What Are WiFi Channels?
As you may know, most WiFi devices in use today broadcast information on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.
Each of these two bands occupies a certain frequency range. This range is then subdivided into multiple channels that are spaced apart evenly to allow multiple routers located in the same area to claim their own part of the radio frequency spectrum. As such, a WiFi channel is basically a small section of a frequency band.
To understand the difference between, you can imagine the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands as highways with multiple lines (channels). The advantage of having multiple lines to choose from is that as long as there’s at least one empty line, you can safely pass everyone else and reach your destination on time.
Now that you have a basic understand of what WiFi channels are, we can take a closer look at the two most commonly used WiFi bands:
2.4 GHz band: In North America, the 2.4 GHz band is divided into 11 channels. Because of its lower frequency, signals in the 2.4 GHz band have a fairly good ability to penetrate solid objects, such as walls and furniture, allowing them to cover a larger range with a strong WiFi signal. In addition to WiFi devices, this band is used by cordless phones, baby monitors, Bluetooth gadgets, and many other electronic devices, all of which can cause interference and slowdowns.
5 GHz band: In recent years, many manufacturers of WiFi routers have released models with support for the 5 GHz band to combat issues with interference on the 2.4 GHz frequency band. Because of its higher frequency, signals in the 5 GHz band don’t penetrate solid objects as well as signals in the 5 GHz band, and they also benefit from a much larger number of available channels. In fact, you can imagine the 5 GHz band as several highways stacked on top of one another, each reserved for different vehicles and divided into multiple lines.
