How can I find out the my WiFi's "Channel Width"?
Finding the "Channel Width" of your Wi Fi with any device
Panos Alexopoulos
Last Update 2 years ago
One possible cause of problems with setting up HAM devices and connecting them to your Wi-Fi network, is that the Channel Width of your Wi-Fi router is not at 20MHz, which causes problems with connecting the devices to your router.
So, before you continue your efforts to connect your device to Wi-Fi, you can ensure that the 20MHz requirement is met, in a fairly simple way, for any electronic device you want:
Finding the "Channel Width" with any mobile device
You can use any mobile phone device (android or iPhone) to locate the "Channel Width".
Best suited for this purpose is the "WiFiman" application, from which you can discover the "Channel Width" in a very simple and easy way:
1. Download the "WiFiman" app for Android or " "Ubiquiti WiFiman" for iPhone.
2. Open the app. On the home page, tap "Wireless" to see all available networks.
3. In the "WiFi List" section, you will see all available networks that are in range of your device. If you are connected to one, you will see "Linked" next to the network name.
Click on the name of the network for which you want to know the Channel Width.
4. On the page that appears you will see "Channel Width" about halfway down the page. From there you will be informed about the Channel Width, so you can deduce what is likely to be causing your HAM device's connectivity problem with your Wi-Fi.
If your Wi-Fi Channel Width is not set to 20MHz, then you will need to change it in order to connect your device to the internet. This change can be done exclusively through your router settings from a mobile or computer.
Finding and changing the "Channel Width" through your router settings
A) Finding the "Channel Width"
1. Connect with a mobile or computer to the Wi-Fi whose "Channel Width" you want to know, and in any browser type "192.168.1.1" in the search bar to get to the router's configuration page.
2. Fill in your account login details, which, if you have not changed them, are usually the following:
- Username "admin" and the password indicated on the back of your router.
- You can go into more detail about this in your router's manual, or contact your provider.
3. Proceed to the appropriate setting to ensure 20 MHz of Channel Width.
These ways of setting and changing the Channel Width on routers can vary from provider to provider.
Below is an example of how to change the Channel Width on a TpLink router:
- Select the "Wireless" section from the main settings menu.
- In the "Basic Settings" section of your Wi-Fi, you will directly see the "Channel Width" section, as well as the number of MHz in which it transmits.
B) Changing the "Channel Width"
From the same section, you can change the Channel Width broadcast frequency.
In order for HAM devices to connect to your Wi-Fi, the Channel Width transmit frequency must be set to 20 MHz.
