My Windows 8 had a very interesting problem. It could
find all the WiFi hot-spots near me, but not mine. The irony! Even more surprisingly, sometimes it was able to search and connect to it only until the router was restarted. Next fortunate connection was unpredictable.
It was the most
frustrating, yet
mysterious things ever. Until I found the solution.
Basics first. WiFi routers can broadcast signals in a range of frequencies measured in GHz. The whole range of frequencies is divided into a number of
channels, each having its own frequency. The actual signals can be of frequencies from the nearby channels too. Thus a router using channel 6 sends signals ranging from, say 4 to 8.
Different
countries/regions have their own range of channels and your device may just ask you for your region. This is how android handles this setting.
Both the
router and the device have their own channel settings. If there is a mismatch, connection is not possible.
So, I looked up my router and laptop for the channels they were using. I found out that my router was set to use "
Auto" as the channel, which means it was chosen randomly at each restart, while my Windows 8 was using channels (
1-11). Here's the problem. If fortunately the router chose a channel in this range, my laptop would find it, else no chance.
To fix this I selected channel number 1 instead of "Auto", and voila! I'm online :D
Here's how to choose a channel in your router settings :
- Connect to your router using a LAN cable or from a device that detects the WiFi.
- Go to the admin page, mostly by writing 192.168.1.1 in your browser's address bar.
- Find the setting for channel. For my Binatone router, its in Interface Setup >> Wireless.
- Change the setting from "Auto" to preferably 01.
- You can also try to choose your country or other channels.
Wifi router settings have always been a subject of my curiosity. I'm glad its one down! Do ask if you're still lost.
