I upgraded my home Wi‑Fi, and nearly everything connected without any issues, including several phones, game consoles, and another PC. One older Windows PC can still see nearby wireless networks, but my new network does not appear in its available Wi‑Fi list at all. Restarting the computer, resetting network settings, reinstalling the network software, forgetting the old network, and manually adding the new network to the saved networks list have not helped. The PC uses an Intel Core i5-6600 processor, and the new service is from Telus. What could prevent this computer from detecting the network, and what should I check?
1 Answer
The processor model doesn’t identify the wireless adapter—the important detail is the make and model of the Wi‑Fi card or USB adapter, plus its supported Wi‑Fi standards and bands. A newer router may be using settings the older adapter cannot detect, such as 5 GHz channels it doesn’t support, 6 GHz, WPA3-only security, or band steering. Check the adapter model in Device Manager, then try enabling a separate 2.4 GHz network with WPA2 security and a fixed, commonly supported channel. If the PC sees that network, the issue is compatibility with the router’s current settings.
I only found the i5-6600 processor information in Windows so far. I’ll check Device Manager for the actual wireless adapter model.