Slow, stuttery Wi-Fi at home is usually not your broadband, it is your neighbours: too many routers shouting over each other on the same channel. This finder walks you through a 60 second scan on your phone, then tells you the single least-crowded channel to switch to on each band. The key thing most people get wrong: on 2.4GHz only channels 1, 6 and 11 truly avoid overlap, so picking anything else just adds to the noise.

Scan the Wi-Fi around you

Stand where the trouble is (the room with the weak signal) and open the Wi-Fi list on your phone.

How to see channels on Android and iPhone
  • Android: install a free analyser such as "WiFiman" or "Network Analyzer", open it, and look at the channel graph. Each network sits on a numbered channel.
  • iPhone: Apple hides channel numbers, so use the free "AirPort" tab in "Network Analyzer" or check your router's own app (BT, Sky, Virgin and EE apps all show nearby networks). On a laptop you can also run netsh wlan show all (Windows) or hold Option and click the Wi-Fi icon (Mac).
  • You only need rough counts, not exact numbers. Count how many networks sit on or near each channel below.

Tell us what you saw

On 2.4GHz, how many networks are on each channel? (count anything within two of it as "on" it)

Most UK routers default to channel 1, 6 or 11, so those three are where the crowding usually is. Networks on the in-between channels bleed onto all three.

Do your router and devices support 5GHz?

In the UK, 5GHz channels 149 to 165 are not permitted, so we never recommend them. Channels 52 to 144 are "DFS" channels that share with weather radar.

Do you have Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 (a 6GHz band)?

What matters most to you?