Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11AC 5GHz Band not available

[ssimlai]

I am unable to access 5 GHz band. The specification states RTL8821CE 802.11AC. Most places I read, I found that this is a dual band card. So I can't figure out why. I have reset the machine and updated drivers, but no change.

Any help would be nice.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Since you did not mention what driver version you tried, this is the latest one that HP has for the RTL8821CE wifi adapter.

2024.0.10.224     08/12/2021

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp135501-136000/sp135885.exe 

If that doesn't get the 5.0 GHz wifi band to work, then there may be a hardware issue with the card.

[ssimlai]

HI
Thanks a lot for the updated driver. The one I installed was a bit older. Unfortunately though, this didn't work either.

I happened to speak to someone from HP service I knew earlier, and he said this card is not a dual band card though it says 802.11 ac. He mentioned that all laptops with this card have this issue. I didn't know this! He advised replacing with a proper dual band card.

Anyone has done that?

Meanwhile here's a screenshot from Device Manager. I don't know how it would help but hoped someone would be able to identify the issue.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

The RTL8821CE wifi adapter is definitely a dual band AC card, which has the following specs...

433 MBPS max throughput on the 5.0 GHz wifi band with an AC router.

150 MBPS max throughput on the 5.0 GHz wifi band with a dual band N router

72 MBPS max throughput on the 2.4 GHz wifi band.

I have two HP 255 G7 notebooks that have the same model card as yours, and they both work just fine on the 5.0 GHz wifi band.

Did you make any changes to the advanced settings for the card in the device manager?

The card should work fine with the default settings.

Anyway, check the advanced settings and make sure they are set to the right configuration.

Realtek 8821CE Wireless LAN/Max Speed? | Tech Support Guy (techguy.org)

Here is an old discussion that shows the card works on both wifi bands...

Solved: Realtek RTL8821CE strikes again - HP Support Community - 7150594

[ssimlai]

Thanks Paul yet again. I am really stuck with this issue now. I didn't make any changes that would matter I suppose, but to be certain that I didn't do anything wrong, here they are:

1. Preferred Bank: 5G first

2. Wireless mode: 802.11 a/b/g

I literally am feeling frustrated. Probably the card needs replacement. I purchased this PC from HP in Jakarta 3 years ago and they said this is single band, though I agree what you said, this is a dual band card. Probably they didn't have it or found it too cumbersome to replace, i don't know.

I would like to replace this card, but not unless someone has already done it.

[ssimlai]

Hi Paul

I read those two articles earlier. In fact there is another one very close to my situation:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Wireless-and-Networking/Realtek-RTL8821CE-Adapter-not-showing...

And here is my cmd screenshot. Since I am not a comms guy, i cant decipher it but it seems like all bands are supported. Still why the issue?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

The card definitely supports dual band wifi and since it isn't working, it must be defective.

The problem is, you can only replace that card with the same model because your notebook only has one antenna wire and the other dual band wifi cards require two antenna wires in order to work properly.

The RTL8821CE card is designed to work with only one antenna wire.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

One other thing that might be an issue, and that is if you have your wireless router set to hide your SSID.

If you do, change that setting to broadcast your wifi SSID, so that it is visible.

Assuming you have your WPA2 security enabled, broadcasting the SSID should not be a concern.