Get the wireless adapter frequency-band mode in Windows 7

[petmal]

Hello.

I have a dual-band 802.11n router (Linksys E4200 (V2)) operating in both frequency bands with the same SSID. My Windows 7 laptop has a dual-band wireless adapter (Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 ANG). Is there a way to find out which frequency band is the one currently used by the client? Also, is there a way to set the preffered band?

I essentially want to keep the 2.4GHz band in the mixed-mode so that the legacy 802.11g devices can connect while allocating the 5.0GHz band for 802.11n devices.

Thanks.

 

[overdrive31]

Give the router an unique SSID for each band.

 

[petmal]

I know that this would be a possibility, but I wanted to keep things less confusing (and automatic) for non-experts. I also wanted to avoid having to reset all connected devices... I was told that ...E4200 would try to use 5.0GHz if available...

Nevertheless, I would like to verify that. Surely, there must be a tool or something for displaying advanced status details of a given network adapter...

 

[overdrive31]

Windows 7(XP SP3 and Vista SP2 as well) only shows a single SSID(the strongest signal) when there are many with the same name. Changing the SSID is only way using Windows Wireless Zero Config.

Intel Proset lists both radios under the same SSID profile, but the profile has a setting under advanced properties to choose which radio to use by frequency, or set mandatory access point by MAC address.

 

[petmal]

Solved

The adapter should automatically select the best connection. One can check the active band by its Channel ID or radio's MAC address given by the follofing cmd commands.

netsh
wlan
show all

 

[TonyH]

I know that this would be a possibility, but I wanted to keep things less confusing (and automatic) for non-experts. I also wanted to avoid having to reset all connected devices... I was told that ...E4200 would try to use 5.0GHz if available...

Nevertheless, I would like to verify that. Surely, there must be a tool or something for displaying advanced status details of a given network adapter...

By MAC address of unique user name?

 

[overdrive31]

Explain to me how checking what band is active allows the choosing of one or the other radio for use, like you wanted, or are you happy with automatic-no hope of wireless N. Auto will most likely connect to 2.4GHz and stay connected only to it, without user interaction.

The intel client driver settings do allow you to specify what frequency will be used and if you want wireless N features on or off, but this and your CLI tool solution is hardly any easier than just changing an simple SSID.

 

[RogerSC]

One way to do this is to use inSSIDer, it shows which connection you're using. I prefer this to using some DOS prompt commands, and it also gives you much more global information if you're looking for it. Like you can see which channels your neighbors are using so that you can pick optimal ones for your use.

Personally, if I were going to sort things into wireless-g on 2.4GHz. and wireless-n on 5GHz., I'd use two different SSID's, one for 2.4 and one for 5. But that's just me.

 

[overdrive31]

Yes, inSSIDer does bold the current active in-use by the client radio, much easier solution than the CLI approach.

I was so adamant that the auto roaming wouldn't work between the two radios, and my initial testing did confirm that it would not work. However, my setup was flawed in one way, I had an existing guest SSID non-preferred profile on the 2.4GHz radio. This guest SSID profile somehow forced Windows Wireless Zero Config to auto connect only to the 2.4GHz side of the matching SSID between the two radios.

Identical SSID on simultaneous dual band and roaming requires each radio to have identical pass-phrases as well. There must not be any guest SSID profile configurations present on the client side. Windows Wireless Zero Config does in fact auto connect to the 5GHz by default under these conditions and will roam onto the 2.4GHz when signal fades enough to switch over, but it will not switch back automatically. To get back to the 5GHz will require a reset of the wireless, a logoff/login, or reboot if in range to acquire it's signal again. Intel's Wireless Config, if used, also defaults to 5GHz radio and requires same procedures needed to get back after roaming to 2.4GHz.