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Windows 10 support "ends" in a few weeks, trying to rig my old HP notebook up to Mint or something just in case it takes down my desktop

Hit a classic problem of the wi-fi adapter not seeing most available networks. Troubleshooting suggested checking to make sure it can handle 5Ghz networks. With some searching I see it has a "dual band" adapter, and set it to prefer 5GHz band... and it still doesn't see my wifi.

I can't mess with the router too much tonight, house is busy with netflix slop.

My question, would a Linux distro be able to take advantage of the 5Ghz band? Assuming Windows is just being unhelpful.

I got it hooked up to ethernet now seeing if updates help. I haven't used this laptop since 2020.

I just want to find a way to make sure the hardware works before I switch the OS.

Windows 10 support "ends" in a few weeks, trying to rig my old HP notebook up to Mint or something just in case it takes down my desktop Hit a classic problem of the wi-fi adapter not seeing most available networks. Troubleshooting suggested checking to make sure it can handle 5Ghz networks. With some searching I see it has a "dual band" adapter, and set it to prefer 5GHz band... and it still doesn't see my wifi. I can't mess with the router too much tonight, house is busy with netflix slop. My question, would a Linux distro be able to take advantage of the 5Ghz band? Assuming Windows is just being unhelpful. I got it hooked up to ethernet now seeing if updates help. I haven't used this laptop since 2020. I just want to find a way to make sure the hardware works before I switch the OS.

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[–] • 1 pt

I can't mess with the router too much tonight, house is busy with netflix slop.

Sounds like the perfect time to mess with the router...

My question, would a Linux distro be able to take advantage of the 5Ghz band?

It should, are you testing it with a live USB or have you actually installed Mint? I've seen not everything work with the live USB before, usually the WiFi wasn't working. I recommend installing Mint and seeing if that's the difference if you haven't and there's nothing of value on the laptop (you've backed it up, right?)

This tech support is offered as-is.

[–] • 0 pt

LiveUSB is a great idea, thanks! Grandkid is binge watching Grey's Anatomy tonight, it could be worse. Hopefully I have more time tomorrow to work, after work.

[–] • 1 pt

In fairness, my experience with a system about that age and Linux is it works right out of the box.