Mysterious Channel 14 for WiFi ! Why you can't use it? And why is it allowed only in Japan ?

 A common problem among router users is congestion of Wi-Fi channels. Many products and routers are responsible for automatically changing channels to find the option with less interference with other networks. The problem occurs when choosing a communication channel used by a network or other wireless networks, which is the thing that weakens your connection , and the more congestion on the same channel, the worse the connection for all networks, for example if your router chose channel number 6 and it was the same channel used from Before the neighbors' router here, all devices will have slow Internet connection, so what if the channel is used by 4 or 5 networks?

This is why it is always recommended to change the channel so that there is no interference between networks in the same area , but when you use the "Wifi Analyzer" to find the least used channel, you will see a strange channel bearing number 14, which is isolated from the rest, and there is no interference with channel 11, and most strangly that ... nobody uses it. Why?

Among the first recommendations that every wireless user should follow to improve their connection performance is changing the Wi-Fi channel. Overall, the number of available channels is 11. Technically, the 2.4 GHz band for Wi-Fi connections has three additional channels: 12, 13, and 14. Many European countries allow the use of channels 12 and 13 (albeit with difficulty), however, Channel 14 is almost inaccessible, and I'd say "almost" because the only country with no major restrictions around using this channel is Japan. An important feature that we should highlight about Channel 14 is that there is no interference with Channel 11. In other words, it is an excellent candidate to escape congestion with other networks. So ... why don't we use it?

The answer for this is "regulation." The US Federal Communications Commission considers Wi-Fi channel 14 as a restricted band (military and / or commercial applications fall under the term "ISM band"), so public access is not permitted. If we look for more information about the current situation of Channel 14, one of the first names we see is Globalstar, a provider of satellite phone services. Globalstar got permission from the FCC to "recycle" somehow Channel 14 and develop a low-energy ground service, but a group of companies including Google resisted the move and suggested public access to Channel 14.

But why is it available in Japan?

 Channel 14 is legally available, though it's only for legacy systems under 802.11b, which limits speed to 11 Mbps.

Of course, many manufacturers of router devices prevent access to these distinct channels, but the good news is that you, dear follower, can activate this channel by installing an alternative firmware on the router such as the DD-WRT. The bad news is that only a few devices can connect to this network.