bought your laptop after 2005 you dont need to fear

chris

Posted 2014-08-05T13:11:46.150

Reputation: 71

In case of Windows, follow these steps:

Open Device Management - press Start Menu (or Win+R), type devmgmt.msc, hit enter.
Go to Network Adapters and find there your WiFi adapter:
Now you can see your adapter 802.11 version. If it's not written there, you can find it in properties by double-clicking on it. Or just google your adapter name (in my case - AR7705).

NOTE: 802.11 version can be different from "a" but can still be backward compatible to "a".

For example, 802.11n is backward compatible with 802.11a, so 802.11n will work for you too.
But 802.11b/g are not compatible with "a", so in this case you must find a new adapter.

Jet

Posted 2014-08-05T13:11:46.150

Reputation: 2 232

(P.S. sorry for answering the same "Device management". I was writing this post first, but I didn't notice new answers because of network problems. However it contains more info and is illustrated) – Jet – 2014-08-05T13:43:08.800

it looks like this for me: http://khp.randompoop.net/uploads/Network%20Adapters.PNG does this mean mine is compatible?

– Jeggy – 2014-08-05T14:48:40.860

@Jeggy, the link in your comment is broken – Jet – 2014-09-15T20:49:14.650

there, fixed. link working again now – Jeggy – 2014-09-16T09:26:03.713

@jeggy after 1 minute googling I found this, and there's written "802.11b/g/n". So In your case 3rd point worked.

– Jet – 2014-09-21T12:20:14.630