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Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Nighthawk USB 3.0 adapter (AC 1900) will Not connect to WiFi, Mode N but Will Wifi5G, Mode AC .

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Nighthawk USB 3.0 adapter (AC 1900) will Not connect to WiFi, Mode N but Will Wifi5G, Mode AC .

12/29/22  Win 11.  Nighthawk USB Adapter 3.0.  At a hotel my Nighthawk Adapter (attached to my desktop) will see the site WiFi5G with Wireless Mode of AC 5 Ghz & no WPS support plus it will see the site of WiFi with wireless Mode N 2.4 Ghz & no WPS support.  (The 5G is on the WiFi name but I assume it is not really 5G & just refers to the 5 Ghz designation.)  The Nighthawk will connect to the 5G (Mode AC) 5 GHZ site but Not the plain WiFi (Mode N) 2.4 Ghz site.  (My internal antenna for my new Dell 8950 desktop can see and connect to both the 5G Mode AC site and the WiFi Mode N site but it does not always happen so I use the Nighthawk for consistent internet access.)  On the signal strength meter both sites show 3 bars.

 

I am located in an area with a signal that is sometimes not strong so I had added the Nighthawk adapter to my previous Dell 8700 desktop and when I got the 8950 desktop I continued to use the Nighthawk adapter.

 

My Apple iPad will see the WiFi (Mode N) 2.4 Ghz site but not the 5G (Mode AC) 5 Ghz site.   The iPad will connect to the WiFi (Mode N) site but not every time.  Since it does not see the WiFi5G site it cannot connect to it.

 

Why does it matter?  I download my newspaper to my iPad at night and since the iPad is not always able to connect to the internet I want to share my computer/ Nighthawk Adapter signal with my iPad but my understanding is that they both have to be connected to the same network (both WiFi5G Mode AC 5 Ghz or both WiFi Mode N 2.4 Ghz).  Since the iPad will only see & connect to WiFi Mode N, I need to connect my desktop also to WiFi Mode N but it will not connect, although it sees the site.  (The Nighthawk just comes back from the WiFi Mode N site manual connection attempt and says it failed to join--after multiple attempts.)

 

Any suggestions as to why the Nighthawk Adapter will not connect to the WiFi Mode N 2.4 Ghz but 2 other devices will--is the adapter not compatible with WiFi Mode N 2.4 Ghz?  Any other suggestions?  (The situation is what it is--I have no control over the router.)

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