wifi DFS channel?

Helen28

I am on Virgin Media broadband with the super 3 hub and have a tablet connected to the 5gHz wifi from my hub.

I installed a wifi analyzer app on my tablet and found out that there are 5 wifi users nearby and we are all using channels 34  - 60 on 5 gHz.

And next doors' signal, when I am in my lounge, is actually stronger than my wifi signal.

Their hub sits next to the dividing wall, mine is upstairs.

So I decided to change my wifi channel to 100 and got a warning about it being a DFS channel but I changed it anyway and everything is still working..

Should I have changed it?

[Deleted User]

Yes, if everything is working ok then you are fine but bear in mind DFS channels need to check if there is an active radar signal so will take a minute just "listening" on that channel before it actually switches on so it will take longer after a reboot. Better routers do passive checking and switch the channel on straight away but I've always found the Virgin hub waits for a minute.

If you live near to an airport you may find that you can't use the DFS channels if they detect a radar, in this case the router auto switches back to a non-DFS channel.

You might find the 100+ channels a bit better. In theory it can be stronger as the maximum power allowed on 100+ channels is 1000mW compared to just 200mW in the 36-64 band but I'm not sure if the Virgin media routers actually crank up the power on those channels. 

I've found the Virgin Media hubs aren't the best for wifi so I ended up buying a tri-band Asus router, not necessarily recommending that if everything is ok for you. If your router is upstairs you might find the downstairs signal is weak, I'm aware that the super hub3 assumes it is fitted downstairs and the aerials are designed to transmit the signal upwards to cover the upstairs regions.

J_B

Helen28 said:

So I decided to change my wifi channel to 100 and got a warning about it being a DFS channel ..............

Do they still have a sale on? It seems they do ... https://www.dfs.co.uk/offers/fabric-sofa-offers