# How to: Enforce 5GHz or 2.4GHz usage on a Surface Pro (2)



## coachmark2

I write this as a victory post!







I have spent hours scouring forums regarding powershell and the Windows registry for how to force my Surface Pro 2 to use 5GHz Wi-Fi. Where I live, the 2.4GHz spectrum is complete poo, but my Surface kept roaming over to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. No more! Here's how to fix it:

1. Open Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Class
3. Right click class and select FIND
4. Search for this: 2.4
5. When you find it, you should be in some random Hexadecimal folder. (Mine was called {4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
6. Under that one, you should see a number of folders labelled 0000, 0001, 0002, and so on. Check 0000 for a string called DriverDesc with a value of EXACTLY this: "Marvell AVASTAR 350N Wireless Network Controller". If you don't find it under 0000, move onto 0001. Mine was under 0003, but yours may vary
6*** It is possible that you will happen upon "Marvell AVASTAR Wireless Composite Device". This is NOT the one you want.
7. Find the value called "Band". By default, it has a value of 6.
8. Change the Band value to your preferences (Mine is set on 1, which is enforce 5ghz)
9. Reboot. You should now have your 802.11 preference set!









Reference: Here's what the different values of the Band variable do:

>7: Untested. Here there be dragons
6: Default mode. 802.11a/b/g/n. 2.4GHz and 5GHz
5. 802.11b only. 2.4GHz only
4. 802.11b/g only. 2.4GHz only
*3. 802.11b/g/n only. 2.4GHz only*
2. 802.11a only. 5GHz only
*1. 802.11a/n only. 5GHz only*
0. disabled. No Wi-Fi

To verify that your settings have stuck, click start, type "Powershell" and hit enter. Then, run the following command in Powershell:

Code:



Code:


netsh wlan show driver

Powershell should return something like this. Check the "Radio Types Supported" to see what types of networks Windows is looking for

Code:



Code:


Interface name: Wi-Fi

    Driver                    : Marvell AVASTAR 350N Wireless Network Controller
    Vendor                    : Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.
    Provider                  : Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.
    Date                      : 5/23/2014
    Version                   : 14.69.24054.176
    INF file                  : C:\windows\INF\oem40.inf
    Files                     : 2 total
                                C:\windows\system32\DRIVERS\mwlu97w8x64.sys
                                C:\windows\system32\drivers\vwifibus.sys
    Type                      : Native Wi-Fi Driver
    Radio types supported     : 802.11a 802.11n
    FIPS 140-2 mode supported : Yes
    802.11w Management Frame Protection supported : Yes
    Hosted network supported  : Yes
    Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:
                                Open            None
                                Open            WEP-40bit
                                Open            WEP-104bit
                                Open            WEP
                                WPA-Enterprise  TKIP
                                WPA-Enterprise  CCMP
                                WPA-Personal    TKIP
                                WPA-Personal    CCMP
                                WPA2-Enterprise TKIP
                                WPA2-Enterprise CCMP
                                WPA2-Personal   TKIP
                                WPA2-Personal   CCMP
                                Vendor defined  TKIP
                                Vendor defined  CCMP
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                                WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                                WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
    Authentication and cipher supported in ad-hoc mode:
                                Open            None
                                Open            WEP-40bit
                                Open            WEP-104bit
                                Open            WEP
                                WPA2-Personal   CCMP


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## benjitek

This settings aren't present on my Windows 8.1 SP2 -- using powershell:


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