Streaming, gaming and other high-capacity activities demand a certain amount of bandwidth speed to get the best experience without a lot of buffering or lag. The FCC provides a set of guidelines for Mbps needed based on digital activity. For example, if you love to stream 4K content, you'll need 25 Mbps at the very minimum and Mbps for telecommuting or gaming.
See FCC guide. Now that we've answered the question what is bandwidth, how do you know how much you have and if it's enough? If you love to stream HD videos, download large files and enjoy multiplayer gaming, you may want to consider speed plans of Mbps and above. For all other activities like streaming music, surfing and video conferencing - anything above 25 Mbps should be enough.
It all depends on how patient you are with potential buffering and slightly slower speeds when others at home are competing for bandwidth at the same time for their own activities. Use our speed test tool to see how your current provider compares to Fios. There are a number of ways to increase your bandwidth and get the most from your internet and devices. Here are just a few of them:.
Get a higher Mbps plan if you stream a lot of content and have more connected devices and appliances at home. The differences between Wi-Fi networks in 2. Comes by itself so that:. So you are using a router that operates on 2. Many of the default router set the channel to 20 MHz, then we obtain a maximum speed of In this way, doubling the channel width to 40 MHz we will be able to take advantage of the mbps advertised on the packaging.
Expand the channel means double the interference with neighboring networks. So what's causing your slow WiFi connection, and, more importantly, making you miss seeing your favorite show? It could be the WiFi channel your router is using.
Our routers use one of the two WiFi frequency bands for signal: 2. Some routers are dual-band routers, so you can choose which frequency band to use for your wireless network Check out this article by LifeWire on the pros and cons of each. The main difference between these two frequency bands are the range and bandwidth that they provide.
If you're looking for more WiFi coverage, you want to be using the 2. Within these WiFi frequency bands, we have smaller bands which are referred to as WiFi channels. A WiFi channel is the medium through which our wireless networks can send and receive data. For routers made in the U. MetaGeek has a great explanation as to why we should avoid using certain channels, which I'll summarize below:. The reason that certain channels aren't the best choice to use is because they have interference.
There are a couple different ways this interference is caused: Co-Channel interference results when there are numerous devices all competing for time to talk on the same channel.
Once you change your network to a less crowded WiFi channel, you should notice that your bar gets taller, meaning your network speed has increased. If your WiFi signal is still weak, check out our guide on how to boost your WiFi signal here. HelloTech editors choose the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Enter your email address below to receive your promo code and stay up to date on the latest tech news and updates.
Contents What is a WiFi Channel? What is a WiFi Channel? Last updated on January 13, pm. Tagged: Router WiFi.
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