If you are experiencing slow WiFi, sometimes the best solution is to check the WiFi channels on your router. WiFi uses the 2.4GHz frequency, and on a WiFi router, this frequency has three main operating channels (1, 6, and 11). Each of these channels spills over a bit into the other channels, so 1, 6, and 11 are the only dedicated WiFi channels that won’t overlap. If your WiFi network is configured correctly, you can have up to three WiFi routers in the same area working perfectly well with no interference from each other. Unfortunately, this is often not the case.
The problem begins right out of the box. By default, most routers are set to a predetermined channel, and there is a high likelihood that there are already 2.4GHz devices using that channel.
What about auto channels?
Many routers have an “automatic channel” option, but these seldom work. Automatic channel switching only happens when the router powers up. It is supposed to look at all the WiFi equipment in the area and choose the least congested channel, but that would require code to run on a router that is trying to get you back online and connected as quickly as possible, so this step is often skipped or it just chooses a different band every time it restarts. It is much easier to program a router to cycle through channels 1, 6, and 11 compared to scanning the area and making a decision based on the data.
It can’t be that hard, right?
A few months ago, I went to a large event with over 200 people that didn’t have great cellular coverage, and they wanted people to vote via an app. They thought ahead and organized extra WiFi access points specifically for the event. The problem was they didn’t change the channels, and the WiFi was basically unusable. This image shows channel 1 is wide open with untapped potential, while channels 6 and 11 have more than four access points fighting for the same channel.
This goes to show two things:
- Even some professionals don’t understand how to configure WiFi correctly.
- Even enterprise WiFi equipment is dumb.
This is a picture of my home WiFi where you can see a clear separation of different access points.
So what is the solution? Most WiFi routers don’t have an extra radio inside them to be able to deliver WiFi to devices and scan the area around it. Therefore, the answer really comes back to the method of installation. The easiest way to overcome this is to build a WiFi analyzer into the router’s mobile app. This way, you can feed back the data to the router from the phone. It is a good thing that someone is working on this problem! ;)
