What channel for wifi

More technically inclined home admins run network analyzer software to test a local area for existing wireless signals and identify a safe channel based on the results.

The WiFi Analyzer app for Android is a good example of such an application. It plots the results of signal sweeps on graphs and recommends appropriate channel settings at the push of a button. Less technical people may test each wireless channel individually and choose one that seems to work best. Often, more than one channel works well. Because the effects of signal interference vary over time, the best channel one day may turn out later not to be a good choice.

Periodically monitor your environment to see if conditions have changed such that a Wi-Fi channel update makes sense. There are 11 channels on the 2. Popular 5 GHz channels include 36, 40, 44, and 48; each channel is separated by 5 MHz. To change channels on a home wireless router, log in to the router's configuration screens and look for a setting called Channel or Wireless Channel.

Most router screens provide a drop-down list of supported channel numbers. Other devices on a local network auto-detect and adjust their channel numbers to match the router or wireless access point with no action needed.

However, if certain devices fail to connect after changing the router's channel, visit the software configuration utility for each of those devices and make matching channel number changes there. The same configuration screens can be checked at any time to verify the numbers in use.

Wi-Fi equipment in the U. A few additional restrictions and allowances apply in certain countries. For example, 2. Because each 2. The 5 GHz band offers more channels than 2.

But it's not just the speed you should be looking at, the overlapping is an important factor as well. The most popular WiFi channels for 2. Use these channels with a non-MIMO setup i. Starting with the If you purchased your router within the last couple of years, chances are you have either a The 5 GHz band offered with these specifications provides lots of free space at the higher frequencies — 23 non-overlapping 20MHz channels — and the router will choose the best wireless channel for your connection automatically.

Using the 5GHz band in a space with thick walls usually means very little WiFi interference. There are two frequency bands that you can choose from: 2.

Newer routers support both of these bands and it's up to you to decide which one works better for your connection. The 2. The 5 GHz band coverage doesn't travel far, but is very fast and can penetrate obstacles better than 2.

NetSpot can visualize your network coverage to help you see the possible reasons for any wireless issues. NetSpot can also help you choose the best channel for your network. Simply open the NetSpot app and click Discover; then click the "Channels 2.

Look for the channel out of 1, 6 and 11 with the least number of networks using it. You can easily scan for WiFi channels using a wireless channel scanner like NetSpot. NetSpot can scan WiFi channels in the 2. There are three non-overlapping channels in the 2. Yes, it does.

Using a channel exposed to too much signal interference can dramatically degrade your WiFi experience, causing slowdowns and even connection drops. Get NetSpot. NetSpot WiFi channel scanner. Jump to Wi-Fi channels 1, 6, and Non-Overlapping Channels. What wireless channel to use in a crowded space. What if Wi-Fi channels 1, 6, and 11 are crowded? Three main reasons for WiFi interference.

Should I Use the 2. Wi-Fi channels 1, 6, and 11 In your router's settings there are channel settings. Wi-Fi channels. Non-Overlapping Channels As said above every wireless channel on the 2. What wireless channel to use in a crowded space And, again, for the best throughput and minimal interference, channels 1, 6, and 11 are your choice.

Three main reasons for WiFi interference All Wi-Fi connections can be negatively affected by electromagnetic interference, also called radio-frequency interference , which happens for three main reasons:.

WiFi interference. Reason 1: Co-Channel Interference In networks where devices take turns to talk, it takes time for each of them to wait for their turn.

Reason 2: Adjacent-Channel Interference Adjacent-channel interference happens when clients on overlapping channels talk at the same time.

Reason 3: Non-Wi-Fi interference In addition to Wi-Fi routers, there are many other electronic devices that can interfere with the 2. Windows Windows provides a native way of finding the best WiFi channel, but it relies on a rather unintuitive command-line application, called netsh.

Launch NetSpot and make sure Discover mode is selected. Sort the discovered WiFi networks by their channel. Determine which non-overlapping channel 1, 6, and 11 is utilized the least. Configure your router to use the least used channel.

Launch NetSpot and click Discover in the top-left corner. Configure your router to use the least used non-overlapping channel. Follow these steps to find the best WiFi channel using iwlist: Open Terminal. Many routers are set up to automatically choose what WiFi channel to use; and they may not choose 1, 6, or The WiFi channel your router chooses actually depends on the hardware itself.

This doesn't mean a router that continually chooses crowded WiFi channels is a bad router; it just means that if you're using such a router and experiencing WiFi problems, the WiFi channel is likely to be the culprit. Another interesting fact: Whenever your router reboots, the WiFi channel it is using changes. This means you could easily go from having a great WiFi experience to a not-so-great WiFi experience in a matter of minutes. Therefore, we think it's so important to have an automated process that monitors the WiFi channel with the state of the router's wireless environment; and we're actively working on a way to make this happen.

To change what WiFi channel you are currently using , log in to your router's settings by typing its IP address can be found on your router into the address bar on your browser. Use the username and password you designated when creating your WiFi network.

If you are still using the router's factory set username and password, we suggest changing to something more unique and secure! From here, you can go to your router's wireless settings to change the WiFi channel it is using.

Finally, we should note that Minim users can see their connected devices' signal strength and bandwidth usage over time, and change their assigned WiFi frequencies with ease. Our platform automates channel setting improvements, but we also expose these channel settings to ISP customers for efficient remote support.

Step 4 — The next window you will see is an overview of all the Wireless Access Points in the range of your router. Step 6 — The diagnostics summary provides an overview of the analysis and which Wi-Fi channel is the best in the area for your router. In the example, there are 9 networks in total. The summary box indicates that the best 2.

However, if we take a closer look at the data in the image below, we can draw a different conclusion. NetSpot is a free tool to scan for wireless networks in your area, and it has a multifunctional discover mode with visual graphs.

There are various software tools available for your Windows machine in order to figure out which Wi-Fi channel in your area is the best. You can find a few free software applications below:. All the Wi-Fi scanners listed above are powerful tools to scan your network area.

Step 1 — Go to the online Microsoft Store. Step 3 — Install the application on your Windows machine. When the installation is completed, open the application.

On the right side, you can select extra filters. I recommend not changing the default settings. The last 3 options are rather advanced options, which are not applicable for now. You will see a graph with visuals, indicating what networks are performing best and worst. Below the graph, WiFi Analyzer leaves a recommendation based on the scan results. In this example, the tool recommends using channel