How to enable Wireless 5GHz on Acer W500

Question

I have Acer W500 on which I have loaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview.
 
I just upgraded my home router to wireless N (Netgear WNDR3700), and have set up both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks with different SSID's.
 
My wife's laptop sees both networks and she is able to connect to the 5GHz network without problems.
 
But on my Acer W500 I see only the 2.4Ghz network. Is there something special I should be doing to enable the 5GHz network?
 

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David Wilkinson | Visual C++ MVP

Answer 1

I guess your problem is not related to the Win8DP; it's a hardware issue. Is the hardware <Wi-Fi certified http://www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-certified%E2%84%A2-products> for IEEE 802.11n? Maybe, the setting of a switch will do.

The Acer W500 specifications at
 
http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/tablets/2011/Acer/ICONIATab/ICONIATabW500/ICONIATabW500sp2.shtml
 
suggest that the device should support the 5GHz band (see footnote 8).
 
I was wondering if anybody here had gotten this working. I did not try it when I had Windows 7 on the device, because I did not have a wireless N router then.
 

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David Wilkinson | Visual C++ MVP

Answer 2

Following your link, what I understand is that there's a model that does not support 802.11n: 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ (available only in Russia, Pakistan, Ukraine).

Yes, but I certainly do not have this model.
 
I think the link I provided is confusing, because the body of the document says b/g/n while footnote 8 says a/b/g/n, which suggests dual band wireless N (wireless a runs at 5GHz).
 
Interstingly, despite the claim of wifi certification, I do not find the W500 at
 
http://certifications.wi-fi.org/search_products.php
 
I find the A500, which is the Android version, with only b/g/n 2.4GHz, which is the same as the Acer documentation in this case.
 

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David Wilkinson | Visual C++ MVP

Answer 3

I have Acer W500 on which I have loaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview.
 
I just upgraded my home router to wireless N (Netgear WNDR3700), and have set up both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks with different SSID's.
 
My wife's laptop sees both networks and she is able to connect to the 5GHz network without problems.
 
But on my Acer W500 I see only the 2.4Ghz network. Is there something special I should be doing to enable the 5GHz network?

OK, I have heard from Acer support that W500 only supports 2.4GHz wireless b/g/n. No 5GHz channel.
 

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David Wilkinson | Visual C++ MVP