Setting the WiFI channel manually.

[AngryJon]

I have a new Sky connection with an SR213 hub.  

My router consistantly auto-picks a really crowded channel (11) meaning that my WiFi signal is terribke through the house.

The simple reason: from where my router is positioned (near the junction box, obviously) there are two supporting walls and  two brick garages between it and my neighbour's router. So it thinks the competing signal is weak. Go upstairs to my office (only about 8 metres away from my router) and my laptop has good line-of-sight to my neighbour's router, as I'm above the single-story garages. The signals clash (my neighbour's router actually has the stronger signal), and my WiFi constantly drops out.

Using a network sniffer I can see clearly what is going on. I can also see that channel 3 or 4 would be a much better choice, as those channels are largely clear.

But I cannot do anything to change it, as Sky appeaer to have disabled the feature. FRUSTRATING!!!!! Why would they do this???? I admit that auto-selection is usually the best choice, but I'm also able to present a clear case where it is NOT the best choice.

Sky are sending me a signal booster, but that's a ridiculous waste of resources, electricity and money when simply re-enabling the default feature-set of the router would allow me to solve the problem in seconds. 

[HiHowAreYa]

I've never been to your home/place, why would the sr213 be obviously positioned by a junction box?

If this new sky connection is the ultrafast/fttp service, the sr213 can be placed where ever you want, as it's just a standard cat 5e patch cable.

[AngryJon]

@HiHowAreYa -- 'Obviously' because the I shouldn't need to run a long patch cable in order to supply my WiFi!  The junction box is conveniantly locted near a spare power socket, and a shelf where I can put my router.

I could run a long patch cable and reposition my router.

I could run a long patch cable and just wire-in my laptop upstairs. 

I could use the super range extender to remedy the problem.

All these options seem like an awful lot of effort when these's a simple edit-box on the router config page that could fix the issue with one click. 

Sky have gone to the trouble of disabling the edit box for reasons that are unclear to me (the firmware is clearly intended to allow edits by default), thus making sure that the only solutions are more costly in terms of time, effort, money and/or environmental impact. 

[AngryJon]

@HiHowAreYa  I should point out that the same shelf has been home to a BT router, a PlusNet router, and most recently a Virgin router. All managed to provide a good WiFi signal all over my house, but then they all allowed me to set the WiFi channel.

[HiHowAreYa]

Interesting situation, will be interesting to see if sky will release a firmware update for you.

But thanks for sharing on this end user customer forum.

[Anonymous]

Channels 1 to 11 are 2.4ghz channels and most modern laptops should connect on 5ghz, unless the distance or wall density force the device to connect on to 2.4 GHz. In which case this is where a booster could help. 
The hub 6 uses dynamic frequency selection up to channel 149 on upper 5ghz meaning that the chance  of 5ghz interference is much slimmer.

What could be affecting your laptop is wifi security compatibility if running a network card with WPA2. If this is the case you should open the MySky app and find WiFi security in advanced settings, change from WPA3 to WPA2. Forget the network on the device, restart and rejoin the network.

While I understood the frustration of the WiFi settings not being available, the hub 6 is pretty clever at finding the best one, particularly on 5ghz. Problem is if you set your 2.4 GHz to what appears to be a cleaner channel, your neighbours could reset their router and trigger their channel to change.

Fortunately 2.4 GHz is used now only by older devices, some  smart devices, cameras, etc...as the frequency's are much more susceptible to interference. EG. Turning on a microwave in the home will disrupt the whole 2.4 GHz spectrum.

I've gabbled on a little too much, but hope something here might be useful.