The Guide to Choosing Wi-Fi Channel for your Network

 

The wi-fi router in your house communicates over a wireless channel that has a designated number.  Although, wi-fi connection works fine on any channel, there are times when you might need to change the channel because of radio interference, congestion, slow speed and other reasons. This makes it important for homeowners to understand the difference between wi-fi channels. Let’s get started

2.5GHz Band

The 2.4 GHz band has 11 channels wherein 1 channel operates at a centre frequency and 11 channels operate at a higher frequency. The channel 1 operates at a frequency of 2.412 GHz and channel 11 operates at a frequency of 2.462 GHz. The other channels are separated at an interval of 2.412 GHz.

5GHz Band

The 5GHz band has more channels than 2.5 GHz with 36, 40, 44 and 48 being the most popular ones. Each of these channels is separated by 5MHz. This is technically an advanced channel that restricts the available channels to specific numbers just to avoid the chances of overlapping frequencies.

The channel 36 of 5GHz band operates at 5.180 GHz, 40 operates at 5.2 GHz. 165 is the highest frequency channel that operates on a frequency of 5.825 GHz.

The need to change the wi-fi channel number

The routers and parental control device that we use mostly run on 2.4 GHz. If the neighbouring wi-fi network is also running on the same channel, it could cause radio interference. Even the microwaves, bluetooth and other devices in our homes work on 2.5GHz frequency. This can slowdown the performance of the network. Changing the channel can improve the network performance.

Changing the channel

All the best parental control device routers or even the traditional ones have administrator settings. You need to login as admin and look for a drop-down list of the supported channel numbers. Choose a channel that you wish the network to work on, and viola you are done.

The advanced routers come with 5GHz band, giving homeowners the choice to change the settings and ensure they get uninterrupted Internet connectivity.

Service Set Identifier (SSID) Explained

 

Wi-fi is no longer a technology limited to offices. We have public wi-fi hotspots and wifi connections at home. This brings us to the abbreviation SSID - Service Set Identifier. SSID is the name associated with 802.11 WLAN and is the name for your wi-fi network.

SSID can be up to 32 characters long case-sensitive text string that consists of letters and numbers. When you connect to a wireless network, all the names that appear are the SSIDs for those networks. Every router manufacturer has a different default SSID for their unit, but these SSIDs can be changed. If we talk about home network, an administrator has the right to change it.

How your device uses SSIDs?

When you connect a phone or laptop to the network, it scans the local area for the networks and presents a list of the names. You can initiate the new connection by choosing a name from the network list.

Other than getting the network name, the wi-fi scan will also allow you to determine if every network has the wireless security options checked in. A secured network will have a lock symbol next to the SSID.

Although if a user rejoins the network, the wireless device identifies it along with the connection preferences. The device will ask the user if they want to reconnect automatically to the network in future. This set up can be done manually also without accessing the network.

The best router for controlling Internet access come with option to disable SSID, in order to provide a more secure network. In this scenario, the user will have to enter two passwords - SSID and network password. To connect to a network that has SSID broadcast disabled, the user will have to create a profile manually.

Some things to take care of:

• If you have bought a new router, using a default SSID could increase the chances of duplicacy, in case somebody else in the nearby area is also using the router of the same make. This means, your network might not be protected and you could possibly connect to the wrong network.

• When choosing SSID, try to have names with generic information. Displaying your name or having names such as Impossible to Hack could actually provoke people to hack your network.

At last, even if you have the best parental control device for wi-fi, make sure you change the SSID for improved security.

Your home security system is vulnerable to attack · GryphonConnect.com