Use NetSpot WiFi Channel Scanner to Find the Optimal Channel

Quick Summary of Major Wi-Fi Bands

WiFi channels are grouped under specific WiFi frequency bands depending on their frequency. The table below provides a quick summary of the most common bands in use today.

Wi-Fi channels 1, 6, and 11

In your router's settings there are channel settings. Most routers have channel settings set to "Auto", but if you look through the list, there are at least a dozen of WLAN channels. So how do you know which WiFi channels are faster than the others in that list? Choosing the proper WiFi channel can vastly improve your WiFi coverage and performance. But even if you find the fastest channel there it doesn't always mean you should select it right away.

Various frequency bands (2.4GHz, 3.6 GHz, 4.9 GHz, 5 GHz, and 5.9 GHz) have their own range of channels. Usually routers will use the 2.4GHz band with a total of 14 channels, however in reality it may be 13 or even less that are used around the world.

All Wi-Fi versions through 802.11n (a, b, g, n) work between the channel frequencies of 2400 and 2500 MHz. These 100 MHz in between are split in 14 channels 20 MHz each. As a result, each 2.4GHz channel overlaps with two to four other channels (see diagram above). Overlapping makes wireless network throughput quite poor.

Most popular channels for 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi are 1, 6, and 11, because they don’t overlap with one another. You should always try using channels 1, 6, or 11 when on a non-MIMO setup (i.e. 802.11 a, b, or g). The table below lists all 11 Wi-Fi channels that are available in North America and specifies the exact frequency range of each:

Which Wireless Channel to Use in a Crowded Space

Channels 1, 6, and 11 are your best choice for the highest throughput and minimal interference because they don’t overlap with one another—that’s why they’re called non-overlapping.

However, they still overlap with their neighboring channels. For example, Channel 1 overlaps with channels 2, 3, 4, and 5. You can use a WiFi analyzer to scan WiFi channels and determine which of the three non-overlapping channels are the least likely to suffer from signal interference.

A WiFi channel scanner can also tell you which of the three non-overlapping channels is used by the smallest number of WiFi routers. The best WiFi channel scanners can even determine how strong the interference emitted by individual WiFi routers is.

5 GHz channel band

The 5 GHz (802.11n and 802.11ac) band actually offers way more free space at the higher frequencies. It offers 23 non-overlapping 20MHz channels.

Starting with 802.11n and going to 802.11ac, wireless technology became much more advanced. If you bought a WiFi router within the last couple of years, then you probably have a decent 802.11n or 802.11ac router. Most of them have a hardware inside that automatically selects the proper WiFi channel and adjusts the output power thus boosting throughput and cutting down the interference.

5 GHz channel band compatibility:

• 802.11n: Released in 2009, this emendation to the IEEE 802.11-2007 wireless-networking standard is the first mainstream version of the IEEE 802 set of LAN protocols that can be used in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency bands.
• 802.11ac: Released in 2013, 802.11ac extended channel binding from 40 MHz in 802.11n to optional 160 MHz and mandatory 80 MHz channel bandwidth for stations, resulting in multi-station throughput of at least 1 gigabit per second and single-link throughput of at least 500 megabits per second (500 Mbit/s).
• 802.11ax: Also called Wi-Fi 6 by Wi-Fi Alliance, 802.11ax is the latest version of the IEEE 802.11 standard, designed to operate in all band spectrums between 1 and 7 GHz. 802.11ax Wi-Fi routers were demonstrated to achieve a top speed of 11 Gbit/s, in part thanks to their ability to avoid interference with neighboring networks.

Using the 5GHz band and having decently thick walls as well as the general lacking of 5GHz devices usually means that there is a very little interference in your space. In cases like this you may benefit from using the 40, 80, and 160MHz channels.

Ideally, as everyone gradually upgrades their hardware and starts using 5GHz band, having to select the proper WiFi channel will become obsolete. It is especially applicable to MIMO setups (up to eight in 802.11ac), when it is a better idea to let your router do its own thing. Of course there will be custom cases like fine-tuning the channel selection for your router.

Eventually, even the 5GHz will fill up, but by the time it happens we should be able to figure higher WiFi channel frequencies out. Or maybe entirely new antenna designs will be created for the high-end demands of wireless networking world.

Should I Use the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz Channel Band?

If you own a fairly modern Wi-Fi router, there’s a good chance that it supports all three channel bands: 2.4 GHz, 5GHz, and 6 GHz.

Because support for the 2.4 GHz band precedes the 5 GHz band, and 5 GHz precedes the 6 GHz band, you might come to the conclusion that the 6 GHz band is always better. In reality, all three bands have their pros and cons that you should be aware of to know which one to use.

• 2.4 GHz: This band provides coverage at a longer range but transmits data at slower speeds.
• 5 GHz: On the other hand, the 5 GHz band provides less coverage but transmits data at faster speeds.
• 6 GHz: Finally, the 6 GHz band provides the least coverage but the fastest data transmission speeds.

In general, higher frequencies have a harder time penetrating solid objects, such as walls and trees, which is why the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands are not great for broadcasting data across long ranges.

The good news is that modern WiFi routers can readily use both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channel band at the same time, giving you the best of both worlds. Such routers are called “dual-band”, and they are well worth their higher price.

There are even “tri-band” routers, which broadcast one signal in the 2.4 GHz band and two signals in the 5 GHz band. Tri-band routers tend to be very expensive, but they are indispensable in highly congested areas, such as city centers.

If you can’t use multiple channel bands at the same time, we recommend you test bands independently and choose the one which allows you to achieve higher data transfer speeds and lower latency.

Some WiFi generations support only the 2.4 GHz or the 5 GHz band, some support both, and WiFi 6E supports all three:

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:

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. Therefore, the more devices the longer the wait time. This type of Wi-Fi interference isn’t actually electromagnetic interference. Instead, it’s a result of Wi-Fi routers doing their best to give one another room to transmit data.

Think back to when you were in elementary school and your teacher asked the whole class a question. The chances are that multiple kids started shouting at once and nobody could hear anything properly. That’s basically what co-channel interference is, which is why Wi-Fi routers take turns and politely wait for one another to finish.

Reason 2: Adjacent-Channel Interference

Adjacent-channel interference happens when clients on overlapping channels talk at the same time. Wi-Fi channel selection is crucial in cases like this. Such channel-related interferences can be cut down or excluded by choosing the proper Wi-Fi channel for your network.

NetSpot can help you reveal which Wi-Fi channels are cluttered the most so you can avoid them and use other channels instead, preferably channels 1, 6, or 11 because these three channels are non-overlapping. Fortunately, modern Wi-Fi routers are able to cope with adjacent-channel interference much better than older routers, many of which default to the same Wi-Fi channel.

Reason 3: Non-Wi-Fi interference

In addition to Wi-Fi routers, there are many other electronic devices that can interfere with the 2.4 GHz band. Some interfere with it because they use it to wirelessly transmit data, such as security cameras, Bluetooth devices, baby monitors, and smartphones, while others interfere with it because they emit a large amount of electromagnetic radiation, such as microwaves and other appliances.

To avoid non-Wi-Fi interference, it’s important to place your Wi-Fi router far away from all sources of electromagnetic radiation, preferably also away from solid objects, including walls, large pieces of furniture, and so on.

A WiFi channel scanner like NetSpot helps you see through the network and choose the proper channel or reduce WiFi interference. Using NetSpot channel scanner will help you improve your 2.4 GHz WiFi network performance.

Windows

Windows provides a native way of finding the best WiFi channel, but it relies on a rather unintuitive command-line application, called netsh. This application is included with all versions of Windows starting from Windows 2000, and its main purpose is to allow local or remote configuration of network devices such as the interface.

Here’s how to use netsh as a wireless channel scanner for Windows:

• Press Win + R on your keyboard.
• Type “cmd” and press Enter.
• Enter “netsh wlan show all” in the Command Prompt and press Enter.
• Scroll down until you see a section called “SHOW NETWORKS MODE=BSSID”.

Select the right Wi-Fi channel with NetSpot — the top WiFi channel analyzer

As explained in this article, channel overlapping leads to co-channel interference, which can dramatically degrade WiFi performance and cause annoying slowdowns and other issues. Without a WiFi analyzer like NetSpot, it can be very difficult and tedious to solve issues created by channel overlapping and determine which WiFi channel would be more suitable.

The good news is that co-channel interference can be easily eliminated by proper WiFi channel planning. NetSpot is very good at visualizing the networks to help you make the right decision. With NetSpot's visualization you will immediately see the cause of the wireless issues and how to eliminate them.

You can get the recommendation on which channel to use and the best thing about it — you don't have to be a WiFi professional to choose the optimal channel for your network. All you need to do is just open NetSpot app and click Discover. Click the "Channels 2.4 GHz" header to see where Wi-Fi channels are overlapping. Look for the channel (out of 1, 6 and 11) with the least number of networks present on it.

The “Show average value for inactive networks” option is enabled by default in NetSpot, which means you'll see even currently inactive networks and their average values. You can disable this option when you don't need the data for currently inactive networks. The active networks are shown in solid lines on the graph.

In the above graph the selected network is operating on channel 5, and overlaps with channels 2 and 8. You can see that channels 6 to 9 have the smallest number of networks and overlapping is not that bad at all. So in this particular case if you need the best WiFi channel, choose from channels 6 to 9.

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