Illegal channels. (Networking)

[Ianto]

Why is it illegal in the UK to use Channel 14 in my router?

[Graham M]

Probably because the frequency isn't licensed?

Just a guess.

[LondonRoad]

Probably because the frequency that it operates at interferes with something else. Other countries also have channels that can't be used, e.g. Ch 14 can be used in Japan but iirc 12,13 and 14 can't be used in Germany.

edit: might be talking mince about Germany because I found this link:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA25972

[Uncle Peter]

The centre frequency of channel 14 is 2484MHz and the band edge of the 2.4GHZ licence exempt WLAN allocation in the UK is 2483.5Mhz.

Like much of the spectrum around UHF/Microwave frequencies the MOD have a significant allocation. This particular part of the spectrum may be used by land and naval radar.

[LondonRoad]

Originally Posted by Uncle Peter

The centre frequency of channel 14 is 2484MHz and the band edge of the 2.4GHZ licence exempt WLAN allocation in the UK is 2483.5Mhz.

Like much of the spectrum around UHF/Microwave frequencies the MOD have a significant allocation. This particular part of the spectrum may be used by land and naval radar.

That makes sense then. You wouldn't want somebody connected wirelessly to CF accidently diverting a scud missile to one of the mod's homes

[philwhite100]

Radio Controled model aircraft also use 2.4ghz here in the U.K as well as 35mhz.

[Uncle Peter]

Originally Posted by LondonRoad

That makes sense then. You wouldn't want somebody connected wirelessly to CF accidently diverting a scud missile to one of the mod's homes

or at best you get a Merlin hovering over your back garden chucking sonobuoys into the fish pond.

It's also worth mentioning that part of the spectrum between 2500-2690MHz is the mucho anticipated 2.6GHz band for 4G mobile technology. Beyond that we have a 10MHz wide guard band and part of the S-band radar spectrum which is used by CAA/MOD Watchman radar equipment.

[Ianto]

Thanks a lot you guys for your thoughts and info! You were all very prompt and I think it is amazing that people want to help in what was really a non-urgent neutral issue. If I had a real problem of substance then it is reassuring to find that there are so many people that are eager to help! What a great community! Once again, thank you!

[Matth]

One aggravation is that so many things are defaulted to the USA specification, 1-11 channels.

Here, I find the lower channels are useless (maybe it's a videosender nearby on ch.A), and everyone is on CH11 (secondary 7 for n). Now the ETSI spec 1-13 (assuming low channls did work), would allow two unconflicting wide n groups, 13,9 and 1,5

[Ianto]

Many thanks, Matth

---------- Post added at 11:08 ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 ----------

Afterthought; Is any one router channel best employed to watch live TV. Mine stutters or nothing at all!

[Matth]

Depends on the local situation, the 2.4G band is a mess shared with video senders (usually marked in channels A-D), Microwave ovens, Bluetooth, and probably a few things I can't remember.

If your Wifi adapter software has a channel scan feature, or there are some other programs to do it, then check for other Wifi - with any moderately strong signals, best to be 4 or more channels clear (maybe 3 at a pinch), or on the same channel so it will sense and try to avoid collision.

The standard 1-11 plan is 1, 6, 11
The optimal 1-13 plan is 1, 5, 9, 13
The compromise 4 channel 1-11 plan is 1, 4, 7, 11 - 3 spacing not being completely clear.

If a channel just will not work, there's probably something else on it - the Wifi channel scan only picks up Wifi with broadcast SSID, so will not find any other sources of conflict.

[jrhnewark]

Originally Posted by LondonRoad

That makes sense then. You wouldn't want somebody connected wirelessly to CF accidently diverting a scud missile to one of the mod's homes

Haha, strangely they use encryption for data.

Anyway, my suggestion would be using a bit of WiFi scanning software to find the best (free-est) channel. Round here it's pretty full, but channel 1 seems to be least selected by default set-up routers.

[Wallace]

I use his program: http://www.metageek.net/support/downloads/ (inSSIDER v2) to check which channels are 'less crowded' in my location.
It has help me a great deal. Most WiFi router round me use Ch11 or CH7. I have found CH4 to be completely free. Guess which one I now use? Lol.

HTH

[Matth]

http://www.xirrus.com/library/wifitools.php Xirrus is another one worth a look, and often, if you use the adapter software rather than Windows to configure, there will be a channel scan option in the control panel, certainly standard across all the Ralink chipset cards, which generally use standard Ralink drivers with little if any rebranding.