[SOLVED] Help me figure out why I can't connect to 5GHz wifi

[brunte]

I have one 2.4 GHz and one 5 GHz Wifi network and one of my computers running Mint 18.2 can only connect to the 2.4 GHz one. I can connect to the 5 GHz network if I boot my computer in Windows instead, so there shouldn't be any hardware or range issues. I can't quite figure out how to troubleshoot this, and I would really like to use the other network for several reasons.

Output ofinxi -Fxz:

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System:    Host: allram Kernel: 4.8.0-53-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.4.6 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3) Distro: Linux Mint 18.2 Sonya
Machine:   Mobo: MSI model: Z77MA-S01 (MS-7756) v: 1.0
           Bios: American Megatrends v: V2.0 date: 02/09/2012
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3-3220 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 13199
           clock speeds: max: 3300 MHz 1: 1878 MHz 2: 1708 MHz 3: 1874 MHz 4: 1880 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GK107 [GeForce GTX 650] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: N/A GLX Version: N/A Direct Rendering: N/A
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 7 Series/C210 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 NVIDIA GK107 HDMI Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.8.0-53-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter driver: wl bus-ID: 04:00.0
           IF: wlp4s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 2500.5GB (29.6% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: Samsung_SSD_750 size: 250.1GB
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: Samsung_SSD_750 size: 250.1GB
           ID-3: /dev/sdc model: TOSHIBA_DT01ACA2 size: 2000.4GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 47G used: 8.9G (20%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2
           ID-2: /home size: 168G used: 70G (44%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb3
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 16.38GB used: 2.71GB (17%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sdb1
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C gpu: 0.0:45C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 269 Uptime: 43 days Memory: 5904.7/7924.4MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0 Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 

Output of iwlist chan:

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lo        no frequency information.

enp3s0    no frequency information.

wlp4s0    32 channels in total; available frequencies :
          Channel 01 : 2.412 GHz
          Channel 02 : 2.417 GHz
          Channel 03 : 2.422 GHz
          Channel 04 : 2.427 GHz
          Channel 05 : 2.432 GHz
          Channel 06 : 2.437 GHz
          Channel 07 : 2.442 GHz
          Channel 08 : 2.447 GHz
          Channel 09 : 2.452 GHz
          Channel 10 : 2.457 GHz
          Channel 11 : 2.462 GHz
          Channel 12 : 2.467 GHz
          Channel 13 : 2.472 GHz
          Channel 14 : 2.484 GHz
          Channel 36 : 5.18 GHz
          Channel 38 : 5.19 GHz
          Channel 40 : 5.2 GHz
          Channel 42 : 5.21 GHz
          Channel 44 : 5.22 GHz
          Channel 46 : 5.23 GHz
          Channel 48 : 5.24 GHz
          Channel 52 : 5.26 GHz
          Channel 54 : 5.27 GHz
          Channel 56 : 5.28 GHz
          Channel 58 : 5.29 GHz
          Channel 60 : 5.3 GHz
          Channel 62 : 5.31 GHz
          Channel 64 : 5.32 GHz
          Channel 100 : 5.5 GHz
          Channel 102 : 5.51 GHz
          Channel 104 : 5.52 GHz
          Channel 106 : 5.53 GHz
          Current Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)

Any ideas?

[kc1di]

you may have to tell your router which channel you want to use. The card will usually pick the strongest signal channel and use that one.
I have a netgear router and had to go in to it's control panel and choose channel 42 think it was to get it to pick up 5GHZ.
other wise it always gave me 2.4 on channel 6. I'm not sure what router you have or if you can access it's controls.

[brunte]

That was actually it! The channel was set to "auto" in the router config, and the channel autopicked was 136. It appears as if my adapter would only index 32 channels in total (depending on the driver, I assume), so the highest number channel that it would listen to was 106.

[kc1di]

Glad you got it sorted out, enjoy