That must be annoying. Here is another thing you could do if tweaking the AP isn't an option. I don't have a 5Ghz wireless adapter at hand, but from what I see on my 2.4Ghz one, you should be able to set 'Wireless Mode' in the adapter settings to 802.11ac (or 802.11ax if you're that fancy :) ) to force 5Ghz. I recall having an option to simply select the preferred band on some laptop adapters, too, so you can use it, if it's available, instead.

I do that on Windows, but there must be something similar on Mac/Unix, too. I think these options are basically driver-related so the OS choice ultimately shouldn't matter.

edit: ah, realized I misread the post. Thought the "I picks" was "it picks" :)