Weird one. My iPhone sees and connects to my 5 GHz network just fine, but my MacBook doesn’t even show that network in the list. It still sees the 2.4 GHz one, just not the 5 GHz SSID. Router is working, phone is happy, nothing else seems obviously broken. What’s the usual cause here? Bad MacBook Wi-Fi card? Router setting? Some weird Apple thing?
Most likely, the router simply selected a DFS channel that the Mac doesn’t see, even though the iPhone connects to it without a problem. Another possible issue is a region conflict. The Mac determines its location through location services and may ignore the network if the channel settings in the router don’t comply with local regulations. The easiest way is to manually set channel 36 or 44 in the router settings. This usually solves the issue.
@Dilemma_Fixer So this doesn’t necessarily mean that the 5GHz radio on the Mac no longer works?
Try checking NetSpot in inspector mode. It will immediately show you which specific channel the 5 GHz band is on and what its bandwidth settings are. If the router is in the wrong place, the Mac might simply ignore it.
Nope, not at all. If the iPhone can see it and the Mac can’t, I’d first look at the channel the router is broadcasting on before assuming the MacBook hardware is bad.
Check your privacy settings to see if geolocation is enabled for “Networks & Wireless Interfaces”. It sounds like a workaround, but Apple’s regional firmware relies on this: without geolocation, your Mac might be confused and not understand which frequencies it’s allowed to use in your location.