More and more often I receive letters asking me to tell them: “how to change the WiFi channel on your home router?” First, you must understand why this is needed. Modern routers use a transmission frequency of 2.4 GHz. It may not be strange, but a lot of devices operate at this frequency, from mobile phones, to microwave ovens.
And if earlier routers were a novelty, now they won’t surprise anyone. If you look at the models, the cheapest ones operate at a frequency of 2.4 GHz. And this does not mean that this frequency is very bad; on the contrary, it has a wider range than the same 5 GHz. Regarding 5 GHz - this is a newer standard with high throughput, but with a smaller radius.
The 2.4 GHz frequency has 13 channels. On American models there are 11 of them, but this is specific to the legislation. In the USA it is prohibited to use frequencies 12 and 13. In this regard, we are a little more free. Residents of apartment buildings are faced with an urgent need to change the channel. When there are too many routers on the same frequency and everyone is actively using network resources the waves intersect and the end client receives incorrect information packets with errors.
As a result, packet losses occur, videos on YouTube begin to freeze, and speed drops. Because of this, some neighbors also buy more powerful transmitters, which are essentially not needed. The more powerful your neighbor’s transmitter, the worse your Wi-Fi, provided that you use the same channel and frequency.
In general, by default in the router settings it is automatic search free zone. Honestly, I don’t even know how this thing works, because, as a rule, I see channels 1 and 3 completely clogged. According to the manufacturer, the router itself looks for a free channel and connects to it, but in reality, not all models do everything correctly.
How to find and select a free channel?
To begin with, try not to download anything, but simply restart your Internet center. In theory, he should select a free frequency and connect to it. But if you are interested in what channels your neighbors are on, then I would recommend two programs: inSSIDer and WiFiInfoView.
inSSIDer
- Download the program from the official website - https://www.metageek.com/products/insider/
- Install it on your computer or laptop;
- Once launched, go to the second tab and you will see all your neighbors' networks.
We need a "CHANNEL" column that will show the occupied zones. As you can see in my case, my old router does not know how to choose and took the busiest channel. To the left you can see the signal strength, which depends on the standard and the amplification power of the antennas. By the way, on some models the gain level can be reduced - this is useful in small apartments.
After the frequency column is the type of encryption, then the MAC address of the router and the type of standard used. In my settings there is a combined “b, g, n”, but my router chose the g standard. Write in the comments which channels your neighbors have occupied - it would be interesting to conduct some statistics on this matter. If you see, for example, the value “1+5”, then this means the router has the dual range “20-40MHz” enabled. And if you just turn on 20, then there will be only one value like mine.
WiFiInfoView
You can download and install “WiFi Info View” from here. Next we launch.
And so, after analysis, you can see that mine is using channel 6, but according to the previous program it is still worth changing it to 8 or 9. In your case, there may be other free channels.
We go to the router
And so, in order for us to change the channel, we need to go inside the Web interface. There is no need to install any programs or utilities. The most important thing is to connect to the router’s network. This can be done either via Wi-Fi or by wire. Do this from the device from which you scanned the networks.
Open any browser and enter the address of your router. I’ll say right away that on all routers the standard address is located under the case on the label. Just look there. Also very often used as an IP address: 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.0.1. Next you will be asked to enter your username and password. If you haven’t changed it, then also look at the router’s paper - there should be default information there. Further instructions differ from the company that produced the device.
ATTENTION! I strongly do not recommend installing channels 12-13. As I said earlier, these channels are not used by most devices made in the United States. And who knows whether other devices will work with these frequencies after this.
D-Link
New models
- Find it in the lower right corner "Advanced settings";
- In chapter « Wi-Fi" go to "Basic Settings".
- Now you can change the channel.
Classic firmware
« Wi-Fi" – "Basic settings". Some models will be able to immediately show which channel is the freest, but it’s still better to trust the software that we used before.
ZyXEL Keenetic
Click on the ladder at the very bottom and immediately get to the right place. Also, if possible, put "Country". This way the router will understand what frequencies are used in your region.
TP-Link
New models
Old models
We find « Wireless mode» on the left in the menu and then change the channel. At the end we save.
ASUS
Let's go to "Wireless mode" and make changes. At the end we press "Apply." On older firmware, everything is done in the same way.
Router Rostelecom
Find the tab at the top "Setup". Next we go to "WLAN" – "Basic". Find the line « ChannelNumber". By the way, some firmware immediately shows which channel is currently being used, even in offline selection mode. After making changes, click « Apply Changes".
What to do after replacing the channel
I rebooted the router, this can be done there in "admin". If you cannot find the reset button, then simply find the shutdown button and press it twice. You can, of course, unplug the cord from the outlet and plug it back in. If after this the Internet becomes even worse, interruptions begin, then I would advise putting the installation back into mode "auto" as it was before. Or you can search and install other channels.
Wireless network Wi-Fi operates on several slightly different bands around 2.4 GHz and, on some routers, 5 GHz. These ranges are called channels and, by default, are selected automatically by the router.
Note: it should be taken into account that 13 channels are available for wireless networks in the Russian Federation versus 10 in most countries. Sometimes it happens that when selecting channels 11, 12, 13, some devices stop seeing the Wi-Fi network. If you encounter something like this (relatively rare, but it happens) - keep it in mind.
Changing the Wi-Fi channel on Asus, D-Link, TP-Link, Zyxel Keenetic routers
For all routers, the steps to change the channel will be almost the same:
- Go to the router settings. Usually, to do this, just type in the browser (on a device connected to the router via Wi-Fi or cable) the address 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1, then enter the username and password (the standard ones are indicated on a sticker on the router itself, usually admin and admin ).
- In the router settings, find the basic Wi-Fi parameters.
- Set the desired channel number on the specified settings page and apply/save the settings.
If you have problems logging into the basic Wi-Fi settings page or router settings, you can open any of the instructions for setting up a specific brand of router on my website, all this is described in great detail.
Here are a few examples of where exactly the channel changes to different brands routers.
After changing the channel, be sure to apply the settings and, on some routers (for example, D-Link), in addition to applying them, be sure to also save them (otherwise they will be reset after disconnecting the router from power).
I hope you managed to figure it out and change the router channel to a free one.
With the development of technology, the Internet has firmly entered the category of mandatory utilities, along with the presence of water, electricity and heating in the house. However, massive led to the need to isolate your wifi from many third-party signals.
So, if earlier the question was which wifi channel to choose, only administrators of serious closed networks were puzzled, but now without frequency division of the signal, errors appear even in simple home wifi access points.
Among the most common problems here are: and instability of the wifi signal, the user may also experience “suppression” of his network by third-party signal sources.
The essence of this problem is that the router, like any transmitter, emits a signal at a certain carrier frequency. As a rule, the main frequency around 2.4 GHz is allocated here, as well as a small margin on both sides, which together forms a working wifi channel.
In the domestic range, the following wifi channels are most often used:
However, with factory settings, most routers only distribute the signal in the range of radio channels 1.6 or 11. And in modern apartment buildings, dozens or even hundreds of such routers are sometimes grouped in a small area, each of which transmits its own unique signal. And here, as in the wild, the strongest wins: the most powerful and noise-resistant router will become a kind of “jammer” for all others operating in the same range.
How to change the wifi channel in the router settings?
You can avoid the problem of “overflowing” the range with signals by changing the wifi channel directly in the router settings.
However, first of all you need to decide which wifi channel to choose, for which you will need a special wireless analyzer frequency ranges- program inSSIDer.
By the way, you should install the software only on a PC that has a wifi adapter - for wireless connection To local network.
After launching this program, a special window will open, in the upper part of which all working access points found by the program are presented, as well as the channels on which these routers operate.
At the bottom of the window, you should select the operating frequency of your router (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz), after which a clear graphical picture will be presented for each of the available radio channels.
All that remains is to choose which wifi channel to use this moment free (or least busy), and in the “Wireless Settings”, “Wireless Network” or “Access Point” tab, depending on your router model) and select this channel in the “Channel” column.
The fact is that routers with Wi-Fi have become very widely used and your housemates have also installed them.
Nowadays the Internet is available in almost any apartment and it is very likely that Wi-Fi routers are installed in the apartments.
These Wi-Fi networks are located quite close, overlap each other and often operate on frequency channels installed in routers by default by the manufacturer, creating excessive interference (congestion), interfering with each other.
The entire range used in household Wi-Fi frequencies in the region of 2.4 GHz it is divided into 11-14 overlapping channels, 22 MHz each.
In the router settings, you need to select a channel (frequency range) with the least amount of interference.
But before that, you need to diagnose all Wi-Fi networks around you.
The program is well suited for these purposes inSSIDer.
You can download the program.
Installing the program does not require any explanation, you just need to remember that it must be installed on a computer (laptop) with a Wi-Fi adapter.
Launch inSSIDer.
At the top of the window you can immediately see which Wi-Fi points work and on what channels.
At the bottom of the window, go to the “2.4 GHz Channels” tab (or “5 GHz Channels”, if your router operates at this frequency) and look at the detailed channel map.
After analyzing the data received, select the channel number and set it in the router settings.
Keep in mind that some devices only see channels 1 through 11, so if you want maximum compatibility with all devices, limit your selection to channels 1 through 11.
Also in the router settings, you can select a higher data transfer speed by setting the “Auto 20/40 MHz” option in the router, if it is there.
You can walk around the apartment with a laptop running program inSSIDer and determine the points of maximum reception.
If something doesn’t suit you, then try changing the installation location of the router, if possible, placing it in the center of the surrounding devices, as well as on an elevated place.
After these simple steps, normal Wi-Fi operation will be restored.
It is also recommended to do the same for those who had no idea about Wi-Fi channels and are using the factory settings in the router; perhaps you will improve the performance of your Wi-Fi network.
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