The 2.4GHz channels overlap one another, and in America, the best ones to choose to avoid this overlap are 1, 6, and 11. The 5GHz band gets used by 802.11a, 802.11n, and the latest 802.11ac-unlike “n” flavor, “ac” only works over 5GHz.
The 802.11b, g, and n standards can work over 2.4GHz. The lower-frequency 2.4GHz band suffers from a lot of competing uses beyond Wi-Fi (Bluetooth, baby monitors, industrial sealers, microwaves, medical devices, and a lot more), but it’s better at penetrating walls, floors, and ceilings than the higher-frequency 5GHz. Modern Wi-Fi adapters and base stations can use two frequency bands: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. I swear this article isn’t clickbait: Rather, there’s a signal-strength property that’s not well known. But there’s one simple change you can make that could have a surprisingly strong effect. A frequent reader problem related to Wi-Fi-one I hear all the time as a result of having written books about Wi-Fi and Apple’s AirPort base stations for a decade-is getting good coverage, even when a network is seemingly well planned.
