How do I change the WiFi channels in the Panoramic Gateway, re: range and latency issues?

I think your right in that we can't change the channels so I won't even try to do it.

Hello ZapperOne, 

We appreciate your feedback. At this time, the WiFi channels are not able to be manually changed on the Panoramic Wifi Gateways. As Chris mentioned earlier, the Gateway will run scans to help ensure that you are on the least congested WiFi channel. This should give you the best possible experience. 

It sounds like you have a lot of experience with routers and want to customize your settings. Instead of renting a Panoramic WiFi Gateway from us, you do have the option to purchase your own modem and router or gateway. You would just want to make sure that it is compatible with our network and the internet plan you subscribe to. 

*I always recommend going for at least one internet tier higher for compatibility. For example, if you subscribe to Even Faster Internet Plan (500 Mbps download), then I would try to get a modem/router that is compatible with the Super Fast Gig plan (1 Gbps download). This way if we increase the speeds, or you wish to upgrade in the future, you won't need to purchase new equipment.

You can find a list of compatible modems at https://www.cox.com/residential/support/cox-certified-cable-modems.html. We want our customers to get the service that they subscribe to and can rely on their service. I hope this helps. 

Thank you I can login now 👍

Thank you TiffanyR, much appreciated.

Why are both of our gateways locked on the same channels all the time when there are less crowded channels available?

I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. I can appreciate the desire to want to change your wireless channel. I can tell you that when your router is restarted, it runs a spectrum analysis and will automatically change both the 2.4 Ghz and 5Ghz frequency to the cleanest and least congested channel. In the instance you are experiencing wifi congestion, simply restarting your gateway should alleviate the issue (if it is channel-related). I might also suggest repositioning your router as small corrections can go a long way towards correcting wifi-related problems. It is best to make sure that the modem/router/gateway is placed in a central location in your home. Even if this is not always possible, when it comes to streaming, you will want to make sure that you limit the walls and objects that are between your devices and your modem/router/gateway and use a wired connection whenever possible. Also, you will want to ensure the router is elevated off the floor as high as you can manage and away from speakers, TVs cordless phones, etc...After you have repositioned the device, reset it so that it can analyze the wifi and change to a cleaner channel and retest. Let me know if that helps and thank you for your patience.

I'm going to try restarting my gateway as suggested but I've done this before and it didn't help my streaming issues.

Tried that three times now, actually twice before I posted, and then once afterwards.  Same channels are locked each time.  It's in a defualt mode and those channels aren't changing.

My neighbors are all stuck with the same on both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

This is actually unethical of COX.  To provide the equipment that has the ability to improve service we pay for under our different plans, but then not allow the customer to tweak the settings for their benefit. 

Unethical in the sense that the equipment I currently have, has the ability to improve if only I could unlock the features........  And so the way we usually find out if a large company is screwing-over somebody is to follow the money, right?

If COX allows it's customers to improve their service with their existing equipment (in this case by allowing the paying customer to unlock certain features such as changing channels), then they couldn't try to force us to buy their "pods", correct?  I.E. no new money stream for COX.  (for any people that are not aware, COX used to allow its customers to manually change their channels in their admin portal, to suit their individual wifi needs, ... until they introduced a product that they hope to force on those of us that have any range and/or latency problems.  They call them "Pods", basically a mesh system, or in easier terms to understand, they're essentially wifi extenders that increase your wifi range and improve latency)  See where this is going folks?  It's an unethical scam on the part of COX.  

Funny how we all used to be able to select our wifi channels that best suited our unique situations within our home , then came Pods, and now we can't.

Can I paint a more clear picture?  A perfect example of unethical business practices.

I'm going to say you are absolutely correct. 

How do you know that those channels that your gateway is selecting aren't the least congested channels?  Why should we even want to change channels if the gateway is automatically selecting the least congested ones like it's supposed to do?