Why doesn't wifi channel 6 work?

[runethechamp]

I had some shitty performance from the wifi in my house and remembered that changing the channel on my router to avoid interference might be a good trick. I downloaded a program that listed all the networks I could see from my house and what channel they were on, and there was a whole bunch on 11 (which we were on), some on 1 and only one on channel 6. I tried changing it to 6, but then all connected laptops and my iphone immediately told me they couldn't connect. Changed it to 1 and everything was fine, but I would still like to use 6 if I can since there is only one other network on that channel in my neighborhood.

Any advice or knowledge on this one?

[Lindahl]

A lot of cordless phones run at 2.4GHz, which is approximately the same as channel 6 (2.437 GHz).

[Skidog]

A lot of cordless phones run at 2.4GHz, which is approximately the same as channel 6 (2.437 GHz).

Yep yep..either yours or some close neighbor...

[runethechamp]

Hmm, interesting. We don't have a cordless phone ourselves, but I will check with our neighbors and see. Kind of odd that they work on the same frequencies.

[Skidog]

Hmm, interesting. We don't have a cordless phone ourselves, but I will check with our neighbors and see. Kind of odd that they work on the same frequencies.

Not really..there is only so much spectrum available. Wi Fi is Wi Fi..

[Buzzworthy]

A lot of cordless phones run at 2.4GHz, which is approximately the same as channel 6 (2.437 GHz).

And microwaves and baby monitors and Bluetooth and.......
It is free frequency from the FCC and is used a lot, but has many spectrums.
Up to spec BT has frequency hoping so it does not interfere anymore these days.

[runethechamp]

Well, all channels are at 2.4 GHz something. Channel 1 is at 2.412 GHz, Channel 6 is at 2.437 and Channel 12 is at 2.462, so they are all around there. I don't see a reason why channel 6 should be worse off than any of the other ones, but maybe it just happens to be the worst one for whatever other frequencies that are around our house.

[TheDon]

I thought the Vadican wouldn't allow it to be used because it was 1/3 of the sign of the beast. Basically, allowing the 6 to be used is the start of the apocalypse.

[donkeykong]

i've played around with this too. i used to have crazy disconnect problems, then just tried different channels and now it is solid. just keep trying other ones until it works. and when it disconnects randomly, try to figure out if it was something specific that did it (e.g. incoming phone call, turned on microwave, bluetooth, etc.)