NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Nighthawk R7800 - Old wifi card can't see 2.4 Ghz
Hello everyone, I recently had to return a router because one of my laptops was not able to see the Router on the 2.4Ghz network. Network card: A 802.11n Wireless LAN Card from Ralink Technolog...
Hello NetGear TM,
I have ordered the same router again and the problem is still there.
Except this time I played with it a bit more. The UserInterface or the settings of the router are not being displayed/applied properly.
More specifically the 20/40 Mhz cohabitation checkbox appears to be having this issue. Unchecking/Checking the checkbox and applying the settings several times can reproduce and fix the problem. My laptop was able to see the 2.4 Ghz network with both the 20/40 Mhz checked and unchecked. I am guessing the interface doesn't always apply the 20/40 Mhz cohabitation setting when you click apply - although if you refresh the page the checkbox is enabled.
To anyone else experiencing this problem: for the 20/40 Mhz checkbox - try to uncheck it - apply settings, check it apply settings several times until your wifi card will see the network.
Hi devlishro,
I think this is not an issue with the router but the limitation of your older devices. Your devices will only work when the router is forced to operate to only G mode which is at 54Mbps.
JamesGL
Community Team
I re-ordered this router from amazon.de this time, waiting for it to get here within a week or so.
Would be nice to have some feedback of what can be done so that older wifi cards can be supported while also supporting newer devices with higher speed.
Also once I have the router back we can try playing with settings if you wish :)
Kind regards,
Gabriel Kesler.
This is not a Netgear or Netgear router problem. Your compatibility issue has to do with the 2.4GHz wireless protocol, not the router (Netgear or other brands). In order to get faster than 54Mbps routers have made changes/extensions to the 802.11b/n protocols that some older devices simply do not understand. So you have a choice of compatibility with older protocols or faster speeds.
One solution is to reserve your 2.4GHz protocol at slow speeds for compatibility with older devices and use 5GHz for faster/modern speeds. If you can't use 5GHz, e.g., because you need greater range (5GHz doesn't have as long a range as 2.4GHz) or because your devices aren't 5GHz, then setup multiple 2.4GHz access points where one is slow/54Mbps but compatible with older devices and another uses high-speed 2.4Ghz. I use an older router serving this purpose for an old Wifi scale that only talks 802.11b.
For example:
How come the AC2400 from ASUS was being detected by the WiFi card? It said to have supported 600mbps and also it was detecteble by older devices.
I got this router to get rid of other routers and have just one to cover the entire place.
If the R7800's 2.4Ghz upgraded band loses support for older devices at higher speeds, forcing the router to be configured work with only 54mbps than the router can be compared to some of the already legacy devices.
It is not advertised that the router would lose support for older devices at higher speeds.
