If you click
the Wi-Fi icon in the system tray which is in the bottom right of your desktop
(in Windows) and you’ll see your network listed, along with those of
neighbors.
Each network
broadcasts on specific channels, and if you and your neighbors are on the same
channel, your devices and router will have more difficulty figuring out which
data is which and experience a lot of interference with the networks. This could slow your speeds, so it is better to choose a channel with fewer
people on it. By doing this you are reducing the interference of a particular channel
and you can find which one is best for you in the locality.
After
understanding the technical details of wireless channels their effect on speed,
the question that arises is:
How to choose the best wireless channel in Windows.
The free app
WiFi Analyzer for Windows scans the
adjacent networks and shows which channels are busiest in the locality,
displaying this information in the form of graphs.
You can see
the picture below that the most congested spot on the 2.4GHz waveband in my
location is channel 1.
After find
the best and least congested channel for you in location, open your router’s
settings, click through to the wireless options, and manually change the channel
on which your router broadcasts.
You can do
the same settings for 5GHz waveband also, although as 5GHz signals don’t travel
as far as 2.4GHz signals, congestion is less common on 5GHz networks.
When setting
the channel, keep in mind that what you’re actually setting here is the
signal’s center point. Your network will spill over to neighboring
channels. To avoid overlap interference from the nearby networks, therefore, it’s
advisable to only use channels 1, 6, or 11, because these are the only channel
that doesn’t overlap with each other.
Good
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