How to change the channel of your WiFi to gain coverage
WiFi is not a perfect network, it has failures, it goes down, it goes slowly ... Sometimes, that may be due to the router being in a bad position or it is not very powerful, because your mobile's antenna is malfunctioning or, simply, that you are suffering interference.
In fact, it is very likely that this is the cause, and the root of the problem lies in the channels.
Let's review what the channels are, how to know which one is using our router, which ones are best suited to use and, of course, how to change everything directly from our Android device.
WiFi channels and interference
Here is all the WiFi channels. As you can see, they all overlap each other.
Let's start with the basics. The vast majority of WiFi routers emit in the band of 2.4 GHz, which is the classic and with which all phones are compatible. This ranges from 2,412 MHz to 2,472 MHz and is divided into 13 channels. These 13 channels share a spectrum of 100 MHz, but each one has 20 MHz, so if we do the accounts ... they do not come out. Unless these channels overlap each other, of course.
This is exactly what happens. The channels overlap each other, so that each channel occupies a part of the underlying spectrum. In the above image you can see it more graphically and the clearest example is channel 1, whose bandwidth reaches to channel 5. That means that a router that broadcasts on channel 1 will be generating interference to a router that broadcast on channel 5, and vice versa.
The interferences are generated, above all, by the overlapping of the channels
One possible solution is to move to the 5 GHz band, which is less saturated since it has 25 non-overlapping channels and capacity for greater speed (although less range), but not all routers can broadcast in that band, above all the old ones . In addition, not all phones have an antenna compatible with the 5 GHz band, so it is not a solution, say, universal. What remains, then? Change the channel.
Before changing the channel, you have to know which one you are using
And to which channel should you change? The least saturated, of course. To know what it is you can use a completely free and well-known application on Google Play called WiFi Analyzer. This will show you all the WiFi routers that are broadcasting near you, their power and the channel they are using in a graph.
If you slide three times to the left you will access a ranking. Click on "Choose your AP" and select your WiFi network. It will show you which channel you are using right now and which is, according to what is around you, which you should change to have an optimal connection. The 14 will always come out with all the stars, but it can not be used. In our case, we are using the 4 and we would be interested to move it to 14 (we can not), to 13 or 12.
And now we change it quickly
Changing WiFi channels is as simple as accessing the router.
We already know the optimal channel, so now it's time to change it in our router. To do this, open any web browser, either on your mobile or computer, and write the address 192.168.1.1. It will ask for some credentials that, if you have not changed them, are probably admin / admin, 1234/1234 or a combination of both.
Now it will depend on the router that you have access to be in one place or another, but basically you should look for the option to change the broadcast channel. In our router, which is a ZTE F680, the option is in "Network" - "WLAN Radio 2.4G". By default it is usually configured in automatic, a recommended option since, in theory, choose the one that best suits our location, but if you still want to change it, select the corresponding section and change it.
Save the modifications and go, channel changed. In theory you should notice a small cut and then an improvement in the connection. It may be temporary, because if your neighbors' routers are set to automatic and they detect that the channel you are using is the best, they will be changed and you will have to repeat the process. At least you already know how to do it.
Source:xatakandroid