Wireless Channels

2ghz

1, 6, and 11 are the recommended channels in the US. There is a lot of overlap on 2ghz.

5ghz

The Wi-Fi Alliance helped drive use of the 5 GHz band for Wi-Fi.

UNII — Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure

TDWR – Terminal Doppler Weather Radio

• Uses and relies on a 5ghz signal to detect weather events

DFS — Dynamic Frequency Selection

• Weather radar is the primary user of DFS frequencies
• WLAN equipment must not transmit if it senses TDWR

6ghz

Graphics

Graphics on this page are rendered with python and matplotlib from ariadne-notes/wifi-charts.

References

Channel numbers, center frequencies, and channel widths are from IEEE Std 802.11-2024. United States regulatory allocation and operating constraints are from FCC rules.

Wi-Fi Alliance

FCC - 5GHz Unlicensed Spectrum

FCC 47 CFR 15.247 - Operation within the bands 902-928 MHz, 2400-2483.5 MHz, and 5725-5850 MHz

FCC 47 CFR 15.407 - General technical requirements for U-NII devices

Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure - Wikipedia

NTIA Report 20-544 - Lessons Learned from the Development and Deployment of 5 GHz …

FCC 03-287 - Revision of Parts 2 and 15 of the Commission’s Rules to Permit U-NII devices in the 5ghz band