Alternatives to splitting SSID bands

[Samholli]

Can any please tell how I get around the inability to split the bands 2.4/5ghz? 

I recently moved back to Vodafone and was able to do it previously but now they are saying I can’t. My elderly laptop won’t connect without it being split. Their customer service is slow and very unhelpful. 

I have a dongle that runs 2.4 is there anyway I can remove the sim and connect to router? Or any other way around it? 

I have read a few threads but don’t understand most of it. 

[Cynric]

@Samholli Oh, channel 2, that sinks my idea about the two upper channel numbers. You said that your laptop is "elderly", just how old and which operating system is it running please? 

For comparison I have two Acer laptops from 2008, one runs Windows 10 and the other one has Linux. Both are connecting to 2.4Ghz WiFi, so let's be hopeful.

[Samholli]

Laptop is at least 15 years old, maybe more. I still have windows 8. 

I have seen several other threads on here about other things not being able to connect because bands can’t be split. Given it I had this issue with vodafone previously, splitting the bands solved it and not band splitting has been disabled I’m surprised the company can’t make exceptions to customers who specifically requested it.

[Jayach]

The reason some things don't connect if the bands are not split is usually because they need to configured with an app, and the device doing the configuring also needs to be on the same band, but as it's usually a phone it will connect to the 5GHz out of choice.

None of that applies to a device like a laptop that is 2.4GHz only

But, Windows 8. Why didn't you upgrade to 10 whilst it was still free?

I suspect the reason splitting the bands seemed to work previously was pure coincidence, I'll bet you were trying a lot of things at the time.

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@Samholli wrote:
Given it I had this issue with vodafone previously, splitting the bands solved it and not band splitting has been disabled I’m surprised the company can’t make exceptions to customers who specifically requested it.

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If you really want to try with them split, try contacting Vodafone and asking if they can do it for you, they will certainly fix the channel number for those who request it.

Try via live chat. https://vodafone.uk/4cSq9ty

Edit: If you do manage to get them to do it for you, do let us know if it works.

[Ripshod]

It's been a while, but does Win8 not expose the prefered band in device manager?

[Samholli]

I checked and it seems I only have single bandwidth option. Thankfully my dongle has arrived and is working great. 

Just one question though. The dongle was only £6 is there anyway it can corrupt my computer or ‘see’ any of my passwords and send them somewhere. I have no clue if that is possible. How safe is dongle use? 
many thanks for everyone’s help