Selected Radio Summary
The Selected Radio Summary contains helpful information about the radio you have selected.
- Recommended Channel: This is one of the most important features of inSSIDer Office. We highly recommend that you visit the router configuration page on your router or access point, and switch it to the recommended channel.
- Link Score: The higher the link score, the better. Wi-Fi information and RF activity are combined to create this score.
- Radio Signal: The loudness or signal strength of the wireless network as seen by your computer’s wireless adapter. The closer this value is to –20 dBm, the better.
- Minimum Basic Rate: Minimum supported data rate of your network. Slower data rates fly farther, but cause more channel utilization. To increase the data rate, consider disabling legacy data rates. The Phy Types field shows you the Phy Types your network is currently supporting.
Co-Channel Radio Summary
The Co-Channel Radio Summary contains information about radios that are on the same channel as your selected network. You can use this summary to understand how many networks you are sharing a channel with and which network is the strongest of those co-channel networks. If you don’t see this box, congratulations! You have no co-channel networks getting in the way of your network.
Why it Matters
When networks share a channel they politely take turns talking and working together to manage the timing of their conversations. It works pretty well as long as the channel is not too busy.
A high number of co-channel networks can degrade performance because the more devices on the channel, the less time everyone gets to talk. Picking a channel with fewer wireless devices can be a great way to improve the performance of your wireless network.
Overlapping Radio Summary
The Overlapping Radio Summary contains information about radios that are adjacent to (partially overlap) the Selected Radio. You can use this summary to understand how many networks are overlapping with your network and which network is the strongest of those overlapping networks. If you don’t see this box, that is super awesome! There are no networks that are trying to stomp on yours.
Why it matters
When networks overlap each other, they can end up trying to talk over each other. They can’t communicate with one another so they are constantly interrupting. This can cause them to repeat themselves. We want to avoid this as much as possible because it hurts the performance of your network.
In the 2.4 GHz band it can be very difficult to avoid overlapping with other networks. You probably won’t be able to avoid it all together. If possible, switching to the 5 GHz band might be a good option.