Forum Discussion

cigoss's avatar
cigoss
New Contributor II
3 years ago

is it possible to change the wifi channel on my panoramic wifi to one that is less crowded?

Hello, I'm reaching out to ask how I can change the wifi channel used by my panoramic gateway/router. I have been having a lot of internet stuttering and lag recently. I thought the problem might ...
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cox internet
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Bruce's avatar
Bruce
Honored Contributor III
3 years ago

Good homework!

Your plan wouldn't affect your wireless.

I'm assuming you're seeing these 15 other routers on the Available Networks app in your OS.  If so, 15 other routers would be crowded.

5 GHz is fine but this freq is practically limited to lines-of-sight to the router.

There are free tools to analyze your "air" for less congested channels.

If you discover a less congested channel and Panoramic was set to Auto, Panoramic had failed you.

If you configure your WiFi to a less congested channel and your WiFi is still stuttery & laggy, purchase your own router.

If you don't need the extra bandwidth, rollback your plan.  No sense paying more for something if you don't need it.

Analyzers:  www.howtogeek.com/.../

  • cigoss's avatar
    cigoss
    New Contributor II
    3 years ago

    Bruce, thanks for the reply. the solution of getting my own router is the only solution i can find so far. but i will dig around some more before spending the money. 

    thanks for the link. i had used a suggestion from tom's guides for the android app wifianalyzer to scan. all the other networks using channel 157 (where i am) are the same model router and a bunch are the cox wifi. (i opted out of that before it went live.), so im sure cox locks these routers to a specific channel - maybe to help support?

    i found an article about seperate network names on 2.4 and 5ghz here https://www.cox.com/residential/support/using-a-single-wifi-network-name-and-password.html the part that got my attention is here 

    Historically, it was recommended that dual band routers broadcast different WiFi network names (SSIDs) and passwords for each band. This meant that you had to choose which network to connect to, and knowing which would provide the best connection and performance was guesswork. That’s now changed with the band steering feature on your gateway.

    • To provide the best WiFi experience, band steering automatically optimizes which WiFi band a device connects to.
    • To enable band steering, the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands must have the same network name and password.

    So after work i'll split the networks and see if it opens the option for channel band selection. will post results later

    • Bruce's avatar
      Bruce
      Honored Contributor III
      3 years ago

      Band-steering in this case would depend on your connectivity "habits."  Band-steering would be optimum if you habitually roam about the house with a mobile device.  Sure 1 network or only 2.4..

      If a device is basically immobile and has a line-of-sight with the router, config for 5 GHz.  If a device is immobile in an upstairs, across the house bedroom, config on 2.4.  Even if mobile with anything, go 2.4.