Old Laptop, newer Router

Hollywood · Nov 28, 2023

Hello,

I have an older Asus G751JT Laptop computer that I haven't used in awhile, so I am trying to get it ready to give away. I have 3 live Asus AX routers for different purposes.

When I did a fresh install of Windows 11 23H2, during setup it seen all 3 SSIDs from my 3 routers and wanted me to use a Microsoft account to logon and complete the install. Although I created a local account, it was online.

After the install is complete, the laptop does not see any of my routers SSIDs. It sees neighbor's SSIDs on 3 sides of my house, but not mine.

On a hunch I looked at the settings in my router. I seen a setting to disable AX and now the laptop sees the SSID and internet works.

I hate to give this to a friend and it is not able to see their router. Since Windows seen the SSID during the Windows install (without changing any router settings), I am thinking it should be able to after installation too.

Any thoughts on settings after the install vs the 23G2 image?

Thanks

Berton · Nov 28, 2023

One issue I ran into last week at my daughter's was my cellphone and others could connect to the Wireless Router provided by her ISP but my Notebook from 2013 couldn't even though it was running Win11 Pro. In further checking the Wireless adapter on the Notebook is an 802.11n but it was only 2G while the Router was set to only 5G, Next time I go there I'll use a USB Dongle providing 802.11ac and both 2G and 5G.

Hollywood · Nov 28, 2023

Berton said:
One issue I ran into last week at my daughter's was my cellphone and others could connect to the Wireless Router provided by her ISP but my Notebook from 2013 couldn't even though it was running Win11 Pro. In further checking the Wireless adapter on the Notebook is an 802.11n but it was only 2G while the Router was set to only 5G, Next time I go there I'll use a USB Dongle providing 802.11ac and both 2G and 5G.

I get that some computers are too old to connect to new protocols, but it connected during Windows install, but not after install. I suspect your daughter might have a newer router too.

I could and did change the settings in my router for now, but the person I am giving the computer to is not tech savvy and also might not have access to the router settings where she lives.

BamaInArk · Nov 28, 2023

The new AX wifi is backwards compatible or should be with AC and G and perhaps even N. There might be settings on the router to set this?

Hollywood · Nov 28, 2023

BamaInArk said:
The new AX wifi is backwards compatible or should be with AC and G and perhaps even N. There might be settings on the router to set this?

yes, but why did the pc see the router during installation with the Windows Installation disk? I'm baffled.

thanks for replying!

Berton · Nov 28, 2023

BamaInArk said:
The new AX wifi is backwards compatible or should be with AC and G and perhaps even N. There might be settings on the router to set this?

With mine it was the 2G versus 5G, my 802.11n adapter won't do 5G. As for 802.11 it's a/b/g/n/ac/ax and newer is usually backward compatible with older and not all adapters will show all those types [letters].

Hollywood · Nov 28, 2023

Berton said:
With mine it was the 2G versus 5G, my 802.11n adapter won't do 5G. As for 802.11 it's a/b/g/n/ac/ax and newer is usually backward compatible with older.

I don't understand a lot of this, but my router broadcasts the SSID as both 2.4g and a 5g version. Neither show after installation.
Thanks!

BamaInArk · Nov 28, 2023

And just an FYI it's probably better to install Win11 using the bypass to allow a local login and not have to use a MS account.

Hollywood · Nov 28, 2023

BamaInArk said:
And just an FYI it's probably better to install Win11 using the bypass to allow a local login and not have to use a MS account.

YES. It was actually a second try to see why it was happening. I just was rushing through it (connecting to the internet), but it did show my SSID, so it was a happy mistake to find that out.

Berton · Nov 29, 2023

BamaInArk said:
And just an FYI it's probably better to install Win11 using the bypass to allow a local login and not have to use a MS account.

It's getting harder to avoid the creation of a Microsoft Account but I just let it do it then once finished I create a New/second User with a slightly different name from the first, make it a Local Account with Admin rights and no password [unless desired], reboot into that new account [or Sign out/log off right-click of Start] then get into the new User and when it finishes setup remove the original account if not wanted.

MisterEd · Nov 29, 2023

According to information I have seen online the Asus G751JT laptop supports 802.11ac. I can't see why it wouldn't work with any router that supports the 5GHz band.

Berton said:
One issue I ran into last week at my daughter's was my cellphone and others could connect to the Wireless Router provided by her ISP but my Notebook from 2013 couldn't even though it was running Win11 Pro. In further checking the Wireless adapter on the Notebook is an 802.11n but it was only 2G while the Router was set to only 5G, Next time I go there I'll use a USB Dongle providing 802.11ac and both 2G and 5G.

Why is the router set to 5GHz only. That seems kind of limiting because there are still a lot of 2.4GHz devices out there. For example, my HP All-In-One Printer and some of my family's phones are 2.4GHz.

My WiFi 6E router has following default bands and modes:
2.4GHz: 802.11 g/n/ax WPA3-Personal Transition
5.0GHz: 802.11 a/n/ac/ax WPA3-Personal Transition
6.0Ghz: 802.11 ax WPA3-Personal Only

I have an old Dell laptop from 2010 that supports 802.11 b/g/n. It can only see the SSID for 2.4GHz.
It connects to my router with 2.4GHz: 802.11n with WPA2-Personal

I have an old Toshiba laptop from 2006 that supports 802.11a/b/g. It can see both the SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
It couldn't connect to my WiFi 6E router.

I suspected it couldn't support WPA3 so I made the following change

2.4GHz: 802.11 g/n/ax WPA2-PSK (AES)
5.0GHz: 802.11 a/n/ac/ax WPA2-PSK (AES)
6.0Ghz: 802.11 ax WPA3-Personal Only

The laptop was then able to connect to 2.4GHz: 802.11g WPA2-Personal or 5.0GHz: 802.11g WPA2-Personal.

I wanted to keep the 5GHz band with WPA3 so made the following change.
2.4GHz: 802.11 g/n/ax WPA2-PSK (AES)
5.0GHz: 802.11 a/n/ac/ax WPA3-Personal Transition
6.0Ghz: 802.11 ax WPA3-Personal Only

That means I connect to the old Toshiba laptop with 2.4GHz only which was an OK compromise.

Note the WPA3-Personal Transition mode should be able to handle some older devices that supported WPA2. However, in my case only the Dell worked with that mode. The Toshiba laptop required the actual WPA2 mode to be set.

Hollywood · Nov 29, 2023

MisterEd said:
According to information I have seen online the Asus G751JT laptop supports 802.11ac. I can't see why it wouldn't work with any router that supports the 5GHz band.

Why is the router set to 5GHz only. That seems kind of limiting because there are still a lot of 2.4GHz devices out there. For example, my HP All-In-One Printer and some of my family's phones are 2.4GHz.

My WiFi 6E router has following default bands and modes:
2.4GHz: 802.11 g/n/ax WPA3-Personal Transition
5.0GHz: 802.11 a/n/ac/ax WPA3-Personal Transition
6.0Ghz: 802.11 ax WPA3-Personal Only

I have an old Dell laptop from 2010 that supports 802.11 b/g/n. It can only see the SSID for 2.4GHz.
It connects to my router with 2.4GHz: 802.11n with WPA2-Personal

I have an old Toshiba laptop from 2006 that supports 802.11a/b/g. It can see both the SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
It couldn't connect to my WiFi 6E router.

I suspected it couldn't support WPA3 so I made the following change

2.4GHz: 802.11 g/n/ax WPA2-PSK (AES)
5.0GHz: 802.11 a/n/ac/ax WPA2-PSK (AES)
6.0Ghz: 802.11 ax WPA3-Personal Only

The laptop was then able to connect to 2.4GHz: 802.11g WPA2-Personal or 5.0GHz: 802.11g WPA2-Personal.

I wanted to keep the 5GHz band with WPA3 so made the following change.
2.4GHz: 802.11 g/n/ax WPA2-PSK (AES)
5.0GHz: 802.11 a/n/ac/ax WPA3-Personal Transition
6.0Ghz: 802.11 ax WPA3-Personal Only

That means I connect to the old Toshiba laptop with 2.4GHz only which was an OK compromise.

Note the WPA3-Personal Transition mode should be able to handle some older devices that supported WPA2. However, in my case only the Dell worked with that mode. The Toshiba laptop required the actual WPA2 mode to be set.

Your quote was from another users reply, but your Wifi security angle is good idea to check here. It's the middle of the night, but I changed one of the routers settings to WPA2-PSK (AES)(was WPA3-PSK (AES)), rebooted the router, and reset the switch that I originally changed for AX. The computer did not see the router.

Keep in mind I am half asleep, but my original thought was why did the setup Windows install program see the router(s) without any changes to the routers(s), but not the final install? I want to give this away computer to a non tech savvy person. If it is too old, it is what it is, but since the install program sees the router, I am thinking there is a setting on the computer to use the wifi like in the install mode.

That was great help, thanks!

Berton · Nov 29, 2023

MisterEd said:
Why is the router set to 5GHz only. That seems kind of limiting because there are still a lot of 2.4GHz devices out there.

I don't know why her ISP set it up that way but she mostly uses a SmartPhone and Streaming TV, no computer in the house. I'd never heard of the brand before, it's a Calix Gigaspire Blast.

Porthos · Nov 29, 2023

Regardless of the WIFI issue, I would not have put Win 11 on an unsupported computer to give away.
That is just passing the update challenges to someone else.

Berton · Nov 29, 2023

Porthos said:
Regardless of the WIFI issue, I would not have put Win 11 on an unsupported computer to give away.
That is just passing the update challenges to someone else.

I won't either. I did it on 2 older computers just to see what happens but I did it as an Upgrade from within Win10, not as a clean install that most likely is more involved than simply replacing one file. Only issue I've seen so far is a complaint in the Windows Security about not having a TPM.